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What can companies do to make themselves stand out amid this torrent of information? Produce publications – and do so through all channels! To make these publications attractive, what is known in modern parlance as strategic “storytelling” is absolutely essential. This editorial form of communication can be used to convey the history of a company as well as its corporate culture and values. But what does this mean for corporate design? Has it become redundant? Not quite, although some corporate design agencies have discovered that corporate publishing encompasses and delivers far more than the production of printed corporate information.
Avenir Suisse, the “think tank that deals with the future of Switzerland”, commissioned Arnold.KircherBurkhardt to “subtly refresh” its visual identity – a classic corporate design task. After analysing the most important form of appearance and expression for Avenir Suisse (publications!), it became clear that it would be more effective to invest the available resources in a corporate publishing concept – and specifically in alterations to content and visual appearance as well as economic and technical changes.
The variety of Avenir Suisse’s publications – ranging from the website and newsletter to studies, discussion papers and books – called for in-depth knowledge of the target groups involved and led, for example, to the creation of a new, handy publication featuring a selection of the best articles from the company website for readers on the go, as well as a poster designed to transfer knowledge to schools. Based on this, a distinction was made between the functions of the various publication channels and platforms, such as a website based on blog and news portal technology or a newsletter format suitable for tablet computers. This in turn influenced the stylistic composition of the content and the way it was structured for the reader to follow, as well as having a particular impact on the design of the ever-present graphics. In addition – retaining something of the traditional process of corporate design – fonts, colours, paper types and production processes were redefined. One example of this is the targeted use of the binding process to control the quality and durability of each publication.
The aim of the new visual identity was primarily to ensure, but also to enhance the credibility and authenticity of the messages conveyed by Avenir Suisse. This aim was realised right from the first publication issued after implementing the new concept, and on a more sustainable basis than could be achieved by simply refreshing the logo, colours and fonts. All of the measures have combined to produce the distinctive visual profile which was required and which satisfies the highest demands in terms of content and form.
The Credit Suisse customer magazine is published 6 times a year in four languages. Each edition of the Bulletin is devoted to a particular theme, such as “Responsibility”, “Structure” or “The North”. For consistency, there are regular sections on research, products and sponsorship. The main purpose of the Bulletin is to express the extensive, very detailed specialist knowledge of the experts in a journalistic style, and make it accessible to an interested and discriminating readership. The quality of the magazine’s contents can also be attributed to its editorial independence – it may be a corporate publication, but its themes do not stem directly from the banking world.
Credit Suisse Bulletin is a customer magazine that is considered the world's first periodical banking publication – it has been in circulation since 1885 – and continues to set the benchmark in Swiss corporate publishing. Since 1996, Arnold.KircherBurkhardt has contributed to this success story by applying its innovative strength to conception and design and by maintaining an impressive standard of quality.
These efforts are appreciated – that much is shown by the magazine’s overall circulation of 148,050, and also by the international response it has received from experts. The Bulletin was therefore named among the top three magazines in the European magazine competition BCP, Best of Corporate Publications, every year from 2003 to 2005. In 2007, the Bulletin won the gold medal for the first time, while it went on to win the silver award in 2009, 2010, 2011 and another gold award in 2011. The magazine has also won gold in other international competitions, including the Mercury Excellence Awards 2007/08, 2009/10 and 2011/12 as well as the Communicator Awards 2009 and 2012.
The Bulletin can be ordered → online or downloaded.
The Global Investor, an investment magazine, is published two to three times a year in five languages and is a flagship publication for Credit Suisse. In 2011, the Global Investor won the gold medal at the Best of Corporate Publications (BCP) Awards, Europe’s largest magazine competition – from 2006 through 2010 the silver medal.
Most investment publications inform investors about the strengths and weaknesses of specific investment products, focusing on their short-term development prospects. Before Arnold.KircherBurkhardt (AKB) was commissioned to design a new concept for the magazine, this had also been the case with the Global Investor, although, with only four issues per year, the publication could not keep up with the demand to provide up-to-date information in a fast-changing economic environment.
