Achieving an exceptional annual report.

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For over 16 years Celsius has been working in partnership with businesses and organisations developing all aspects of corporate and investor reporting. In our experience the best reports have been the result of a collaborative relationship between clients and designers.

The benefit of our experience lies in having the foresight to anticipate traps and problem-solve prior to issues arising. In understanding that every business has a story to tell and knowing how to meaningfully translate these within a report; and having the ability to align creative inspiration with strategic objectives.

Outstanding annual reports will engage stakeholders and instil trust and credibility. They will have cut through and strengthen your brand, vision and value to all stakeholders. Yet many businesses lack the experience to capitalise on opportunities to take their annual report to the next level. As such we have developed this how to guide to assist businesses in moving from ordinary to extraordinary!

We are sure you will find some tips and ideas throughout this guide to help assist you in creating a more efficient process and effective end result – and should the need arise we would only be too happy to assist you in overcoming any challenges.

Best of luck.

Vicki Simmons Creative Director

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Foreword

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The best reports are read not because they have to be, but because a reader wants to know more – from the cover to the back page.

An annual report does more than document company activities over the last financial year. It’s a statement about your business, about how you do things, how you operate, your strategic vision, your culture, the value you place in shareholders, and stakeholders – be they individuals, institutions or government.

A quality annual report can set the pace of your company, help define your market and encourage participation in your organisation. Conversely, a poorly-produced annual report may discourage investors or stakeholders.

Great annual reports come from great ideas that are well executed. They allow time to finesse the concept, write to the brief, commission complementary words and imagery, and for any specialist printing if required, well before delivery to the mail house, the Board or Parliament.

Great reports are not rushed out at the last minute. Like all great things, they are at their best when time has been taken in their preparation.

A great report will stand out from the crowd.

What does your annual report say about you?

Stakeholders

Vision,Mission& Values

Strategic Goals

Publications

Reputation

Teaching& Research

Profile

Financial Statements

Ethics

Social Responsibility

Environmental Responsibility

Who you are

OrganisationalStructure

DirectorsStaff

Volunteers

What you do

How you do it

Where you do it

Why you do it

Who you do it for

Quality Control

Government

Federal StateLocal

Achievements

Successes

Struggles

Innovations

GrowthBenefactors

Individuals

Institutions

Your Company

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Stakeholders

Vision,Mission& Values

Strategic Goals

Publications

Reputation

Teaching& Research

Profile

Financial Statements

Ethics

Social Responsibility

Environmental Responsibility

Who you are

OrganisationalStructure

DirectorsStaff

Volunteers

What you do

How you do it

Where you do it

Why you do it

Who you do it for

Quality Control

Government

Federal StateLocal

Achievements

Successes

Struggles

Innovations

GrowthBenefactors

Individuals

Institutions

Your Company

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Ask yourself: why are you producing a report? Is there a legislative imperative to do so? Do you have a small number of interested shareholders who read all company information? Is it a legal requirement as a listed company, or are you a not-for-profit that uses it for marketing purposes? How often do you communicate with this audience and get an opportunity to explain your organisation and its activities?

Perhaps you have a new CEO, or want to answer public criticism of your company. The annual report is a great opportunity to signify change, growth, security and vision. It sells your organisation and the staff behind it. It reflects what you have achieved in the last twelve months, and what you stand for.

As such you need to make every post meaningful. From the president’s report, previous year’s achievements, internal engagement initiatives to future vision, all information must cohesively work together to provide a 360O overview of your business or organisation.

Strategic reason for producing your report

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Award winning reports have a strong theme that continues with both imagery and words to draw the reader in and keep them engaged throughout the document.

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Theming your report

Your annual report theme can come from a number of directions. Has your organisation had a strategic priority for the year? Can you define the year by any particular theme? Has there been an outstanding achievement that can set the direction? Or have you developed new visionary aspirations? The CEO may want input into the theme, or provide some insight into how they saw the past year.

