Annual report design process

An annual report design process starts long before the actual design begins. The importance of the annual report has gained recognition. It is now much more than just a tool to highlight and showcase business financials. However, with the increasing interest in companies’ purpose and sustainability goals, future strategies, and any learnings over the year, these have become as important to share as financials. The annual report has increasingly become a key tool to help build and maintain your brand image.

Having a professional design for an annual report adds great value. To create a good report, one must establish a well-thought-out process that facilitates great design.

An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company’s activities throughout the year. The company intends for them to provide shareholders and other interested individuals with information about its activities and financial performance.

To accurately represent your company and inspire stakeholders, an annual report design must effectively communicate your brand purpose and future strategies, alongside well-presented financial information. The goal is to build confidence among investors and stakeholders.

Our team at Kandi have created many reports over the years, along with many other layout design projects. From corporate annual reports to more creative reports. Regardless of the company’s values and personality, we have learned that having a process helps everyone involved—managers, designers, and reviewers—complete the project on time and with ease.

Our experience and report design process enable us to create professional, impactful reports that align with the goals of the company and drive positive change.

The clients that approach us are generally looking for digital pdf versions of their reports for distribution. However, we also assist with web design and development on microsites. Our process outlined below would be similar when the outcome is a microsite, just with the additional website design process involved.

There are 6 defined phases in our annual report design process. These phases ensure timely decision-making and effective methods – guaranteeing great results.

1. Briefing
2. Content planning and copywriting
3. Design concepts
4. Layout
5. Review and edits
6. Publish and launch

1. Briefing

The first phase involves defining the key fundamentals of the brand and its story. Identifying your target audience is essential; consider what they want to hear about and understand, as well as their preferred methods of engagement. Establishing the objective of the annual report is crucial—what do you hope to achieve? Reflect on past efforts to determine what has worked and what hasn’t, and identify areas for improvement. This year’s story needs to be articulated clearly, along with the reason for sharing it. Additionally, consider the design brief for this year and whether you have brand guidelines in place. At this stage, a breakdown of the timeline and project plan is completed.

2. Content planning and copywriting

The next phase is pagination and content planning. The first step is outlining all pages and what each page should include. The second step is copywriting, editing and proofing. For a smooth project, make sure content is proofed and signed off before going to the design stage. Images that need to be sourced or photoshoots to organise can now be actioned.

3. Design concepts

Once the content is final, the design concepts are worked on. The first step is choosing the format and style. We generally work on two or three design concepts over a couple of spreads, this helps to get the idea of the intended look and feel.

4. Design layout and artwork

Once the chosen concept has been signed off, the full draft of the report is designed. This would then include any icon creation, infographics, and highlighting key information with the help of pull-outs.

5. Review and edits – Final proof

After the first draft of the annual report design is finalised, the draft is sent for review and any edits or amends is actioned.

6. Publish and launch

After final approval, the annual report design is set up to be sent to the printer and/or published as a pdf for online distribution.

As the design and planning of annual reports are often time-sensitive and with a deadline to hit, having a project plan is vital. A project plan will follow the process phases and should include who is doing what and by when. By following the process steps, and by aiming for constructive directions and feedback, we can make sure the project is done on time, to a great standard, and with ease.

There are always two parties to a project; the client and the agency. On both sides, there are multiple stakeholders and people involved. Generally, there will be a project manager on both sides. On the client side, the project manager will be liaising with the agency, briefing, giving consolidated feedback and organising the content. On the agency side, the project manager will work with the client’s project manager to assist with planning the content with the client. The agency project manager will also review the content before it goes to the design team, making sure that everything has been received. When dealing with reviews and edits, the agency project manager will clarify and understand any feedback before delivering the feedback to the design team. Essentially the project managers are the people on either side making sure the project is run smoothly.

Tools to help

There are many project management tools out there (like Monday.com) that can help when working on larger projects with larger teams. For smaller projects, a simple list or a spreadsheet can work. The key is to keep the project running and resolve any issues as smoothly as possible for everyone. This will lead to a positive outcome, where everyone is happy, and the result is great – and delivered on time.

Whether designing a high-quality printed report, an interactive digital presentation or a micro-website, contact us today to discuss our process and options in more detail.