Research into Layout and Design

Looking into what other designers have produced for reports both design and layout will help my inspiration and idea production when it comes to producing work for the clients at OHP. Seeing what current trends are out there in terms of layout and design will also help keep the report looking contemporary as well as professional which will benefit the team at OHP as having nice visuals will always entice more people to come and look at what is in the body copy. 

Having worked in catalog design before i know how nice it can be to design spreads that open up into either new sections of a report or catalog or are just there to make the design of the print stronger. Below is an example of how design can be built into a spread to show the opening of a new section. Having spoke to Fran the report will not be 36 pages long as suggested in the brief but if the content is less and i have room i will try and include these into my report design as i feel it really makes the report visually stronger. Or i could mock up a designed spread and show to fran and explain the positives of having nice visuals such as these inside such a content filled report. 

Here is a couple of spreads from the BP annual report and they have chosen to use just the two colours throughout to help drive the brands identity. This could be something i conisder although the actual logo for OHP is nowhere near as recognizable or effective as the BP's therefore it may not work as well. This is still of good example of making a successful report through the use of 2 colour tones and nice imagery.  Another key issue i picked up from last years report were the lack of high res and well executed photos, (something i have already put forward to Fran). Having nice imagery helps break up the endless amounts of text that is often found in annual reports so having a nice visual whether it be an illustration of photograph helps split up pages and gives the user a rest in terms of reading whilst being able to look at an image. An idea would also be to have images bleeding of the page like this one below as it give the image all the space which i feel works well. 

 Below shows an info graphic that uses different colours to show different sections which is something i will doing in my designs, although i want to try and make the info graphics as interesting as possible. Also on these spread the use of a different weight or colour for headings and sub headings also helps break up the page for the reader as just having the text all in one weight and colour will just bore its user, something that would be a massive negative in terms of design.

 Below is a contents page from an annual report for ANTHON B NIELSON and i feel this design as minimalist and simplistic as it is i feel it works nicely and looks visually pleasing, as well as benefiting people with visual impairments! here is an example of where i could introduce colour into my design by having either the text or number in one of the colour pallets i have looked at. Researching even the finer details in a report such as the contents page will help my designs as i really want to produce something that the clients are really excited to put on their shelves and by considering options for even pages like this will help me along the way to producing exciting visuals. 

Above is a layout i thought looked well designed. The minimalist page on the left with the body copy works well with the full image of a skyline on the right. The coloured tab in the right hand corner is a common method of showing a certain section in reports and catalogs and it helps the reader to scan to an area that is relevant to them. This could be something i can add into my report design although having looked through last years report there doesnt seem to be enough possible sections for me to include this idea as it wouldn't work. 

Colour

Through my research i have found that colour plays a vital role in helping make a annual report look visually pleasing. Using a variety of colours that work well along side one another will help bring the report to life and also help break up certain areas of the pages such as; headings, sub headings, info graphics and blocks of colour. One of the main things i noted down from last years annual report was the fact that apart from the covers the actual report lacked enough colour to really make it stand out which is why i feel adding this into this years report will benefit the report not only visually but it terms of interaction with its users. This method of using colour i feel will really enhance the structure of the report.

This was an idea i spoke to Fran about pretty early on and she was also very keen for my to bring in more colour, and with the report going down well last year i felt i would just enhance the blue colour that was used last year as well as bringing in colours that would work well with tones of blue. 

below are a variety of colour schemes i feel would work well together throughout the report. 

To begin with i felt i would start of with my favorite colour scheme of the lot as i feel the tones of colour really work well along side each other without being to ' in your face '.  There is a nice blend between the blue and orange colours that i feel would work well when breaking up the pages in the report whether it be through blocks of colour, lines or info graphics.My only concerns would be that maybe one or two of the colors are a little pale so would i will need to test these out to check if they will be legible in the report.

 Although this colour range really focuses on the one colour of blue i feel the types of blue colours here work very well with each other i feel the grey tone at the end would help bring a sense of contemporary into the design as i see more often in designs recently the use of grey as apposed to a standard black, and having agreed with both the client and the comms team about where i plan to go with this we both feel keeping up with trends is a very important aspect of annual report design as there will always be a changing design each year. 

 This colour range i looked at purely as it reminded me of the current colour blend in the 2012/2013 annual report. For me although the report works really well i just feel this colour scheme below looks too bland for what i want to achieve in this years report so learning from my research into colours i will try and look for something a little stronger in this years report. 

 A perfect example of a stronger colour scheme is like this one below, it features 5 strong colours that still manage to form a nice blend by working with each other. Until i put these colours into my designs i will not truly know which will work best in my report but what i have found is that orange and blues work well against each other and in tern will help break up my design for the report. Even though there are 5 colours in this pallet it doesn't mean i have to include all 5 of them for it to work. This is one of the colour pallets i will consider for my design.

