Swedish Maritime Administration - Clear reports from one of Sweden's most beautiful workplaces

An annual report needs to capture an entire year of operations: goals, results, analyses, and extensive written content. It is read by many stakeholders, and it needs to work equally well on screen and in print. It must also be accessible to everyone. Variant has been designing the Swedish Maritime Administration’s financial reports since 2024. This includes the annual reports for 2024 and 2025, as well as all quarterly reports published throughout 2025 and 2026.

The Swedish Maritime Administration is the government agency responsible for ensuring safe and efficient maritime transport in Sweden. Its work includes pilotage, fairways, icebreaking, nautical charts, and maritime and aeronautical search and rescue. Operating at sea, along the coast, and throughout Sweden’s archipelagos, the agency describes itself as offering one of Sweden’s most beautiful workplaces. The reports needed to reflect that too.

Large amounts of text can easily overwhelm readers. The reports needed a clear structure and natural flow, a strong connection to the Swedish Maritime Administration’s visual identity, and a way to bring the operations behind the numbers to life. At the same time, accessibility requirements involve elements that aren't visible on the surface, such as document tagging, alternative text, and reading order, ensuring that people using screen readers can access the content too.

Nina Widén and Åsa Fredricson were responsible for the art direction and graphic design of the annual report, using the Swedish Maritime Administration’s visual identity as a starting point. The report was designed in landscape A4 format, making it suitable for both on-screen reading and print. A clear information hierarchy brings structure to the extensive content, while strong contrast, generous font sizes, and ample white space make it easy to read and navigate.

Throughout the annual report, photographs from the Swedish Maritime Administration’s own operations are used to create a sense of recognition and pride among employees, while reinforcing the agency’s positioning as one of Sweden’s most beautiful workplaces. For external readers, the images serve another purpose: they bring the people and environments behind the numbers to life.

As a next step, the team developed the first interim report for 2025. The visual design and tone were defined based on the Swedish Maritime Administration’s brand guidelines. The concept was brought to life in Adobe InDesign, with image editing and illustrations created in Photoshop and Illustrator. The templates developed during the project now serve as the foundation for future reports.

By the time the second-quarter interim report was due, the foundation was already in place. The team built on the format and visual direction established in the first quarter. Typography, colors, and layout principles remained consistent, while new content, images, data visualizations, and infographics were incorporated without compromising the overall design.

The reports meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards and follow Swedish plain language guidelines and official writing conventions for public authorities. All reports were checked for document tagging, alternative text, reading order, and readability across different devices. The balanced distribution of work within the team ensured that design decisions could quickly be turned into production-ready files.

The Swedish Maritime Administration now has financial reports that are well-structured and firmly rooted in its operations. They are easy to read both on screen and in print. The templates developed at the start of the project have enabled an efficient workflow while maintaining high quality. The consistent visual identity brings continuity to the agency’s communication, while ensuring that the reports are accessible to all target audiences, whether they read or listen to the content.