The primary challenge in this project was to present informative industry research data in a lively and engaging format.
The brief asked us to grab readers' attention immediately, and to maintain their interest throughout. We were also asked to ensure that the content was easily browsed, so that readers could quickly jump to particular sections of interest to them.
Our design intent was to develop a clear style for the book, one that made it skimmable but also engaging. We used a clean typeface to maintain attention and to convey a sense of authority in the information that was being presented. We placed the majority of the text towards the inner spine on each page, giving the data visualisations room to shine. Finally, to bring a sense of relatability to the document, we used head-and-shoulders photographs of a diverse range of smiling people at the start of each chapter.
To achieve the goal of grabbing the readers' attention immediately, we set out to design a high-impact front cover. Most strikingly is the portrait, created using photographs of people from diverse backgrounds. Hand-drawn threads outline the portrait, bringing this diverse range of people together as one. The colours of these threads are the brand colours of the two organisations behind the publication – Trinity College Dublin, and Contracting Plus. The cover is printed on textured paper, and specialist finishes such as spot UV add elements of high gloss and production value.
Within the publication we used bold, sans-serif typography for a sense of modernity, to maintain attention, and to convey a sense of confidence and authority in the information being presented.
The publication comprises 10 chapters, each of which is packed with valuable information. In order to make the information easy to navigate and enjoyable to consume, we colour-coded each chapter individually. This made it inherently easy to pick the publication up and quickly flick to a chosen chapter, and it provided subtle visual clues as to the length of each chapter. In addition, it maintained consistency with reports from other years – this is the third year the publication has been produced, and we have been fortunate to design the layout each year.
In addition, each chapter opens with a quote from one of the volunteers interviewed for the publication, along with a portrait photograph. The interviewees come from a diverse background, and these portrait photographs make the publication appealing to a broader range of people, and make it more accessible and relatable.
To present the information in the clearest and most visually appealing manner, we arranged the text and graphical elements within a set format. The bulk of the text is printed towards the inner spine on each page, allowing ample space for the charts and other visual data representations – each of which was designed in-house by us in-house. To further lighten the data-heavy load, we added colourful splashes of watercolour paint to various pages. This adds to the publication's sense of dynamism and creativity.