After the annual reports from 2013 and 2015, “Small parts writ large” and “Growing family”, we once again had the task of designing the Ravensburger AG annual report for 2016. Far-reaching strategic and personnel changes in the company prompted Ravensburger to do some stocktaking with the 2016 Annual Report. The report’s design was also to be further developed and the image section realised in a contemporary magazine style; among other things, a digital extension of the content was desired. Last but not least, it was important to present Ravensburger as a company that seeks to engage in dialogue with its target groups and that is interested in social trends.
We approached stocktaking as an open dialogue with target groups and experts from various disciplines. The exchange grapples with the company’s leitmotif: Ravensburger stands for “playful development” and wishes to promote the playful development of people through useful offers. We wanted to explore what that means in detail in the discussions.
EXCITING TOPICS, DIFFERENTIATED ARTICLES.
We travelled to Malmö to talk to leading designers at BRIO about the contribution of product design to the playful development of children. A roundtable with parent bloggers focused on topics that interest parents today. At the TU Braunschweig, a neurobiologist explained in an interview why games are so important for learning. A media expert’s essay gives differentiated answers to the question “Digital or analogue play?” Finally, we investigated the question of how movement and physical activity contribute to child development, gathered statements from sports science and education experts, and also let those that Ravensburger is always interested in have a say: children.
REALISATION IN MAGAZINE STYLE.
In order to do justice to the various articles, we realised the content in magazine style. Each article is thus presented with its own thematically appropriate look. Speaking pictures, highlighting and quick-read texts allow the reader to grasp the most important contents at a glance and make them curious about more in-depth reading. Different visual styles – photography, graphic recording, illustration – introduce variety and make reading fun.
As an example: The conversation with parent bloggers is designed like a blog: text and images are continuous like in a long-page design: cut-in images give the impression of scrolling, theme bars structure the content, underlined passages in blue (supposedly) prompt users to click. The paper cup image motif is often used symbolically: for dialogue in general and for the playful interpretation of the individual themes. A QR code links to the blogs and allows the dialogue to extend beyond the printed annual report.
