ME
A blue North Carolina locomotive beside a downtown Durham parking deck covered in murals.
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Rail and muralDowntown Durham / North Carolina
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About / Mark Evans

I design the path
through the information.

I’m an editorial systems designer, information architect, technical communicator, and brand steward.

At Church World Service, I built the centralized publication design practice the organization had been missing. My work ranged from humanitarian response plans and technical program notes to capacity statements and annual reports.

Across every format, the goal was the same: understand what specialists need to communicate, build a structure that respects their expertise, and remove friction between the reader and the story.

01

Clarify

Find the essential message inside complex material.

02

Structure

Create systems that make reading feel intuitive.

03

Scale

Build tools that improve more than one deliverable.

Mark Evans / Editorial & information designer

Designing clarity
for complex
organizations.

I build editorial systems that help experts communicate—organizing dense information into clear, credible, and human stories.

↓ Explore work
Approach
“The words and stories are the important parts. My job is to make sure people want to keep reading—and never feel lost in the material.”
Selected work / 01—04

Communication problems,
solved through design.

01

Flagship storytelling

2024 Annual Impact Report

Fitting a global organization’s year of work into a small-format publication with clarity and humanity.

The problem

The flagship annual publication required coordination across major teams and had to serve the broadest audience. A compact, mail-friendly format left little room for a large volume of stories and results.

The response

Once content was finalized, I took sole ownership of layout and design. A restrained flat visual system, selective gradients, and carefully paced photography created variety without crowding the pages.

The result

The report held a remarkable amount of information gracefully. Its opening vision statement and CEO letter grounded the publication in mission, letting photography and voice lead before the wider story unfolded.

  • Annual reporting
  • Art direction
  • Cross-team delivery
Selected publication9 pages / PDF
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02

Editorial systems

Building a centralized editorial design system

Turning fragmented, department-led production into a consistent organization-wide design practice.

The problem

Before the role existed, subject-matter experts were left to design their own publications. Quality, structure, and brand expression varied—and valuable staff time was diverted from humanitarian work.

The response

I originated and shaped a centralized design role, refined the CWS brand guide, and built a scalable library of reports, briefs, one-pagers, infographics, brochures, banners, and presentation systems.

The result

Teams quickly began treating design as a strategic resource. The system was adopted widely across the U.S. region, Canva templates enabled staff to work independently, and leadership—including the CEO—recognized the work as a new standard.

  • Brand stewardship
  • Template systems
  • Organizational change
03

Strategic communication

Ukraine Humanitarian Response Plan

Giving donors and partners a rapid, credible view of a complex humanitarian response.

The problem

Multiple teams were producing a large volume of technical information under a hard deadline, with limited time for clarification and material continuing to change during design.

The response

With authority over presentation, I created the visual concept, hierarchy, maps, charts, icons, and reusable layouts. Paragraph styles and parent pages kept a dense document consistent through multiple review rounds.

The result

The response-plan overview became the document’s navigation anchor: a concise spread that let readers understand the strategy, priorities, and scale before moving into detail.

  • Information architecture
  • Donor communication
  • Publication design
Selected publication25 pages / PDF
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04

Technical communication

Resilience Technical Program Note

Making specialized climate and disaster-resilience expertise readable without simplifying it away.

The problem

A partner-facing technical publication depended on dense narrative, specialist language, and long sections. The design needed to sustain attention while respecting the authority of the material.

The response

I developed the complete visual identity, editorial layout, iconography, and a system of country headers that created rhythm and orientation across the text-heavy document.

The result

The publication supported deep reading without competing with the content. Visual interest became a wayfinding tool—helping people keep reading and avoid becoming lost or overwhelmed.

  • Cognitive load
  • Iconography
  • Long-form reading
Selected publication7 pages / PDF
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