I’ve known the Dutch Best Designed Books contest for a pretty long time now. Next January the 50th edition will be judged. Yet while looking for information on this edition (submit your books before January 7!) I stumbled upon another contest organised by the Grafische Cultuurstichting, one that I wasn’t aware of. The Best Designed Annual Reports were announced at Grafisch Papier Hier last month – the laureates are Koninklijke Ahrend, Aids Fonds, BOOM (Bureau Ontnemingswetgeving Openbaar Ministerie), Insinger de Beaufort and VSBfonds.
Although the jury considers the five annual reports equally matched, the jury report reveals that the least doubt existed over the annual reports for BOOM, designed by BW H ontwerpers, and for Insinger de Beaufort, designed by Dietwee. One of the reasons the BOOM annual report is praised is because the reader finds out within five minutes what the Bureau Ontnemingswetgeving Openbaar Ministerie has achieved in 2007. And the Insinger de Beaufort annual review has been amongst the best designed annual reports for years now. According to the jury report the secret to their success is a very strong and conscientiously preserved concept. An overarching story (this time about a circus) and the financial report expound on what the bank stands for, and for the rest everything stays the same (the same exemplary quality of copywriting, photography, graphic design and typography, the same excellent execution etc.).
The inclusion of the annual reports for Ahrend (designed by Irma Boom Office), Aidsfonds (Dietwee) and VSBfonds (One/one) makes that the end result is no real surprise – for the design agencies and four out of five clients this is the second consecutive year their annual reports have been awarded. I do find it peculiar that – although typography is mentioned numerous times in the jury report – the used typefaces are not listed in the otherwise very detailed credits. So as a bonus I identified them myself and comment on them.
Commercieel verslag 2007 Ahrend | cover
Commercieel verslag 2007 Ahrend
Commission | Koninklijke Ahrend NV, Amsterdam
Design | Irma Boom Office, Amsterdam
Copywriting | Dirk van Ginkel, Spannum; Catch of the day, Leidschendam
Photography | Yves Paternoster, Amsterdam; Hans Morren, Ermelo
Lithography | Mediatraffic, Amsterdam
Printing | Drukkerij Lecturis, Eindhoven
Binding | Boekbinderij Patist, Den Dolder
Paper | Grey cardboard (cover), Chromolux 700
Commercieel verslag 2007 Ahrend | spread
Commercieel verslag 2007 Ahrend | spread
Presenting numbers and telling what one does. This is about what an annual report must achieve. The report for Ahrend does that amongst other things on two-sided paper, high-gloss coated on one side, and with so-called shutter folds that literally reveal the products behind the numbers and the stories behind the products. Beautifully produced, with pride in one’s work and attention to one’s own identity.
Commercieel verslag 2007 Ahrend | detail
Neuzeit® S combines the best of both worlds – it is situated somewhere between the classic grotesques like Helvetica and Univers, and the more geometric and technical looking DIN faces. The clear numerals include a flat topped ‘3’ which eliminates any possible confusion with the ‘8’ – an ideal sans for financial reports and such.
The way things are - Insinger de Beaufort Annual Review 2007 | cover
The way things are - Insinger de Beaufort Annual Review 2007
Commission | Insinger de Beaufort NV, Amsterdam
Design | Dietwee ontwerp en communicatie (Jamie Mitchell), Utrecht
Copywriting | Aquarium Writers, London (UK)
Photography | Loop Management (Neil Massey), London (UK)
Printing | Drukkerij Rosbeek, Nuth
Binding | Binderij Callenbach, Nijkerk
Paper | Dito
The way things are - Insinger de Beaufort Annual Review 2007 | spread
The Insinger de Beaufort annual review has been amongst the best designed annual reports for years now. The secret to their success is a very strong and conscientiously preserved concept. An overarching story – this time about a circus, NoFit State – and the financial report expound on what the bank stands for, and for the rest everything stays the same: the same exemplary quality of copywriting, photography, graphic design and typography, the same excellent execution, and even the same perception by the reader-viewer. Beautiful and poetic – this is a bank with feelings and attention for the customer, modest and integer.