By making conceptual and creative changes, AKB has successfully turned the Global Investor into a relevant, reader-friendly, magazine-style publication since 2004. Investment topics are no longer restricted to short-term horizons, but are linked to global developments and pioneering trends. The publication now provides sound expert and background knowledge for investors. External specialists and representatives from the business world discuss central themes – such as security and conflict, innovation, charity or the return to a multi-polar world – from social, economic, political and scientific perspectives. Investment specialists propose long-term investment strategies to a global readership. With its use of a journalistic style to express specialist knowledge, its clear and extensive articles, attractive illustrations and fascinating thematic development, the Global Investor sets itself apart from other current bank publications.
The Global Investor can be ordered → online or downloaded in five languages.
Swiss Post’s customer magazine is more than just your run-of-the-mill corporate publication. For Swiss Post, it is a platform from which to present the value of its services in Switzerland to a wide audience. This is shown in articles on topics such as “Switzerland on the move” and “Post by night”, which show how the postal service affects Switzerland round the clock. Divided up into the headings Current News, Service and Dialogue, it also allows space for information on new features that will be relevant to customers, and articles connected with Swiss Post’s cultural and social commitment.
The “magazin“ is published three times a year and is delivered free of charge to all households in Switzerland. The large print run – around 2.2 million copies – had an impact on the overall concept. What was required was not just an attractive magazine with appealing content but also a way of keeping production costs, which as a rule are high, as low as possible. The magazine’s format was therefore chosen deliberately: as the tabloid format could be printed on standard newspaper presses, the printing costs were relatively modest.
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In 2006, Arnold.KircherBurkhardt (AKB) designed the Credit Suisse Business Review for the first time. As a consequence, AKB was then commissioned to completely redevelop, design and produce the entire Reporting Suite. AKB has devised the overall concept for the package and designed and produced the Business Review and the Corporate Citizenship Report from A to Z.
As well as designing the printed versions to the usual outstanding quality and continuously developing the concept further, the focus for the 2010 reports was also on cross-media integration with digital versions. The creation of links between the printed reports and the publications that are only available online, as well as additional contents on the Credit Suisse website, offers interested readers access to relevant background information via their smart phones, tablets or desktop computers.
The → Responsibility Chronicle, an additional, exclusively digital publication produced this year, can be viewed with the help of a browsing tool. An issue of the Chronicle is also available in German and English in the kiosk of the → iPad version of the “Bulletin” from Credit Suisse.
The 2007 Reporting Suite came third in the overall assessment under the → rating scheme operated by “Bilanz” magazine, while the 2008 and 2009 reports moved up to second place. The “Bilanz” rating scheme for financial reports is the most comprehensive of its kind in Switzerland. A total of 240 financial reports from the biggest and most important companies are audited and evaluated. The rating process involves three juries of design experts and financial and communications specialists.
The annual reports can be ordered → online.
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Based in Hombrechtikon in the Canton of Zurich, HomCare is a "Kommunale Selbständige Anstalt" (Independent Municipal Institution) under public law, which was formed in 2008 by the merger of three municipal institutions, the Alters- und Pflegeheim Breitlen (Breitlen nursing home), the Alters- und Pflegeheim Brunisberg (Brunisberg nursing home) and the Alterssiedlung Breitlen (Breitlen retirement community) together with the Hombrechtikon branch of the Spitex home help association.
Arnold.KircherBurkhardt (AKB) was commissioned to create a corporate design programme for the HomCare umbrella brand and the institutions which it covers.
The institutions were to retain their traditionally high degree of independence; on the other hand, their position as part of the umbrella brand had to be clearly recognisable. In the case of Spitex, it was even necessary to incorporate a further visual image, one which had overriding importance. In the case of the word/figurative marks of the care homes which had previously been integrated into the image of Hombrechtikon municipality, the emphasis was on striving for a sense of visual affinity.