Many outstanding stories within your business can provide the inspiration for creating a cohesive and compelling theme that can be carried throughout your report. The best results will come through workshopping ideas with both your marketing team and your designers. An external perspective can often help.

Once a (or a few) concept themes have been developed, they then need to be incorporated within the brief.

The brief

This takes the form of some key information to pass on to the design team. It should include, but may not be limited to the following:

– Background– Audience– Format– Mandatory inclusions– Past year highlights– Concept / tone / feeling / theme– Style guide requirements– Delivery deadline– Distribution means

A well-timed briefing session about five months before your deadline allows plenty of time for design development and finessing, this allows more time to write your report rather than rushing through the whole process close to the deadline.

Award winning reports have a strong theme that continues with both imagery and words to draw the reader in and keep them engaged throughout the document.

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Which type of report?

Just as there are many different types of organisations, there are many types of reports, purpose-designed to fill the brief.

Annual reports, annual reviews, financial reports: the options for stakeholder communication of your bottom line are endless. All listed companies are required to produce audited financial statements for shareholders, and all public sector organisations must report to Parliament. It is the extent to which you choose to augment these statements with further information that dictates the type and size of your report.

With opt-in clauses now in place, the days of providing full annual reports to all shareholders are diminishing. Many companies send either an annual review or summary of activities to all shareholders, and provide electronic copies of the full financial statements online.

Your designers are the best resource in helping you choose a compelling and cost-effective format for your report.

While many believed the move to electronic media would mean the death of the printed report, digital printing has opened up a world of possibilities in terms of smaller, cost-effective print runs.

It is also very satisfying to hold a printed copy of the annual report in your hand, and flick through the pages as you choose, rather than in the more lineal fashion dictated by electronic communication.

or

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Developing the concept

The designer uses the brief and supplementary information including your style guide and translates them into a coherent, visual concept.

The design of the annual report incorporates a number of aspects. The first step is producing design concepts.

Depending on timing and budget, there may be a few design options to choose from. This stage includes resolution of all design issues, and includes font and colour selection, imagery style and format of the report.

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Words that work

Using an external copywriter can ease the burden on your department and assist with timely production of the report.

Once the concept has been approved, it is time to consider the editorial. The editorial goes hand-in-hand with the design and is written to support the concept.

You may be handling it in-house, or wish to employ an annual report specialist to assist with the copy. Many clients choose to produce raw copy internally, and then work with an editor to fit the copy to the concept and make the language uniform throughout the document. This includes editing all provided copy for plain English, adhering to your organisation’s style guide, and sub-editing pages once they are designed so that the copy fits cleanly.

It is in your interest to provide fully-approved copy to your designer in order to minimise the time and cost of author’s corrections as the deadline looms.

Similarly, sending your report out for proofreading prior to printing will ensure any last minute changes don’t result in last minute expenses.

Celsius has partnerships with strategists, writers and proofreaders to assist with the professional and prompt production of your report.

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Avoid simple misteaks

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Pssst Look in here!

LOOK HERE!

MADEYOU LOOK!

Please look!

Look at me!

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Creating the ‘pick up and read’ factor

Great imagery can provide the pick up and read factor on the cover that everyone is looking for, and guide the reader through the document. It tells its own story, providing a taste of the information contained within.

A picture can tell a thousand words. A few words can also form a great picture.

Imagery can make or break a report. Creating something truly original means commissioning imagery for your report.

Good compelling imagery doesn’t have to cost a lot. The best results come from when the designers are involved in choosing and managing the photographers or illustrators and where everyone works as a team to a budget. You may also consider ways to utilise any commissioned imagery or photography (subject to approval of the artist or photographer) in other media throughout the year.

Your design team will work with you to choose the best fit for your report.

LOOK OVER HERE!

LOOK DOWN HERE!

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From layout to final artwork

In the process from layout to finished artwork the approved editorial is placed on the pages, along with the commissioned imagery.

