Company Document Design

Project proposals, screenplay pitches, internal company documents, even financial reports, do not have to be dull visually. In fact the best way to engage clients, stakeholders, and internal management, in the content of such reports is to make those documents visually intriguing, maybe even artistic with a hint of fun. That documents need to clearly present the information they contain, is a given, and designing the layout structure to achieve that is vital. For as Massimo Vignelli said, "The content determines the container." Yet, there are an almost infinite range of possible design containers for a piece of content. Why then, do financial reports always look like financial reports? Whilst I believe there is something to be said for designing reports that look similar to all other reports - in that they are instantly recognizable as being what they are - doing so creates a document that, even at a glance, can trigger the reader to enter an instant state of boredom, before they even begin reading. Universal Studios did not want the usual pristine-but-dull internal documents, they wanted something interesting, on-brand, even intriguing...