Mark Abernethy

Beyond Sustainability

Humanscale is a world leader in ergonomic office furniture design. Guided by a philosophy of measurably giving back more to the planet than they take—Humanscale's mission is to produce products that go beyond sustainability.

SERVICES

Creative Direction, Visual Design Direction, Photography, Research, Content Editing, Production

2019—2026

COLLABORATORS

Susan Demmings, Hiep Vu, Fiona Wren, Nhan Nguyen, Dave Jackson

Corporate Social Responsibility
Annual Report

Challenge

Humanscale’s annual CSR Report needs to be detailed, accurate and up-to-date. It's required to follow GRI Standards and ISO Guidelines, to make complex impact and HR data easy to digest, and to show real progress being made towards sustainability goals.

It has to be credible, visually distinctive and on-brand.

Approach

Since 2019 I've led the creative direction, visual design, photography direction, research, content editing, and production for the Reports, working directly with Humanscale’s Sustainability, Marketing, and Design teams in New York.

Outcome

This is a long-term collaboration which has produced a recognizable, trusted reporting system that supports Humanscale's position as a genuine leader in sustainability.

The most recent CSR Report "Maintaing Purpose in a Climate of Change" (summer 2025) showcases Humanscale’s continued performance and achievements and highlights the insourcing capabilities of their manufacturing facilities.

CSR 2025 report cover: Maintaining Purpose in a Climate of Change
CSR 2025 Spotlight Insourcing opener with warehouse photosCSR 2025 insourcing page with factory photosCSR 2025 insourcing page with manufacturing photos
CSR 2025 Humanscale Sustainability Milestones timelineCSR 2025 sustainability milestones timeline, continued
CSR 2025 page: Function, Simplicity, Longevity, Beyond SustainabilityCSR 2025 Annual Goals 2025 pageCSR 2025 data table page
CSR 2025 Net Positive page: Doing more good than harm
CSR 2025 Material Ingredients TimelineCSR 2025 Material Ingredients Timeline, continuedCSR 2025 From Oceans to Office page
CSR 2025 Ocean Plastics Program 2016—2025 pageCSR 2025 photo of fishing nets being collected
CSR 2025 Science Based Targets pageCSR 2025 Science Based Targets emissions chart
CSR 2025 GRI 1 Foundation 2021 content indexCSR 2025 GRI content index tableCSR 2025 back page

CSR 2024 Report

Published in the summer of 2025, Humanscale's 2024 Corporate Social Responsibility report "Business as a Force for Positive Change" showcases performance measured during the 2024 calendar year.

CSR24 spotlights Humanscale's B—Corp Certification.

CSR 2024 report cover: Business as a Force for Positive Change
CSR 2024 Corporate Social Responsibility introduction pageCSR 2024 B Corp Certification page: A Force for Positive Change
CSR 2024 material timeline pageCSR 2024 B Corp certification quote page
CSR 2024 key figures pageCSR 2024 Annual Goals for 2024 pageCSR 2024 Our Goals for 2025 page
CSR 2024 results page
CSR 2024 photo of solar panels on the Dublin factory roofCSR 2024 page: 350 panels power our Dublin facility with 80kVA of solar energyCSR 2024 Energy data page
CSR 2024 page: Consider the network of a treeCSR 2025 Net Positive page: Doing more good than harm
CSR 2025 GRI 1 Foundation 2021 content indexCSR 2025 GRI content index tableCSR 2024 back page

CSR 2023 Report

CSR23 spotlights Humanscale's efforts towards building a circular economy.

CSR 2023 report cover: Building a Circular Economy in the Real World
CSR 2023 Industry Firsts page
CSR 2023 Spotlight 2023: Making the Circular Economy a Reality
CSR 2023 close-up of a Humanscale office chair
CSR 2023 page describing today's linear economy
CSR 2023 circular economy diagram
CSR 2023 Designed for Circularity—The Humanscale Difference
CSR 2023 quote page with a Humanscale chair
CSR 2023 page: The transition from linear to circular is easy to understand, but challenging to implement.
CSR 2023 page: Significant changes are required to all our systems surrounding the delivery of furniture, including those of our customers and partners.

Personal Note

In a world full of often blatant disinformation alarmism and greenwashing, it's refreshing and important to promote companies that deliver real, verifiable positive impacts.

It's a rare opportunity to work with a company whose narrative holds up. Humanscale does the difficult and important work and reports it honestly (with our help in this case). This is why our collaboration has lasted nearly a decade.

Also, Humanscale products are as beautiful as they are functional.
Shout out Float table.

Mark / SUPERVISION

Bottom Line

Stand for Something
or Fall for Anything.
—M4rk

AND

Exceptional Clients
Get Exceptional Work.
—Milton Glaser (1929—2020)
Mark with Milton Glaser
I ♥️ MG