After Ravensburger pushed forward the implementation of its new corporate strategy in 2017, the annual report was intended to be a logical continuation of a thematic representation. Key word: Next Generation. This included ongoing internationalisation, establishing new working methods and processes, the intensified use of digital client communication channels and diverse offerings in the corporate culture. In short:
The Ravensburger Group is constantly evolving to be at the cutting edge and to stay there, and the company wanted to present this in a confident and approachable manner in the 2017 annual report.
We use the term “generation” with all its various meanings: A temporal dimension therefore opens up with regard to ongoing existence and continuity. It also evokes Ravensburger themes such as family company, tradition and values. Since the word “gene” is embedded within “generation”, the DNA aspect, the core values, have an obligatory presence. And: As a multi-generational company, Ravensburger is presented as being in between change and stability. The synchronic editing highlights the present, which draws its level of differentiation precisely from the different viewpoints – on what is happening today and in different generations.
A portrait of four generations
We spoke with four selected individuals from the Ravensburger Group about the crucial innovations of the past year and about the perceived Ravensburger gene, and we presented them both as an individual personality as well as representative of their generation. A playful combination of “Ravensburger” and the relevant generational initial characterises the beginning of the four chapters: “I’m a Xavensburger”, “I’m a Yavensburger” etc., meaning that change and stability are always simultaneously present. These versions of the company and brand name deliver the message: Ravensburger is constantly innovating, while remaining true to itself. As a company, it works with people aged between their early 60s and their 20s, with the baby boomer generations as well as generations X, Y and Z.
Imagery, corporate colours, textual dramaturgy
Extreme wide-angle photography opens up rooms, shows lots of details and tells stories. Sometimes a kind of hidden object effect is created which stimulates discovery. Filling the format on double-sided pages throughout, the images convey a strong message for Ravensburger: they convey openness, far-sightedness and size, they depict focus, interaction, community and proximity to the target group.
The introductory and portrait double-sided pages use the colour palette of the new Corporate Design of the Ravensburger Group and therefore contribute to its further establishment.
The text dramaturgy is very readable. The images are accompanied by statements from the four people as well as by copy on the topic handled by the page. An editorial double spread rounds off the chapter with aspects concerning the relevant generation, on how the different generations interact and about the Ravensburger gene. One detail which underlines the internationalism of Ravensburger, quite incidentally: The statements of the two English speakers are also presented in English in the German version.
