The best annual report design service in Nottingham

Studying in Nottingham was one of the most formative experiences in my life. Not only because it gave me a degree.

In social work.

But because it taught me a range of skills, that eventually culminated in me starting media sites, a content agency doing annual reports, and a publishing company.

That said, you’re looking for an annual report design service in Nottingham.

What’s there, and what should you be looking out for?

We studied the biggest agencies out there in Nottingham to see if they had something different to add.

At The New Fat, they talked about 3 things, as you can see below.

The team’s ability to first conceptualise the ideas

As we’ve worked more and more with companies to do their annual reports, we’ve come to see that the most vital part of any design is first, the concept.

Huh?

Concept?

Yes, concept.

Concept is the glue that ties the entire design together. With good design, you begin to see evidence of a strong, coherent concept behind the initial design, that allows for the whole report to come together smoothly.

When people eventually read it, they may not necessarily know what went into it, but they do understand that it was good.

For example, with the annual report of Mount Alvernia, a Catholic charity that started in the U.K., and later began a hospital in Singapore, we started with some initial concepts based on what we had read.

We started with what the client told us, with them saying that they wanted something based around nature.

We then found some references for them.

Here’s another example of a concept that we used. In this concept, we built off the history of the organisation, and tried to bring together a concept that bound together their rich history, together with their progressiveness as an organisation.

Okay, you might argue that Catholic charities can’t pay good social service salaries, and therefore they can’t pay us well too. Why bother working so hard for someone who can’t pay well? 

I beg to differ. We believe that it’s not just a money game. 

Rather it’s about forming the best concepts to communicate the good work of charities, to help their services to grow and serve more people.

To make a good concept, we need to ensure:

For example, with Netlink, we ensured that we captured the organisational gravitas by positioning them as the leading telecoms infrastructure provider in Singapore.

We rephrased what they initially gave us in the vision to

That is our vision.

The ability of the team to synthesise large amounts of information

Later, when we started to reshape the information they gave us into something punchy, we had to think creatively.

You have to look for agencies that are able to present large amounts of information accurately and in an engaging way.

Just look at how Google does it.

In their 2022 Year in Review report, they were able to present their progress in search in simple diagrams.

Look for design agencies that can do this.

Agencies who can write well

Whilst it might seem like ChatGPT can do a lot of writing today, that doesn’t mean that you should trust it to do the writing for you.

It can do ‘how-to’ writing, combining the information it finds online.

But ‘how-to-think’ writing is a lot tougher, and needs expert insight to help.

On Google, you will always be able to find ‘how-to’ information. But to get better insights (and not just information), you need to find writers that can create visionary insights that position you as the thought leader in the industry.

After all, in your annual report, you’re looking to do something that’s different. It should be able to stand out from the crowd, so that investors will even be willing to invest in it.

As you can see from the most prominent listed company in Nottingham, Games Workshop, they also focus strongly on communicating clearly and honestly through their [annual reports. ]

Agencies with good service

To be honest, you can find a much, much cheaper design agency through Fiverr. But does that mean you should use it?

Yes, if you’re tight on a budget.

But if you want agencies that deliver on service, that do this full-time, and can devote most of their attention to you, then you should definitely use a full-stack design agency.

That may not be the cheapest option, but it would be the most reliable option. Would you want to coordinate everything on your own, such as:

1. Finding photographers to take professional shots
2. Finding writers
3. Finding layout artists that can put it together for print, together with putting the CMYK markings for proper printing
4. Understanding how to instruct the printers about the exact paper type you want to use

Alone, this doesn’t sound tough.

But imagine if your shareholders receive a flimsy looking annual report that’s not printed on good quality paper.

You may use a glossy finish on the front, that makes your annual report look cheap, rather than a matte finish. All of these print decisions need expertise.

You’re not going to be able to make them alone.

That’s why you need help.

You can find us too

As a former graduate of Nottingham University, I had the chance to work on different publications for the university, such as their Student Life articles.

That taught me what to look out for in creating evergreen content that people would read and find useful. That’s probably what you’d want as well for your annual report.

Don’t waste your time with trying to pick between too many different agencies. Pick one good one that you won’t regret.