Its always a great feeling when a client choses to work with you again. Not only because they’re saying you did a great job last time but also because you get to build upon your relationship with them.
This is the fourth year I’ve worked with NE Youth on their annual report. Like previous years we kickstarted the project by having an initial meeting where we discussed the aspirations for this years report and brainstormed ideas.
Myself and Gemma - the Deputy CEO at NE Youth - were also joined by a young person who was on work experience at the time. It was brilliant having a different perspective and their suggestion of showing the journey of being part of NE Youth was the catalyst for the idea behind this years design.
The next steps were for me to work up the concept into initial designs for the front cover, welcome page, year in numbers and case study spreads.
Illustrations of roads, street signs and buildings were used to bring the journey concept to life. A town welcome sign on the initial spread shows the community side of NE Youth and also gives a flavour of what is to come.
They had been through a brand refresh the previous year. So as a designer with many years of experience of working with brand guidelines, I was mindful to focus on the aspects of the guidelines which would help keep the brand identity consistent, whilst injecting creativity into the design.
The feedback on the initial concepts was really positive so it was now time for me to work up the rest of the pages. This roughly took around ten days including time for a bit of back and forth on photos to be included. Then I was ready to send the first proof of the whole report for checking.
I include two rounds of amends in all my client quotes, but the edits for NE Youth were very minimal, which I put down to the great working relationship we have after four years of working together.
Once all of the amends were completed the artwork was ready to go to print and I also supplied a low res pdf for use on NE Youths' website and social channels. Altogether the project took six weeks from initial meeting to supplying artwork.
Here’s some feedback from Gemma on how she found the process and why she chose to work with me again.
"Sharon has produced our annual report for the last four years and I always find it a pleasure to work with her! She’s great at translating what’s in my head into a design which gets across what we do clearly and creatively. She’s patient and has a great eye for detail. I’d highly recommend her service."
Gemma Lockyer Turnbull, Deputy CEO NE Youth
