Project Overview
The British Business Bank is a UK government-backed business development Bank. It is dedicated to making finance markets work better for smaller businesses.
The 2022 Annual Report and Accounts use the Bank’s brand identity, to underpin this year’s theme ‘Supporting sustainable recovery across the UK’. Pull-quotes, infographics and key stats are used, plus funding and case study maps to give regional context.
We put accessibility at the heart of the report, making it easier for a non-expert audience to access what is necessarily complex information. Plus, using WCAG AA 2.1 guidance and tagging for screen readers, the 2022 report is also the British Business Bank’s most accessible to date for blind and partially sighted people.
The careful selection and use of imagery give the report authenticity and context within the SME sector. We art-directed photoshoots in addition to the research and curation of images to demonstrate an awareness of the Bank’s diverse SME audience and enhance the Bank’s reputation.
“We’ve really enjoyed working with Red Stone on our Annual Reports. They are professional, innovative, flexible and each year has brought us an exciting concept which has enhanced our brand and demonstrated the growth of our business.”
Annual report team, British Business Bank
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Red Stone creative and project teams
Project Brief
The brief for the 2022 annual report and accounts was to have new objectives and an ambitious vision for a more compelling and engaging approach to showcasing the Bank’s impact and ways of working. We worked in partnership with the annual report team to define a flexible creative approach to bring the content to life.
An integral part of the brief was to design and deliver a more accessible annual report for 2022. This accessibility would work on two levels. Firstly as the report was aimed primarily at an expert audience, an additional layered approach to appeal to general readers. The need to effectively communicate the Bank’s strategy, impact, processes and ESC commitments to this non-expert audience would be through more extensive use of infographics. Secondly, an in-depth technical process was needed to make the interactive pdf version of the report as accessible as possible for blind and partially sighted people.
In addition to the pdf and print versions, the report launch was supported with key facts and statistics as assets across social media. As 2022 saw the UK slowly emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, striking the right tone of voice for the report would be crucial. We managed the copywriting of the front section, in addition to proofreading, photography and print management.
Project Innovation/Need
As part of the Bank’s drive for greater accessibility for all, the report would be designed with the latest accessibility guidelines, making the report even more usable to blind and partially sighted people, through compatibility with screen readers and infographics to explain seemingly complex processes.
We knew that in addition to our existing standards, there were further changes required to ensure tagged pdfs meet accessibility requirements. This includes heading styles, how tables/charts are built and presented, plus the use of colour to differentiate information in graphs and maps.
To ensure that the report was cost-effective we recommended litho-printed covers with text pages printed digitally – this retained its physical quality, whilst reducing production costs by over 50%. We proposed FSC stock and carbon offsetting of the print. We improved accessibility in the interactive and tagged PDF version, making this year’s report the most accessible yet.
Design Challenge
The design challenge for the 2022 annual report was to make it a key communication tool that highlights the current workings and future direction of the organisation to a range of audiences. The 2022 annual report has an underlying theme ‘Supporting sustainable recovery across the UK’, putting the organisation in the context of the year’s operating conditions. Our creative approach reflected the times in this way – a cautious account of the economic situation for small and medium enterprises.
The annual report was also an opportunity to be an exemplar for the brand, through the use of illustration, accessible colour and typography. The report’s new infographic spreads explain the Bank’s processes for lending, whilst retaining the on-brand vibrant and engaging appeal.
The creative approach employs the graphic approach we created for the Bank’s brand identity, with additional brand assets to help to tell the year’s story. The report was made easier to access using top-layer content such as pull-quotes, infographics and key stats, plus funding and case study maps to give regional context.
The careful selection and use of imagery give the report authenticity and context within the SME sector. We supported the written content with a mix of stock and bespoke photography. We art-directed photoshoots in addition to the research and curation of images to demonstrate an awareness of the Bank’s diverse SME audience and enhance the Bank’s reputation.
Effectiveness
What our client said:
“We’ve really enjoyed working with Red Stone on our Annual Reports. They are professional, innovative, flexible and each year have brought us an exciting concept which has enhanced our brand and demonstrated the growth of our business.”
Annual Report team, British Business Bank
Graphic Design - Publication
This award celebrates creative and innovative design in the traditional or digital visual representation of ideas and messages. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching of information style to audience register.
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