My style.

The most common form of annual report seems to be as a booklet or brochure sort of thing,  but I would really love to do something a bit different. I toyed with the idea of an annual report in postcard form which you can flick through, and also a digital interactive AR design, but through research have settled on the idea of a broadsheet folded design.

In the brief it says that they like the idea of a short run newspaper. This is low on cost yet enables variation when it comes to design and sizing. So I looked on www.newspaperclub.co.uk for some inspiration. In doing so I managed to kill two birds with one stone, not only were there great examples of large folded designs, but it also inspired me with a design style of type layed over full page photography. Here is what I found.

Making accounts look good.

I plan to integrate promotion of the charity into the annual report, so I wanted to look at how Accounts and figures can be made to look pretty. I don't want them to just be a page of numbers at the end of the book so I looked into how people make numbers and graphs sing and dance.

 

My pre-conceptions about accounts, figures and graphs were way off. Infographics are really popular at the moment, and people are experimenting in crazy ways with some amazing outcomes. I particularly love some of the typography used in these designs, big and bold on top of graphics as they are the key information that people want to see. I have been pleasantly surprised with what I found here!

Annual Reports.

Seen as the main design outcome in this project is going to be the annual report, I wanted to look into the various design styles used and how the information is portrayed.

Before I underwent this research, and even when I was first looking at the briefs, I couldn't see how an annual report could be made to look visually appealing. In my mind they were very much just page after page of information and statistics about a companies past year, but I was very wrong. Annual reports can be made into a brilliant piece of design, with exciting typography and powerful imagery, I plan to create an annual report that breaks the negative views that I and many others have, and plan to make it look good along the way.

Looking at other charities.

As always I think it is important to see what your competitors are doing when it comes to promotion and design. It gives you a good idea of what is being used already and also what you can do to be more affective than them. So I have taken a look at how other similar charities advertise and promote their organization.

 

When tackling a sensitive topic with great importance, like a lot of charities have to do, I think the imagery used can have an even greater impact than usual. Especially when people are involved, a face can tell a thousand stories, and there is also a lot of symbolism and metaphor used which is a really clever way to have a powerful impact on the audience. I will take some of these points on with me.

The Silent Cities identity.

Something that does have to stay the same for our designs is the companies identity. Though they said at the meeting this can be changed slightly for design purposes, as long as the logo is not changed and that some corporate colours are used in the designs.

I also though it would be good to look into any promotional material already in use by Silent Cities. It is clear that they have a look for there logo that they want to keep across all variations.

 

I think it is also cool how the box below 'silent' changes dependent on each programme. I could maybe look into this for my annual report. Orange is also a key part of the companies identity along with the 'chevron' lines, so I will look to incorporate these where possible throughout my designs.

Who are Silent Cities?

I've started to look into Silent Cities more and see what they do. It's one thing being told in the brief by mouth, but is interesting to see how they market themselves and all the various programmes they run. Here is what I have found.

 

 

Our objects

As a Company Ltd by Guarantee, we have a governing document called The Memorandum and Articles of Association. In this document we specify our social aims (our ‘objects’) as:

3.2.1   to use creativity to address the silent issues cities face, including, but not restricted to homelessness, sex working, mental ill-health, disability, addiction, immigration, and poverty and social disadvantage amongst the elderly and young;

3.2.2   to give a voice, informal learning and employment opportunities to disadvantaged communities;

3.2.3   to clarify, celebrate and consult on local policy of ‘silent issues’ and crowd-source solutions;

3.2.4   to help volunteers take action and promote their hidden talents;

3.2.5   to trade and provide job opportunities through sales of creative goods and services anywhere in the world;
3.2.6   to embrace the creative manifesto and to be a benchmark for innovation and creativity in the third sector.

Creative manifesto

As an organisation, we want to be the benchmark for innovation and creativity and show what can be achieved having creativity at the heart of a third sector organisation. We also aim to trade on the experience itself to help new and emerging social enterprises.
Everything we do is based around our creative manifesto:

• Challenge assumptions
• Be receptive to new ideas
• Recognise similarities or differences
• Make unlikely connections
• Build on ideas to make other ideas
• Look at things in new ways
• Take risks
• Take advantage of the unexpected
• Surround yourself with difference

These principles are based on graphic designer Alan Fletcher’s definition of creativity, and are at the core of everything we do.

