They don’t get produced the way they once did, but annual report design has not lost its creativity. In this bold annual report for Noble Development created by Farmgroup – the piece was produced without one drop of ink. The creative team let the paper be the star of the show, employing strong print techniques like embossing, die-cutting and unique binding to carry the company’s message: “be different. be noble.” I have to give as much credit to the AE on this one as the creative. I can’t think of too many CEO’s that would opt for such a daring statement – but more really should.
The secret to producing such incredible results lies within the paper stock. With all the folding going on in the bindery, if you use too heavy a basis weight you run the risk of cracking, but with such few pages you need the piece to have some heft to it reinforcing the messaging. This is where samples play a critical role in the process. To insure you’ll get the kind of results you’d expect, order a mock-up on the actual paper stock you’ll be using. In this case, the annual is on three different stocks in very bold, yet corporate colors: white, black and gray. The paper has a simple, raw surface allowing the tactile feel of the sheet to be the textural backdrop for the heavy embossing and die-cutting techniques. To learn more about mock-ups and what’s in the sample studio – join Parse & Parcel.
