For 29 years, The Progressive Corporation has commissioned Nesnadny + Schwartz (N+S) to create its annual report. Each year, the bar is raised by the client, and even more so by N+S. As a leader in their industry (automobile insurance), Progressive prides itself on its ability to find imaginative solutions to the day in, day out challenges that are a part of responding to the ever-changing concerns and demands of their customers, the marketplace and the general public.

For nearly three decades, the process has included the development of a theme that is relevant to both the business and culture of Progressive, and the commissioning of a fine artist to create a body of work that they feel is a reflection of that theme. Through the use of fine art in their annual reports, Progressive has invented a communication system that challenges their employees, stockholders and related constituents to draw their own conclusion about any implied/actual and/or relevant/irrelevant dialogue between the “outside” (artist’s) interpretation and any specific corporate agendas.

Founded in 1937, The Progressive Corporation is one of the country’s largest auto insurance groups, the largest seller of motorcycle policies and a market leader in commercial auto insurance. As a publicly held entity, the company must comply with SEC regulations in its public disclosure policies. To meet these requirements, N+S employs two different communication components: a printed and online annual report.

In summary, this project resulted in three deliverables: the printed annual report, the annual report website and the “The Single Lane Superhighway” website. It all started on December 13, 2011, when Progressive made an online challenge to its customers, shareholders, employees, friends and families to perform one task: “Draw your car facing right.” With little explanation—and exclusively through the use of social media—the project was launched, and it generated a truly astonishing crowdsourced response. 50,000 drawings—the product of this effort—were employed as the principal visuals for the Progressive Annual Report and Annual Report website. We titled it “The Single Lane Superhighway.”

Read the full case study with juror comments here: [http://www.aiga.org/justified-2012--case-study--progressive-annual-report/]