 4 of these colours i feel work well with each other as i am not convinced the final colour of burgundy/brown would work in my report as it is earthy and i don't feel it could enhance a positive feeling that i want to bring to this years report. One colour i am keen on is the pale orange, as this colour could contrast with a stronger orange when it comes to producing info graphics for the report. This is something i will take into consideration whilst producing visuals for Fran. 

 These colours below i am fond off as they look quite subtle and look a little pastel coloured. These colours would work well for illustrations and maybe info graphics but i do not feel they are strong enough to use as a structure throughout the report as i want the report to look really strong and positive so the people reading the report believe what they are reading and become interested.

 Finally i looked a different tone of blues and yellowy/orange colours just to see if these could work also, i think they could! These colours here would help structure out info graphics nicely my only worry would be beginning to include too many colours into the report as i do not want to overwhelm the users with a page of colour mixture! Considerations into how many colours i decide to use will also be important whilst producing visuals. 

To summarize my colour pallet research i feel the colours of orange and blue blending with each other will work really nice and also, using a colour of blue helps keep some of the reports identity from last year which i know some of the comms team from OHP are keen to do.

Annual Report Work Schedule

Here is the work schedule for the OHP report that me and Francesca Davies worked up together so that we both knew what was expected from each other and also to keep us on track with where we should be in terms of dates and production. This is a good idea as it keeps a clear guideline to where a bout's we should be during certain times of the process so that the report is finalized and finished on time for the client so it can be sent to print. The green text is there to show areas that Fran added to the work schedule to show her role in helping the production of the process run on time and efficiently.


 

Work Schedule Draft 

October 22nd-31st
Look into other annual reports from other councils for inspiration
Look at similar styled reports/booklets that may also influence design aesthetics for OHP
Gather research and begin to consider design and layout
Look for improvements for OHP annual report
Francesca creates page layout plan and shares with designer.  This will clearly set out the editorial content to be provided on each page – and who is responsible for providing it.
 
Francesca contacts all partners and requests contents and images for the report – giving them an indication of word length and any particular format/points she wants them to include.  Submissions to be received by Friday 15 November.

November 1st-18th
Begin to draft out some layout ideas for pages
Sketch out a few cover designs/updates
City Council comms team proofs each piece of editorial as it is completed
Francesca drip feeds proofed copy through to designer

November 18th-30th
Continue with sketches and ideas and show client initial ideas
Begin to structure report in terms of design theme and colours
Begin to build report with content provided
28th client meeting, discuss and show my ideas and thoughts for the report to the client and then get feedback from them as to what they like and dislike and also what they want to see included. 

December 1st-31st
Complete draft design of pages and show to client to confirm that all body copy that should be included is included and also as to whether they would like certain things adding or taking away to benefit the reports aesthetics.
Design a proper final layout for the client to confirm that everything is set in place as we would have agreed, this would then give me the go ahead to then build the remaining pages in a layout you are happy with.
Build remaining pages for report including infographics adding images.
Send first draft of completed report to client by Monday 16 December
Client to provide feedback/changes by Friday 20 December

January 1st-10th
Submit second draft to client by Mon 6 January, incorporating amends
Client to feedback final amends by 8 January
Draft submitted for final client sign off by 10 January
Report ready for print

This is a purely a work based schedule that i intend to work to and things such as, contact between myself and the client has not been included as i plan to keep the client constantly up to date with where i am. We will then therefore acheive something that the client is looking for and happy with
Ryan Broome

Info graphics For OHP Report

The info graphics that will be included in the report will be a large visual feature of the report in terms of colour and style. Making these info graphics visually aesthetic and easily understandable will be very important if i am to be happy with the info graphics i produce for the OHP report. Looking through the info graphics from last years report, i realised that one big aspect i wanted to introduce into the info graphics would be a variety of colour to further enhance the different info graphics as well as bringing in a new colour scheme into the report.

Below are some ideas i have produced for the potential info graphics for this years report.

To begin with i practiced producing standard pie charts  incorporating different colours, the different colours could represent the 3 main deprived areas in worcester (Rainbow Hill, Warndon and Gorse Hill) Personally these will work clearly but as a designer i feel i could produce some more visually pleasing info graphics so i continued to produce more as you can see below.

 Here is a more enhanced pie chart design which i feel looks a lot better and is more designed than the one above. Reducing the opacity on the area of the pie chart that is not important allowed me to clearly show the area of relevance as well as using a nice typeface in the centre of the pie chart to further get across the percentage. This i feel could work quite well in the report as the design is pretty contemporary.

 Here is another style of info graphic i tested and although i feel the design works well i dont feel it would fit in with my plans for style in this years report. The colour scheme of blue and orange is something i look to take forward. For this years report i will try and create something more stylised for the info graphic this represents.

Finally here is a third take on the pie chart designs i have been considering and of the lot i feel this one is my favourite. Although there is a large about of space around the rest of the circle i feel the is visually the most interesting and pleasing whilst maintaing the simple understanding of an info graphic. This will be one i show to Francesca to see if she likes the design and if so it would be something i would consider to take forward.