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One area we’ve seen significant benefit – even before the pandemic – is in nudging clients from print-based annual reports, to online versions. Swanky, well-designed booklets printed on high-end paper handed to donors was an industry standard few questioned. It was a paper-based tradition that outlasted many other paper-centric practices that died a natural, digital death. It simply feels good to hold that report in your hand. No question. 

When we asked clients to consider moving from print to web-based annual reports, we heard concerns like this:

“Yeah, we know we could make our annual report online but our donors like seeing it in print. They expect to get something in the mail.”

“Older donors are uncomfortable with technology and will give less or not at all if they don’t think their money is being used well.”

“Our annual reports are a way of acknowledging our donors.”

Were these valid concerns or merely assumptions? We knew print-based annual reports are rarely read or get a second glance after being opened. Many are discarded at the very dinner they were distributed, only minutes after being perused, but do they still “pay for themselves” nevertheless? 

We always want to do well by our clients and act in their best interests, but it was hard to know if this would have a negative or positive effect until we tried. When faced with this choice with UVA’s School of Education & Human Development, we considered a hybrid solution: a small run of printed annual reports + web-based version. They only had time to pick one option and they chose a web-based annual report. Would this affect their bottom line? Would they lose the paper-loving crowd? Would their presentation be less compelling without the impact of paper? 

We followed up with UVA a year later to learn the results of our experiment. Were there complaints or backlash from going digital? To our delight, the response from board members and major donors was almost exclusively positive. No pitchforks, no rotten tomatoes. Yes cost-savings and wider reach and distribution of the report.

Our experience and data with UVA gave us the confidence to guide clients in the direction of digital reports. We have produced a number of stunning digital reports for various clients like CFA Institute and UVA’s School of Education & Human Development.

If you have a hard time selling the idea of print-based annual reports within your organization, here’s a cheat sheet of what makes them great:

• Web-based reports generally cost less to produce, as much as 10x ROI as opposed to printed reports when used perennially.
• Mistakes, typos, and misinformation can be seamlessly corrected
• Digital reports are much easier shared and circulated, attracting a wider audience through social media platforms, email lists, and on your existing website.
• Online options give you a range of presentation options including dynamic audio and video impossible in a printed paper report

If you are hesitant to move to a digital platform for your annual report, we get it. With the pandemic stretching into 2021 and a widespread change of attitudes in acceptance of digital formats over in-person ones, this year is a great year to make the shift to an online report without much pushback from paper evangelists. Change can be hard, but not changing can be harder – on your business, your time, and your bottom line.

The post Is It Time to Say Goodbye to Print-Based Annual Reports? appeared first on Convoy.

We were excited to work with the IX Art Park team on promoting their latest project: The Looking Glass. This exhibit, coming in 2020, is an immersive art experience that transports you to an imaginative world. From the moment you walk in the door, you are surrounded by an enchanted forest that is filled with whimsical installations built from the ground up by local artists. 

Our job was to find a creative and functional way to use the IX Art Park garage door to create a promotional billboard for this upcoming exhibit. Here is a peak into our design process and behind the scenes of making The Looking Glass billboard.

Points we had to keep in mind for the billboard:

• Create an art piece that would draw people’s attention
• Tease what was to come inside the exhibit itself
• Find a way to incorporate “windows” so that people could look inside
• Capture the overall vibe of The Looking Glass
• Keep it fun, whimsical, and playful while staying sophisticated

After some research and brainstorming, we came up with 3 designs that ranged from simple to complex, but all incorporating the key elements the client wanted. They were pleased with all three, but there was a clear favorite they ended up going with for the final display. Here’s a look at the designs we created, why we chose them, and which one the client ultimately chose to be featured at IX Art Park. 

Design #1: The Spiral Concept

This was our simplest design out of the 3 that we felt catered well to the garage. The idea behind this concept was to create a design that naturally drew people in. The spiral gave the effect that you were falling into a window that led to another world. While this design was playful and mysterious, it didn’t fully capture what the exhibit was about.

Design #2: The Branch Concept

In similar fashion to concept #1, this design lead the consumer right to the middle window begging them to peak at the exhibit inside. We added elements from The Looking Glass exhibit itself as a preview of what was to come. This design clearly showcased the vibe of the exhibit, but still lacked an eye catching element that the client wanted.

Design #3: The Caterpillar Concept

Finally, we showed the client the caterpillar concept. This design was based off an iconic caterpillar art piece in the exhibit that we felt was a unique, memorable image that would draw people’s attention. The client ended up choosing this design due to its whimsical elements in combination with the iconic caterpillar that stood out against the others. 