In carrying out its commission, AKB gave particular consideration to the highly economical use of Microsoft Word templates. For postal communication, one single template was created on which the individual institution stands out clearly as the sender by having its own word/figurative mark positioned under that of the umbrella brand, while at the same time all the other institutions are also listed.
A particularly large font size was chosen for the letter template out of consideration for the over-60s target group. The website, also designed by AKB, was optimised to suit this target group in exactly the same way. The area of application of the corporate design programme also included signage on and, in some places, inside the buildings of the various institutions, as well as in HomCare’s administration and on vehicles.
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For the "Sozialdienst Bezirk Pfäffikon" (the social services in the District of Pfäffikon), Arnold.KircherBurkhardt (AKB) designed and launched a uniform brand presence ranging from stationery through the website and annual report to advertisements and brochures.
For its connective design element, AKB chose a red thread. This does not just run right through the visual image but also stands for the challenge which the social services face in supporting men and women in difficult circumstances and helping them to get their lives back on track.
In the corporate design process, AKB deliberately sought a solution with a simple, pared-down look and feel which would heighten the perception of an efficient and cost-effective organisation amongst local authorities and taxpayers. Taking account of the organisation’s day-to-day work, the majority of documents were assembled in Microsoft Word. This is an economical way of enabling social services staff to amend their documents in the future without the need for professional support. The annual report, too, lends itself to independent editing thanks to the publishing system vjoon K4.
→ www.sdbp.ch
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To mark the 25th anniversary of the Lanzeln old people's home in Stäfa, Arnold.KircherBurkhardt produced a series of posters which addressed the subject of growing older, visually expressing the concept by juxtaposing pairs of portrait photographs that were taken 25 years apart. The Zurich photographer Pia Zanetti was commissioned to take the portrait of a number of well-known and less well-known residents of the community of Stäfa who each provided a picture from their own photograph album dating back 25 years.
The simple yet striking juxtaposition of the two portraits stimulated numerous spontaneous and highly personal responses in the community. This confirmed to us that the way we addressed the subject had appealed to and affected people very directly.
For the new organisation known as the "Zurich University of Teacher Education" (PHZH), made up of a number of other schools, institutes and administrative departments, Arnold.KircherBurkhardt designed a versatile and dynamic image that can be applied in many different ways.
In order for the different entities to be able to have a visually distinct image yet still be recognised as part of the main organisation, a so-called anchor logo was created, combined with graphics elements that could be customised. This is a carefully defined way of reflecting and respecting the different organisations that have made up the new university.
The signs had to be agreed with the relevant authorities (Buildings Department and Office for the Preservation of Historic Monuments in Zurich) and specially designed for the PHZH buildings, some of which are listed buildings. The basic elements of the corporate design programme were used to make transparent, restrained, lightweight and flexible signs according to a system whereby, in the event of any changes or acts of vandalism, certain elements can be easily and cost effectively replaced.
At the beginning of 2006, the Federal Office for the Environment was incorporated into the overall branding system for the federal administration system. For the specialist publications and reports produced by the Office, we developed not only an unmistakeable visual image but also new solutions for the complex ways in which the content of the publications is processed and the design work is carried out. As well as templates for Microsoft Word, we also produced some for use with professional publishing software. When it came to the creative design, Arnold.KircherBurkhardt chose as the symbol for FOEN's work – the collection and analysis of data – the digit zero as the basic design graphic. On the cover, the images are overlaid with a grid made up of punctuation marks and mathematical symbols, as well as the digits one and zero – inspired by the so-called “ASCII Art” for creating pictograms or images using ordinary text characters. The method of overlaying the picture that was used in this case was for a software program to analyse the pictures and assign different characters to different areas, depending on their brightness. The way these images are presented reflects FOEN's mission statement and underlines its scientific credentials.
Together with the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), FOEN publishes the "Environment Switzerland" report, which is described → here.