Year in review: our best print design of 2016

As 2016 draws to a close, we’re looking back over a busy year at some of the work we’re particularly proud of. Here I pick out the projects that make up our ‘best print design of 2016’.

Previously I’ve posted about our favourite websites and brand design projects of the year. This post is looking back at the print design work we’ve completed and the work which is most memorable and successful.

I found it rather hard to choose just one Policy Connect report, so I’ve included the two which book-ended 2016, including the last major print piece of the year which was launched at Portcullis House just two weeks ago.

There’s also something I’m really proud of – our first major award win as an agency for the Shine School Media project. I’ve written a little about that at the end of this post.

We firmly believe people love to hold a physical product – so here’s to lots more print in 2017.

1. POLICY CONNECT:
ASSOCIATE PARLIAMENTARY SUSTAINABLE RESOURCE GROUP REPORT

One of our first major projects of 2017 was this report for the APSRG. The team approached us with a strong visual title and a brief to use a bold graphic to illustrate links and chains.

Well, they got their wish! The end result created a really distinctive graphic cover which then continued through the book across the chapter headings punctuating the layout with splashes of blue and orange.

Our best print design of 2016: ‘Link to Link’ by the APSRG

Our best print design of 2016: ‘Link to Link’ by the APSRG

Our best print design of 2016: ‘Link to Link’ by the APSRG

I’ve included an example of an information graphic at the end there – invariably our work for Policy Connect includes taking pre-existing graphics or data (such as this from Defra) and either re-drawing or re-interpreting it.

The idea is that the graphic then better matches Policy Connect’s ‘house style’. These graphics can often be hugely complex and time-consuming but ultimately they make a book of dense reading more accessible. We’re really proud of our strength in this rather under-rated field of design.

Read more about our work with Policy Connect

2. POLICY CONNECT:
SKILLS COMMISSION REPORT

The second political report I am featuring is this for the Skills Commission.

A difference between this and the previous project is that it’s the first that comes under their new brand guidelines which we’ve worked on directly with the team at Policy Connect. As such, a gentle evolution of their branding has come into play here. This is something that will expand in 2017.

Our best print design of 2016: ‘Going Places’ by the Skills Commission

Our best print design of 2016: ‘Going Places’ by the Skills Commission

Our best print design of 2016: ‘Going Places’ by the Skills Commission

The ‘Going Places’ report was launched at Portcullis House – the offices of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster – on December 8th, 2016 and I was proud to attend.

On the day, I posted a Tweet, below, of Dame Ruth Silver, Gordon Marsden MP and Lord Blunkett, each of whom spoke at the launch.

The launch of the @EduSkillsHE #GoingPlaces inquiry we’ve designed with Dame Ruth Silver, @GordonMarsden MP and Lord Blunkett pic.twitter.com/V7KbaVcDgc

— Richard Chapman (@richardpchapman) December 8, 2016

Read more about our work with Policy Connect

3. BRITISH ACADEMY – LANGUAGE & MATHS PROJECT LAUNCH

Our work with the British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences continued this year, with this rather lovely piece of work which launched a dual research project into language and maths skills.

We were delighted when the team at the Academy were enthusiastic about our idea for a bold graphic linking the two which included different aspects of the study.

It’s a project which is rather dear to my heart as someone who’s far more interested in words than figures. I hope it helps those folk like me who would rather read than calculate – as well as people who feel the opposite!

Our best print design of 2016: our work for the British Academy

Our best print design of 2016: our work for the British Academy

It’s our hope that our work on this project evolves in 2017-18 as the research work continues.

Read more about this project

4. SUSAN SANDOVER’S ‘9/36’ BOOK JACKET

By far the most unusual (and probably by extension, satisfying) project of 2016 was this book jacket for debut author Susan Sandover.

Susan had written an emotional and gritty story of her life with her diplomat husband Bashir in Libya.

Seeking a publisher, she quickly and cleverly realised that if the book had a ‘real’ jacket it would stand out among the competition. So we devised this design which combines a series of objects – passport, identity card, diplomatic papers, letters from Parliament – and made an eyecatching collage.

Our best print design of 2016: the book jacket of Susan Sandover’s ‘9/36’

The great news is that the book was published this Autumn to great success.

Susan’s work struck a chord in our turbulent world – and we like to think our design work had a little to do with that.

Read more about this project

5. SHINE SCHOOL MEDIA AWARDS DAY BOOK

This is the third year we’ve been involved in the Shine School Media Awards project – and this one was a special one.

For us it saw our brand design for the Awards reach a new maturity as we stripped away the colourful approach we’d used in previous years and allowed it to exist as a bold, graphic emboss on the page.

We also developed a new typographic style for the book this year, something which then continued inside the pages.

Our best print design of 2016: the Shine School Media Awards winners book

Our best print design of 2016: the Shine School Media Awards winners book

Our best print design of 2016: the Shine School Media Awards winners book

The project was a special one for us – on an exciting November day at Café de Paris, we won the ‘Best Environmental Solution’ prize at this year’s Solutions Awards.

It’s the first major award we’ve won as a Studio and we couldn’t be prouder it’s for this project – and focussed on print design work too.

A great moment to round off 2016: our win at the 2016 Solutions Awards

Read more about this project

More about our win at the 2016 Solutions Awards

Visit the Shine School Media Awards website