We also incorporated a few different pieces from the art exhibit that captures the playful nature of The Looking Glass. It was also important to the client that we made space for cutouts in the billboard. When you walk up to the mural in person you can look in the holes provided to see artists at work and monitor the progression of the exhibit. We incorporated one triangle up above for adults as well as a window on the gnome house for kids to look too.

Final Process

After adding colors, shading, and other decorative elements, the piece was ready for print. The billboard was cut into 15 pieces that would be easily installed into the garage door. It took about 2 hours for the team to install the billboard. In the end, the client was ecstatic with the final display. We had a blast working with IX Art Park on this fun and unique project.

Head over to IX Art Park to see the billboard in person. Don’t forget to peak inside to see the artists at work and follow @weareconvoy and @ixartpark for updates on The Looking Glass exhibit!

The post The Making of a Billboard appeared first on Convoy.

The idea sprung from a lunchtime conversation over Thai about capsule wardrobes. The term capsule wardrobe was coined by Susie Faux, the owner of a London boutique called “Wardrobe” in the 1970s. According to Faux, a capsule wardrobe is a collection of essential items that don’t go out of fashion. By limiting yourself to signature pieces—items that are coherent, versatile, and you feel confident in—the benefits are multifold: confidence, less waste, and efficiency.

We realized we could apply this approach to type selection, a large part of our day-to-day. Here are the guidelines we followed.

Like choosing clothes that flatter your body shape and personal style, a font may or may not fit your company’s clientele. Consider the fonts used in editorial design vs. wedding stationery. These specializations have different target audiences, yielding different results. Your choices should reflect that.

Fonts: Vitesse, Bickham Script

Like a striped t-shirt or a timeless trench, some typefaces stand the test of time. When you purchase a high-quality, staple font, your return includes multiple weights, a vast glyph selection, and thoughtful details like ligatures (the fine tailoring of type). Invest now, thank yourself later.

Font: Libre Baskerville

To achieve an illusion of quantity, proponents of capsule wardrobes suggest sticking to a color palette. Mix and match items and textures within that palette (denim with silk, tweed with cotton) to stretch your closet further. Remember grade school math? “Billy has five shirts and four pairs of pants. How many outfits does he have?” The answer is twenty. Twenty possible outfits! Like clothing, designers can stretch their capsules further through thoughtful combinations. Contrast and hierarchy are your friends.

Fonts: Frutiger, New Century Schoolbook

Capsule wardrobes have as few as forty items. Buying the same pair of chinos in five colors would take up a lot of real estate. On the other hand, jeans can be dressed up, dressed down, and worn three days a week. Invest in a font as versatile as your favorite pair of dark wash denim.

Font: Avenir

When your wardrobe is limited, shoes and accessories become an outlet for expression and trends. And with a foundation of basics, flashy baubles and fresh boots go a long way. Display fonts feel much the same, a worthwhile splurge for a special occasion or a few seasons of use. And that’s okay. Allow a budget for these purchases and remember, all things in moderation.

Fonts: ITC Grouch, Brandon Grotesque

Imagine Halloween is around the corner. For most people, this means buying a costume and wearing it once. A more sustainable approach is a custom one, and a well-established capsule makes a great starting point. Like adding homemade wings to a dress you already own, try customizing a standard font with some fancy bezier work. For a totally custom approach, hand-letter. A capsule is limiting, but creativity is not.

While defining our capsule, these resources came in handy:

TypeWolf, a site that showcases “fonts in use” and font pairing suggestions
WhatFont, a Chrome plug-in that quickly inspect fonts found online
MyFonts, a massive font archive used to search, compare, and test fonts

The most challenging part of this process was nailing down our favorite fonts. A standard capsule wardrobe features 39 items, divided proportionately by how much use those items get. A common guideline is 15 tops, 9 bottoms, 9 pairs of shoes, 2 dresses, and 2 coats. We kept a similar break down, dividing our type between 13 sans serifs, 11 serifs, 9 display fonts, 2 slab serifs, and 2 scripts. Check out our final selection (and links to their foundries) below.

Din | Avenir | Helvetica | Clear Sans | Maison Neue | Futura | Univers | Trade Gothic | Franklin Gothic | Akzidenz-Grotesk | Gotham | Frutiger | Open Sans | Bodoni | Mrs. Eaves | Garamond | Bookman | Libre Baskerville | Quarto | Caslon | Surveyor | Mercury Text | New Century Schoolbook | Tungsten | Lydian | ITC Grouch | Brandon Grotesque | Idlewild | Knockout | Numbers | Chronicle Display | Columbia Titling | Sentinel | Vitesse | Kuenstler Script | Bickham Script

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