First off the bat, this is a neutral perspective. As a publishing and content agency that’s 5 years old, we recognize the need to learn from the best in the business.
That’s why we don’t do this article like how others have done, and simply list ourselves at the top.
That said, let’s start.
Overseas designers? Maybe not
I stayed at the client, wondering if I had played my cards wrong. We had sailed past the final stage of the interviews, and we were now having the final call.
We had told her that our designers were based in different places like Boston, Vancouver, Singapore and Jakarta.
She hesitated. She wondered how we would be able to deliver and ship the annual report.
But we’ve already done this for 5 other organisations. I don’t think you need to worry about that.
Eventually, she preferred an agency with the bulk of their designers based in Singapore.
I could not blame her. With the global despair about how jobs were being outsourced, I could understand the worry, although I didn’t think it was justified.
But as I looked at more of the annual report agencies, I could tell that her concerns were justified. Some of the agencies listed didn’t even seem to be trustworthy. No one knew if they were just a one-man shop operating out of Singapore, and outsourcing the rest abroad.
You definitely did not want that for something as important as your Annual Report, which is going to be the flagship communication piece.
Let’s take you through how the best are doing it, starting from the award winners.
1. Equus
Equus Design Consultants, now EQ, had a nomination for the IDA Design Awards for designing DBS’ 2019 Annual Report. Whilst they didn’t win, it still shows a certain degree of thought put in.
Here’s what they wrote for their entry.
Having been voted Best Bank in the World no less than three times in the last year, for their 2019 Annual Report, DBS wanted to show how there has been a paradigm shift in the bank’s focus towards sustainability and being a force for good, as well as unlocking customer freedom through its powerful digital platform.
To underscore this paradigm shift we proposed ‘Pursuing the greater good’ as the theme, supported by contemporary-looking graphic illustrations to convey key messages, and sketch portraits of the leadership, instead of photos.
Pick an agency who’s great at copy
If you look at the title of the Annual Report “Pursuing the Greater Good”, it immediately encapsulates what DBS has been doing for the past 6 years, since Piyush Gupta took over.
Of course, you might say,
what’s the point of great copy when AI can do the same?
Let’s be clear. AI can’t think (for now). It can synthesise, repeat what’s been said, but it’s not going to be able to think through what has been done and build it into a larger vision.
More than just that, Equus’ writing added a touch of humor, and humanness to the work that DBS did. Just look at the headline here.
The World’s Best Bank (again)…
It’s cheeky, playful, and shows a good touch of class to what DBS does.
Pick an agency that understands your story and stitches together a coherent narrative
But what was even better about Equus was its ability to understand the wider DBS story, and where it emerged from as the Development Bank of Singapore.
Through its understanding of the role DBS played in developing Singaporeans’ initial dreams of owning a home, and then later in the financing of new businesses, Equus stitched together a coherent story, that read like a good book.
2. Meta Fusion
Meta Fusion won the Silver Prize for the Real Estate Integrated Development and Investment, and were one of the two agencies (the other being Aetos Communications), who won from Singapore.
If one looks at the Capitaland Investments Annual Report they did, one can quickly tell how they centered their work on a strong concept – where ideas take shape. They then conveyed this through the malleable medium of shapes.
Find an agency that centers your story on a strong, malleable concept
If one looks through their report, you would see how this idea of shapes filters through the entire book.
It’s not just about putting nice shapes together though. If you’re looking for a design agency, the first thing you’d always ask them is what concept they are using. If they are able to build a concept that fully encapsulates what you’re trying to say, you have a winner.
But of course, what differentiates an okay concept, from a great one?
Here’s what we think.
Of course, if we want to be picky, we can quickly say that the design team could have threaded together the idea of shapes more within every page. For example, in this part about their research insights, they could have ideated the insights on the computer through lines and graphs, rather than using the real life picture of a laptop.
3. Aetos Communications
Aetos did the Elite Commercial REIT, which has been arguably one of the poorer performing REITs in the Singapore market. They had a tough ask.
To make the REIT look great, even though its performance may not have been the best.
They did, and even won a prize for doing so.
Cohering well with other marketing collaterals, starting with the brand colors
If you look at what Aetos did, they managed to work well with the brand colors of Elite. Whilst that can sound like a small thing, it quickly makes it more easily noticeable.
Annual Reports don’t exist in a vacuum. Instead, they exist in a space where there are multiple other pieces that are moving.
Think of it as a chess piece, amidst other moving chess pieces.
4. Media Lede
Then of course, there’s us. We may be young, but we’ve been shortlisted for awards too. The most recent one was when our publishing house were shortlisted for the Singapore Children’s Book Illustrator of the Year in June 2025 for the commemorative book Vista Sakinah wrote for stepchildren.
Whilst we didn’t win that, it was testament to the hard work of our design team.
Seeing an Annual Report, as an organizational narrative that drives longer term outcomes
As an agency, we’ve always believed in the power of story.
Sure, those are fancy words, but what do they actually mean? And does it even make a difference to your business outcomes?
Well, don’t take it from me. Take it from the people behind Storybrand, the New York Times bestseller.
They found that the people who followed the Storybrand framework, made more money. So the research is clear. If you want to make more money, follow the Storybrand framework. And yes, this applies too for your Annual Report.
Take for example something we did recently for Noontalk. They approached us and asked us to do an Annual Report, and we quickly studied their company.
We decided to do something about being “Inside a Movie”, and we subsequently planned the scenes out like they were in a story.
This eventually led us to hit this as their opening page.
Whilst we didn’t eventually win the project, it was a good lesson in recognizing:
Without story, nothing moves.
With an annual report, you’re trying to make a long, very long, report have dynamism. I know – it’s boring to read a bunch of financial statements.
I’ve fallen asleep multiple times reading those.
But a story, a movie, is not something you usually fall asleep on.
Why?
Because it’s interesting.
And that’s what you can do to make your annual report better.
By choosing an agency like us, that does these annual reports.