{"id":4091,"date":"2017-04-05T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/\/"},"modified":"2017-04-06T22:14:59","modified_gmt":"2017-04-07T03:14:59","slug":"producing-the-ott-2016-annual-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthinktanks.org\/articles\/producing-the-ott-2016-annual-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Producing the OTT 2016 annual report"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few years ago I worked for a small design studio in Per\u00fa where we edited and designed over 20 annual reports for a range of institutions, including government agencies. One thing I learned from this experience: there can never be, and will never be, enough planning. <\/span><\/p>\n

At the start of the fall of 2016, <\/span>Enrique Mendizabal <\/span><\/a>and I discussed the idea of doing an annual report for On Think Tanks. The timing seemed right: the OTT team had been consolidated, we had a new Advisory Board, and the bulk of our funding had been secured for the next two years. 2016 had been a great year- we had launched our new platform, increased our visibility on social media and in conferences, and published a wealth of articles and resources. We were also giddy about what 2017 and 2018 will bring. I could go on, but you might be better off <\/span>reading the report<\/span><\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n

I dug in my \u201cdesign references: cool annual reports\u201d folder and sketched out some pages. \u201cIt\u2019s a great idea,\u201d Enrique and I agreed, \u201cLet\u2019s definitely do it.\u201d We carried on with our meetings through October and November, always confirming that it was, indeed, a great idea. December came around and it dawned on us that we had to produce this report. In the spirit of full disclosure: we had included its production in our grant report, so it had to be done. By mid-December, as expected, the report amounted to not a lot more than a few random sketches with a lot of \u201cfor-placement-only\u201d texts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before the holiday season, we sketched out a plan for the production of the report and an outline of the content. We wanted the report to include the voices of OTT team members as well as our partners, so we reached out to them and asked them if they would be up for writing a short text. Around mid-January, we started receiving content from both internal and external collaborators. Our outline quickly started filling with real content, and by the end of January our report was ready for final edits. We were lucky to have had such support from our peers- it was great to see their willingness to share their insights and thoughts on the year that passed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Designing our annual report was a mix of luck, enthusiasm, and long hours behind the computer. The OTT platform and corporate identity was designed by <\/span>Soapbox<\/span><\/a>. They did a terrific job of creating a strong and simple brand for OTT, along with enough building blocks to develop and implement that brand into all of our communications materials. As OTT\u2019s offer grows and we create more resources, it is important that we have a brand identity that is flexible and lets us interpret it for material that has not been created before (like our annual report). What\u2019s important about the design phase of any report of this sort is to make key decisions early on and commit to them, otherwise you\u2019ll end up taking significantly longer to design (and publish) it. Ask yourself some basic questions, such as: <\/span><\/p>\n