Beneficiaries

Silent cities – public and third sector agencies eg local authorities, the police, education, health trusts, charities etc are not given the space and time to explain their policy on silent issues (homelessness, sex trafficking, immigration etc) and to consult with the public about these issues.

Silent minorities – the isolated and long-term unemployed looking to develop creative skills and re-build their confidence and employability. They are looking for quick wins in a safe environment.

Silent charities – local charities struggle with time, money and creative resources to make their work visible. With the onset of personalisation in the care sector, it is even more important that their offer and values are understood.

Silent talent –  budding film makers, musicians, designers, writers, looking for live briefs and the opportunity to flex their creativity and promote their talents. Volunteering in the third sector is a great way in.

Silent volunteers – many people want to volunteer but these issues are too big for us and besides, life’s changed – people don’t want regular and big commitments.
I’m a creative person, what can I do locally to help, at a time and place to suit me?

 

 

 

 

Silent Cities really does seem to be a great charity who reach out to all kinds of people, young and old, and with a variety of different needs. This research has been invaluable because it has enabled me to get into the right mind-set as I embark on this project.

 

My choice.

I have chosen to tackle project 7, "Silent Cites general promotion". The main reason I have chosen this one is because it's a challenge, but also gives me the freedom to run with it the way I want to. Annual reports, accounts, figures and statistics are all new areas of design for me, and the promotion side of it allows me to experiment without boundaries.

I think it would be quite a good idea to make the annual report a promotional piece as well as the facts and figures. It would be great if it could inform the AGM members about the mission of the charity, the people behind it and also some case studies of projects they've run or people they have helped. This is something to explore. I'm quite looking forward to this challenge now and have got my thinking cap well and truly fixed to my head!

Examining the briefs.

Time to look into these briefs. There are 7 different projects that have been put forward by P&J, although we have freedom to develop our own projects, and I am going to try summaries each brief.


Project 1 - Creative Spaces
About, renting out desk space at the Clarence works. Target audience, creative start-up/ new social enterprises. Design task, to promote the spaces and bring in the punters. Images and copy available.

Project 2 - Silent Volunteers
About, an online community that brings together creatives and charities to work together and to gain promotion for the creative. Target audience, local charities/ volunteers/ creatives. Design task, the website itself and promotion of silent volunteers. Initial wire frame, images and copy available.

Project 3 - From Young to Old Franchise
About, 20 young volunteers training 40 elderly people how to get online. Target audience, schools across the UK. Design task, a brand name and a product brand for the programme. Extensive material available to cover all areas.

Project 4 - Creative services to charities and non-profits
About, various workshops and programmes set up to help charities and non-profits market themselves more effectively. Various target audiences, design tasks and materials available.

Project 5 - Silent Sheffield royalty free album
For charities and unsigned bands to work together to benefit each other. Target audience, charities and unsigned bands. Design tasks, promotion to bring bands in/ promotion of the product/ cd artwork. Material, unknown.

Project 6 - Silent Cities job swap
Not much information as of yet, but is a programme to enable people in the creative industry to 'Job-Swap' and experience working elsewhere in the world.

Project 7 - Silent Cities General Promotion.
About, to bring order to the promotion of Silent Cities. Design tasks, Annual Report/ Promotional material/ A way of celebrating and thanking volunteers/ Flag for a Flag Pole. Images available and copy on request.

I am going to look into these briefs further, as maybe I was a bit quick to say they weren't up to much, and choose a project that will enable me to not only create good outcomes for my portfolio, but to allow me to enjoy the project along the way.

First thoughts.

Just had a meeting at The Workshop where we were briefed in by Paul and Justine on our final major project. With this being the last project I am ever going to do in education, I was hoping for something that really excited me and that I could sink my teeth into straight away, but if I'm honest this hasn't happened. The brief is based around a charity called Silent Cities, and there are 7 or 8 different projects within the brief that we can choose. I know it is early doors though and there is still a lot of research to be done so will head forward one foot at a time.