By having an approved concept prior to the writing of the report, the design stage can be at its most efficient, particularly for annual reports where timing can be critical, and evry minute counts.

[need some more design info here- Celsius to provide some pointers for additional copy re finished artwork and obstacles (emphasis on $ benefits etc)]

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HEADING SHOULD READ ‘From layout and editing to finished artwork ’

Bring text up

Refer to Copy update ‘ CEL-3571_Text 3.7 ’ to check SubHead text

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HEADING SHOULD READ ‘From layout and editing to finished artwork ’

INSERT STAGE 2 pencil IDEA AS PER MEETING with Vicki on 25.O1.12 HERE

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Format and printing

Gone are the days where reports were all printed to A4 size. Pocket-sized, oversized, A4, quarto, landscape: all reports are custom made and designed to best meet the brief.

You can choose to have them saddle-stitched (stapled), burst or perfect bound (with flat spine) or ring bound (when including a spine it is commonly referred to as Canadian or half-Canadian binding). Size often dictates the best binding method for your report. Larger reports work best with burst binding, which allows room on the spine to include the name and year of your report. Saddle stitching works well with reports or reviews that run to around 40 pages or less. Specialist binding such as ring binding is also an option, and allows for more flexible pagination than saddle stitching or perfect binding.

Paper stock (using coated or uncoated paper), weight (the thickness of the paper measured in grams per square metre – GSM) are also important printing considerations, and specialist treatments such as embossing or foiling can add real impact to your report at a minimal additional cost.

Determine your print run by taking into account the number of reports required for shareholders/stakeholders, and then factor in those used for marketing purposes, in your organisation’s foyer or at company presentations. Reprinting can be expensive, so it is vital to ensure you print enough copies to allow for requests for additional copies, archiving, and marketing.

An emerging field is the use of eBooks as a format for electronic publishing of your report. The eBook format allows readers to ‘flick’ through the pages of the report in a similar fashion to reading a book. eBook readers are expected to be increasingly accessible, and is another electronic publishing option for your report.

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Your report and the environment

Environmental awareness in the production of your report is a high priority.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is the independent body globally that determines the origin of the raw materials used in the production of paper. The FSC evaluates the management practices in the forest itself and accredited providers need to meet specified ecological and social performance measures, and commit to reduce the impacts of logging. In short, the FSC certified forests must be managed in an environmentally sound, socially beneficial and economically viable way.

Celsius uses FSC certified paper stock (recycled or new) in printing, and FSC certified printers.

Other environmental considerations include whether the stock is processed chlorine free, the carbon footprint of the paper processing and printing, the use of soy-based inks, and ensuring an adequate but not wasteful print run.

If you are using your own printer, be sure to check whether they are FSC certified and using environmentally sustainable paper.

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The countdown is on

New financial year is just around the corner – but don’t panic. There is still time to produce an exceptional and compelling report.

Listed companies and government departments have strictly mandated times for delivering reports to shareholders or stakeholders. Unlisted or not-for-profit organisations often choose to produce an annual report, but are often not bound by specific dates to mail the report.

The benefits of engaging a design agency means that you save time, resources and can continue the work you need to be doing. We work as an extension of your team to provide professional design, copywriting and proofing services, minimising fuss and maximising your valuable time.

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Starting the process

First and foremost a brief assessment of the previous year’s annual report process and outcomes will assist in developing a checklist of requirements for this year. This will allow you to build on your success and improve weaknesses within the process. This can be done internally or preferably in partnership with your designers.

Choosing the correct design partner will be paramount. Here are some points to consider when appointing them:

– Experience– Accountability– Reputation– Ability to meet tight deadlines– Ability to adapt processes to meet your requirements– Creative ingenuity– Approachability of staff– Access to staff– Result focus

Through collaborating with your design partner you should be able to develop an achievable process and timeline that allows you to maximise the end result.

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Celsius Design 52 Glasshouse Road Collingwood VIC 3066 p 03 9419 0044

celsiusdesign.com.au