To say that 2020 was one of the most challenging years economically would be an understatement. The European Investment Fund (EIF) annual report for the year is a testament to responding to the challenge of 2020 head on. EIF is a provider of finances to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Taking a second look at the cover of this report reveals a powerful message: there is beauty and purpose even in what seems fragmented or torn. The numbers 2020 seem to be taped together neatly, and the overall composition of the illustration is artful.
Illustrations throughout the report follow this same scrapbook style, giving depth and meaning to each section that they open.
Each section of the report has a colour unique to it; each of the photographs in each section are tinted with this colour, creating an unusual seeping of colour into each image. In abstract scrapbook style, each photograph seems ‘taped’ to the page.
Textual information in the report is well segmented and easy to consume. Quotes by different stakeholders are scattered throughout the pages of the report, a welcome reprieve from some of the heavier information, set in smaller sized type.
QR codes are abundant across the report, providing additional information, for example, the work of one of the entrepreneurs supported by the EIF. The separator page leading to the financial statements section is similar to the cover page but slightly tweaked for this particular section. Pie charts in this section are vibrant and eye-catching.
The year-in-numbers double-page spread is clear and concise, with extra-large figures and the number of SMEs supported represented in dots – one dot represents a thousand SMEs, driving home the point the EIC helps a lot of us.
