CASE STUDY

2025 Annual Report

YYC Calgary Airports

Annual Reports are an opportunity to share more than progress or data—they’re a chance to tell a story about the previous year, and share a bold vision for the future.

2025 was a milestone year for YYC. 19.4 million passengers flowed through the terminals, 13 new direct routes connected Calgary to the world, and construction broke ground on multiple major infrastructure upgrades supporting future growth.

YYC’s launched a new brand identity in 2025, making this annual report the first to fully showcase the updated brand. The 2025 Annual Report needed to represent this bold new chapter, translating operational achievements into an energetic, human-centric narrative that captured the joy and confidence of the refreshed brand.

That’s where Adverb came onboard. We partnered with YYC to design the 2025 Annual Report and a suite of supporting promotional assets for their Annual General Meeting.

From the outset, YYC expressed a clear desire to move away from traditional, text-heavy pages in favour of a highly visual experience. Our challenge was to let the new brand identity do the talking—organizing concise copy blocks, stylized typographic statistics, and dynamic layouts to share the year’s journey.

We began by exploring design concepts that could connect YYC's 2025 achievements with its forward-looking philosophy. We arrived at “Elevate:” a word that encompasses the airport's upward momentum, its major structural milestones, and its commitment to taking the passenger experience to new heights. In the design, this concept translated into topographic contours, natural textures, and layered imagery. It stands as a visual testament to Calgary, capturing the unique terrain from the wide prairie skies to the peaks of the Rockies—while celebrating the vibrant local hospitality that draws the world to the city.

The full report is a visual journey where fluid flight paths and mountain silhouettes act as a continuous thread, unifying every section of the document. Authentic photography and brand illustrations are thoughtfully placed on each page, complementing the information and giving viewers a window into the airport's daily energy. Beyond simply organizing text and data, this aesthetic captured the adventurous spirit and upward trajectory of both the airport and the vibrant community it serves.

The report did much more than just log a record-breaking year; it ventured into bold new brand territory, leaving a lasting impression that perfectly captured an organization, and a city, on the rise.