Blame it on the stock market.

According to Investopedia, legislation enacted after the 1929 stock market crash was the genesis of the annual report. What began as a staid vehicle for reporting corporate operations and overall fiscal health to shareholders has evolved; in the right hands, an otherwise dry annual report can become a sophisticated, multipurpose business tool.

Purpose
Maybe your business has to provide an annual report, but that legal requirement presents a perfect opportunity to reach out and promote your organization. Depending on how your content is presented, your annual report can be used for marketing, fundraising, team building, and recruitment purposes.

• Introduce your organization — Share who you are and what you do with legislators or potential members, exhibitors, or corporate sponsors.
• Demonstrate social responsibility — How your organization interacts with the broader community and the positive impact of that engagement reveals interests beyond making profits.
• Express corporate values — Where your organization stands on issues such as the environment can influence contributors or potential members.
• Humanize your organization — Sharing staff photos, individual stories, or other aspects of the corporate culture makes your business more approachable.
• Energize and inspire — Recounting the year’s achievements and announcing strategies for future growth generates pride, excitement, and media buzz for your organization.

Presentation
The rapid adoption of mobile devices and social media have forced businesses to rethink how they communicate with their customers or members. Consider this:

• 80% of Internet users in the U.S. browse with smartphones;
• 78% of the U.S. population have a social media profile;
• Post-millennial Gen Zs communicate through images and icons.

Today’s annual reports convey more than financial data, and organizations are repackaging that information to take advantage of digital trends and opportunities. Annual report microsites with a mobile-first design appeal to digital natives but may feel foreign to your traditional demographic; using both digital and print channels allows you to target a younger audience without alienating your base. Digital variants may also allow you to introduce interactivity or motion to enhance the user experience or provide additional online-only content. A multichannel approach for your report engages readers in different ways to expand your organization’s reach.

Whether your annual report is represented online by a PDF, flipbook, microsite, or video presentation, don’t dismiss the power of print. Thoughtful, deliberate design can produce a physical report of enormous impact.

• Format — Will your report be a bound booklet or a folded tabloid? Take advantage of unusual sizes or unique folds; the unexpected makes a memorable impression.
• Content — Language, visuals, and corporate personality are the pillars of your brand; well-designed infographics tap into all three to convey complex ideas that resonate with a younger or lay audience.
• Techniques and finishes — From paper and ink to “sensory printing” techniques—like tactile coatings or thermal technologies—every choice you make for your annual report speaks volumes about your organization.

In print and online, a professional design partner can help you think outside the box and turn your annual report into a multitasking powerhouse.

Ready to reinvent your annual report? Get in touch with Dever Designs to start the conversation.

Reviewing the cover press proof

If you had to guess what the most collected item of trash along the world’s beaches and waterways was in 2015 was, what would you say?

Would your guess be bottle caps? Perhaps plastic bags?

It turns out that in 2015, through Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, volunteers collected 2,127,565 cigarette butts.

For 30 years, Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup has engaged people to clean trash from beaches and waterways spanning the globe. In 2015 alone, more than 18 million pounds of trash was collected by nearly 800,000 volunteers as part of this effort.

Dever Designs was proud to help highlight the scale of the organization’s work in a visually engaging format as we partnered with Ocean Conservancy on their 2015 Ocean Trash Index.

To help illustrate their story and accomplishments in a compelling way, we first changed up the 8.5” x 11” report format to an 11” x 9” horizontal size, giving the report more of a coffee table book feel. We incorporated feature photos and quotes from volunteers to help tell the organization’s story, while designing powerful infographics to quantify the impact of the International Coastal Cleanup.

The first sheets, fresh off the press

Ocean Conservancy distributed the report on their website and in print to the cleanup coordinators around the world. The print copies were produced with crisp details and bright colors by our partners at Cavanaugh Press on their 40” 6-Color Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 press.

Working with organizations that make the world a better place is something that energizes us to do our best work. We were honored to help Ocean Conservancy highlight the 30th anniversary of its International Coastal Cleanup.

Click here to see the finished piece.

See how we can help your organization spread the word. Take a look at our portfolio and get in touch to start the conversation.