Explaining a Complex Idea

Our Approach

We met with the client and workshopped ways that the concept could be communicated. Our empathy forecast activity helped to elicit some of the assumptions made by members of the public, and the internal conversations that vendors have. This helped to extract multiple layers to the message, including:

• Evoking empathy for vendors;
• The fact that vendors buy copies of the magazine with their own money, and then sell them—in the same way that a business operates—as compared to donating to charity;
• The sense of pride and achievement that vendors feel when they have made a sale;
• The compassionate approach to helping vendors that The Big Issue adopts;
• The fact that a vendor may have mental, physical, or skill-based challenges is not a hurdle for them to begin selling copies of the magazine;
• Benefits of this model beyond financial reward, such as flexible work hours; and
• The price that magazines are available for sale to the public.

We explored the possibility of communicating this message, and the unique business model, as a comic strip. After several iterations, we hit upon the concept of a single diagram depicting what is a virtuous cycle: make → buy → sell.