Side-scroll through Mailchimp’s illustrated world of facts from 2020

It’s the time of year for retrospective lookbacks, and Mailchimp has forgone the traditional static annual report, instead creating a vibrant and immersive illustrated world peppered with stats about 2020. Titled Against All Odds, the report created by the company’s in-house illustrators, designers and writers reflects on a tumultuous year via a side-scrolling interactive platform, which users traverse together with a cute animated character. The whole report is set in Mailchimp’s brand typeface Means.

The character walks through brightly coloured offices, high streets, stores and more, drifting off and impatiently tapping his foot if you linger for too long. Here, users can explore the world and its many fascinating statistics from 2020. For example 333,635,013,935 emails were sent by Mailchimp customers in 2020; while 14,606 new users across 178 countries signed up for the marketing platform every weekday. As you come across certain ‘districts’ in the illustrated world, the character expands on certain details in the report, acting as your guide.

Earlier this year, Mailchimp acquired London-based media company Courier, including its bi-monthly magazine and newspaper, making its first move into print. This pops up in the report presented aptly via a newsstand, brandished with stats about its year in review, such as the fact it published 157 articles and 90 podcast episodes, and revealing which of those articles were among the most read.

Overall, the report is split between insights into Mailchimp itself and its small business customers. It dedicates entire buildings in the illustrated world to specific companies such as New Belgium Brewing and pottery manufacturer East Fork, surveying their year gone by. The report also focuses on its customers’ and its own philanthropic efforts during the pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement. For example, East Fork raised $262,800 for eight western North Carolina causes during Covid. Meanwhile the report also states that Mailchimp committed $1.1 million to 19 organisations advancing racial equality, and provides links to some of those organisations for further support.

Explore the full report here.