It’s still all about the story, but design has to work harder to tell it

It’s still all about the story, but design has to work harder to tell it

With annual reports often exceeding 300 pages, a clear story is essential. The opening pages are your shop window: a brief opportunity to engage readers and give them a reason to continue. Telling that story in one or two pages demands efficient use of space.

Further in, a navigable ‘washing line’ of headings helps readers quickly find what matters. Signposts and divider pages add pace and structure, while secondary navigation brings key messages forward – giving time-pressed readers a clear view of the company’s strategic ambitions.

Every square centimetre of the page is precious.

As regulation increases, clients don’t have the luxury of simply saying less. Good design is therefore increasingly about how we use the grid and introduce much-needed hierarchy to the page. This allows us to present more information in an attractive and easy-to-understand way.

A bespoke grid system and clear typographic hierarchies improved navigation, while the messaging focused on customers and the value created for them.

The move towards dark mode’ is gaining ground

There is a growing trend towards presenting large sections of content as light text on rich, dark colour fields – something rarely seen before, particularly in print. Is this driven by the rise of ‘dark mode’ and the shift towards screen-first or digital-only reports? It may depend on whether the target audience is primarily screen-based.

Accessible design is essential – but it means something different to everyone

Accessibility can be achieved at different levels. Once focused mainly on font size and colour, it is now a much broader issue.

True accessibility can mean avoiding tables and infographics, which may not be readable by screen readers or AI. But if accessibility means making information appealing and easy to understand for a broad audience, highlighted text blocks and infographics are valuable tools.

Companies and agencies therefore need to define their accessibility ambitions early, as this influences page design, structure, planning and budget.