REFBC Annual Report
print, layout
The Real Estate Foundation of BC is a philanthropic organization working to advance sustainable, equitable, and socially just land use across BC. REFBC funds projects, builds relationships, and shares knowledge to advance sustainable, equitable, and socially just land use and real estate practices across BC.
The communications team at REFBC reached out for help on their upcoming annual report. Their previous reports were feeling a bit dated: the brand elements overwhelmed the content, some pages were very copy dense with a confusing content hierarchy and the page designs felt repetitive and hard to navigate.
We started by reviewing past branded documents, including the website to determine how the brand elements, colours and typefaces were being used, and deciding what we wanted to embrace, vs what could be further expanded on, dialed back or left behind.
Making use of large in size, but light in weight titles, sub-titles, drop caps and more, the new type hierarchy clearly guides the reader through the document, making it clear when and where a new section begins. We explored a slightly limited, but purposeful colour palette, carefully considering how and where each was being used.
Rectangles with rounded corners are a key graphic within the REFBC visual brand. We continued making use of them, but scaled their application back. A rectangle rarely features more than one to two rounded corners, and is selectively applied to photos and content blocks, used with purpose and creating a visual balance across the pages.
While laid out across a cohesive, multicolumn grid, the design adapts to each pages unique content. With this foundation in place, the report can be adapted to future issues, without feeling too repetitive.
Content heavy spreads outlining the various grants were converted to simple, minimal, organized tables, alongside the previously branded icons for each grant.
The overall report is professional, withouth feeling overly corporate. With the addition of many photos, sidebar or pullquote items, each page layout feels fresh and editorial. Embracing pull-out data and sidebar elements, we were able to scale back on long blocky text areas, making important items stand out.
Whenever appropriate for the content, data is displayed visually or highlighted in the design. Storytelling content or featured projects stand out from the rest of the report, either by being placed on a coloured background, laid on top of a photo or visual tools. The Watershed Security Fund has it's own feature within the report. While it visually follows the rest of the report, it makes use of it's own brand colours, fitting in with the rest of the report pages, while standing out as it's own section.
I'd admired Alicia's work with climate action and storytelling organizations for years, so I was thrilled when we had the chance to work together at the Real Estate Foundation of BC. From the beginning, her process was thoughtful, organized, and remarkably clear. She invested time in understanding our goals, creating a strong foundation for collaboration and trust.
What stands out most about Alicia is her commitment to clarity and communication, ensuring that we remained aligned at every stage of the process.
She approached our annual report redesign with both strategic insight and creative excellence, resulting in a publication that is not only beautiful but also effectively tells the story of our work across grantmaking, impact investing, and watershed security.
Alicia respected our existing brand while elevating it in meaningful ways, resulting in a final product that presents REFBC at its absolute best.
Megan Lau
Senior Communications Specialist
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