Off the Record Annual Report Brochure

A final mockup for the cover of the brochure

Client: Off the Record, a mental health charity based in Bath and Bristol
Date: October 2014
Achievements: My mockup designs chosen over 15 others in a Dragon's Den style presentation/tender pitch, I won the chance to be the art director for this project

The brief for this live client involved redesigning the charity's annual report. This document vital to the charity's financial intake, as it is their corporate sponsors' first port of call with the organisation. This brochure has the power to increase their takings by quite a significant amount, making them able to reach out to more people in need.

My original designs that I pitched were quite different to the one you see above, taking the client's needs and wants into consideration and combining them with my ideas.

For perspective, here is the old, existing Off the Record brochure cover design (left) vs. the design ideas I pitched in my presentation (right).

The old, existing design vs. my mockups that I pitched. My favourite was ones with the triangles.

I'm glad I included two options and not just the one I personally preferred, as the client opted for the one on the far right, using the silhouettes that are a prevalent element throughout the old brochure and also on the charity's website.

Page mockups included in my pitch

The client loved my choice of fonts, the ticker tape detailing on the contents page and, in particular, the crinkled crepe paper texture that I used for the background.
However, she wasn't keen on the colour scheme of red+blue or the lack of silhouettes in my design - something I modified my design to include, in keeping with the brand's general image.

To fit with the brand, I changed the blue to a nice sage green after discussing this with the client. This was mainly to fit the silhouette graphics at the bottom, which were originally green (as opposed to my modified cream+blue version seen above.)

I was then informed that the format was to be square instead of A4, so after shifting things around, the new and improved square version was born!

From A4 (left) to square (above)

Mockups for the inner pages came next. I decided to keep the crinkle texture just for the cover and for other text box or decorative elements, such as the contents box, to preserve legibility. I kept the ticker tape in keeping with the client's wishes, extending it to be used as an image frame as well as decoration, as seen on the "Mission and Vision" mockup page below. As the silhouettes were so essential to the brand, I decided the crinkle texture could be combined with them to brighten up empty space within the brochure, especially on pages that were lacking the green colour.

This project is ongoing as of January 2015. We're currently awaiting feedback on the InDesign template created by a fellow student to mirror my design for the artworkers.