The way things are - Insinger de Beaufort Annual Review 2007 | detail
The unexpected combination of the upgraded News Gothic/Trade Gothic interpretation Benton Sans and the rather archaic looking Caslon (I think?) somehow seems to work, especially in the large chunks of grey text overlapping the images.
denken-doen.nl - VSBfonds (Utrecht) – cover
denken-doen.nl - VSBfonds (Utrecht) – spread
/binnen /buiten /bedankt - VSBfonds (Utrecht)
Commission | VSBfonds, Utrecht
Design | One/one (F. Lambers, F. Pfeffer), Amsterdam
Copywriting | Cecile Vossen Concept & Tekst, Utrecht
Photography | Unit, Amsterdam
Printing | Drukkerij Badoux, Houten
Paper | Biotop
denken-doen.nl - VSBfonds (Utrecht) – cover
denken-doen.nl - VSBfonds (Utrecht) – spread
Three quite different booklets (one of them a stapled brochure) in a slipcase usually is asking for trouble. Yet in this case it worked. The jury found all three of them beautiful, and fantastic when combined. \binnen (Inside) – the actual annual report – distinguishes itself by its exemplary graphs. \buiten (Outside) deals with the future of the Netherlands through excellent photography, and \bedankt (Thank you) – the overview of the projects – does so with apt sobriety. Format, choice of paper, colour palette and exquisite typography make for a consistent and pleasant image.
denken-doen.nl - VSBfonds (Utrecht) – detail
Rotis may seem the ideal typographic solution for annual reports. Designed by Otl Aicher, it was the first co-ordinated type system consisting of a sans, a stressed sans, a serif and even a semi serif. Yet for many designers it is the typeface they love to hate. Or hate to love, depending. The typewriter type on the cover for /buiten is the original which served as a basis for Cornel Windlin’s and Critzler’s FF Magda Clean.
Aids Fonds jaarverslag 2007 | cover
Aids Fonds jaarverslag 2007
Commission | Aids Fonds, Amsterdam
Design | Dietwee ontwerp en communicatie (Stijn van der Ven, Penny Lee), Utrecht
Printing | Drukkerij Kerckebosch-Utrecht, Zeist
Binding | Boekbinderij Patist, Den Dolder
Paper | Cyclus Offset
Aids Fonds jaarverslag 2007 | spread
Little resources were spent on printing, and apparently that wasn’t necessary to begin with. The report for the Aids Fonds, simply printed in black and red, makes an impression and stirs up emotions. This is achieved with clear numbers, prime typography and excellent image management. This is as simple as it gets, except for the sophisticated red ribbon of course, which is very appropriate.
Aids Fonds jaarverslag 2007 | detail
Utopia and Basic Commercial are again very safe choices. They perform well and are used correctly, yet neither manage to excite me. Basic Commercial of course is the warmer, more friendly Helvetica. Utopia’s supporters in editorial and book design are manifold, but to me personally it feels like possibly the least interesting Slimbach creation.
BOOM 2007 Jaarverslag Ressortsparket Leeuwarden omvangrijke ontnemingszaken | cover
BOOM 2007 Jaarverslag Ressortsparket Leeuwarden omvangrijke ontnemingszaken
Commission | BOOM - Bureau Ontnemingswetgeving Openbaar Ministerie, Leeuwarden
Design | BW H ontwerpers (Douwe Huitema, Nelleke Socjoko), Leeuwarden
Printing | Ando, Den Haag
Binding | Boekbinderij Patist, Den Dolder
Paper | Munken Polar
Concise, powerful and inviting, amongst others thanks to the small format, the binding (singered) and the beautiful illustrations. This describes in a few words the BOOM annual report. Within five minutes the reader/viewer finds out what the Bureau Ontnemingswetgeving Openbaar Ministerie has achieved in 2007.
Utopia again – same remarks as above.
The Best Designed Annual Reports is organised by Grafische Cultuurstichting in collaboration with Grafisch Papier, Océ-Nederland and Uitgeverij Compres (Print Buyer) and with thanks to Ando, AKS grafische afwerking en drukwerk-veredeling and Calff & Meischke.
The jury for 2008 consisted of
Hans Looijen (manager Het Dolhuys), president
Marcel Kampman (designer)
(Marloes Krijnen, manager Foam_Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam)
Freek Kuin (manager Calff & Meischke)
Henk Pothoff (manager Colorset)
André Toet (designer/manager Samenwerkende Ontwerpers)
(Hans Wolbers, designer/manager Lava grafisch ontwerpers)
Alwin van Steijn (Grafische Cultuurstichting), secretary
The jury report (in Dutch) De Bestverzorgde Jaarverslagen 2008 is available for free from Cultuurstichting. After being exhibited in The Netherlands and abroad the awarded annual reports are included in the collection Rare and Valuable Works of the University Library Amsterdam.
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