Why Annual Reports Are Hard to Read: Key Design Dos & Don'ts

Whether you’re scaling a startup or seeking potential partnerships, annual reports can work wonders for representing your business and its capabilities in any professional pitch. The issue is that annual reporting isn’t an innate skill for business owners. After all, it’s difficult to build up your 10,000 hours in a task that by definition you only have to do once a year.

The good news is that there are annual report writing consultants that your business can work with, not only when it comes to actually collating the information and commercial insights of your report, but also in the design and aesthetic aspects of the document. In fact, annual report graphic design is a vital component of ensuring your reports are actually readable, digestible, memorable, and serve as a positive reflection of your business.

So what should you do when preparing a strong annual report? And what annual report elements stick out like a sore thumb to seasoned investors? We’ll be answering these questions today by outlining some of the more prominent ‘dos’ and ‘don’t’s when it comes to annual report readability.

Annual Report Design ‘Dos’

Use plenty of data visuals

Considering that data-driven decision-making is the key to business success in the digital age, it’s no surprise that data visualisation is vital when preparing an annual report. Business owners should examine their company’s KPIs and any other metrics that may be relevant to prospective partners or investors when preparing their annual report. All positive trends should definitely be clearly presented in tables, charts, and graphs so that your report readers can take in company performance from even just a minimal skim.

Having these visual data resources at your fingertips is naturally also great for preparing company presentations fast. If you need to prepare for a pitch meeting at any time during the year, your annual report should be able to provide all the visual info you need to make a strong case.

Use a cohesive and consistent layout

Your annual report should always be published with a table of contents, and with each section clearly labelled for easy navigation. Section headings should be consistent to support clarity and reinforce the hierarchy of information presented throughout the report.

This isn’t to say that all of your annual reports should look exactly the same. In fact, using a theme for each year can also be ideal here, as you can differentiate between your annual reports and thus, maintain a clearer overview of performance year on year. You just need to make sure that individual reports maintain a clear and cohesive layout that can be navigated organically.

Use branded design assets

Even though each year may have a different theme, you’ll still want to make sure that your company’s annual reports possess strong, confident branding and align with your company’s identity and values. This is why it’s best to use authentic company photography and owned brand assets in your report rather than stock imagery or generic icons and imagery.

Pro tip: have a brand mascot? Then be sure they’re well-represented throughout your report. Doing so can cultivate strong brand memorability and encourage report readers to feel more connected to your brand.

Support digital accessibility

What format are you sending your annual reports in? Printed and bound? PDF? EPUB? PDFs are generally preferable for digital file-sharing as the file format is expressly designed to be universally accessible across all devices. Considering that you can expect prospective partners to be reading your reports on virtually any device, keeping digital accessibility in mind is an absolute must whenever you’re preparing an annual report.

Provide clear takeaways

Each section of your report should have a clear summary of information (i.e. clear takeaways). With these echo bubbles highlighting all your most important stats and info, you can make sure your annual report insights are clearly communicated and very easy to reference and cite in company meetings and presentations.

Annual Report Design ‘Don’ts’

Don’t forget to include an executive summary

Alongside clear takeaways for each section, your annual report should also include an executive summary at the very beginning and end of the report. Think of your executive summary as an abstract that not only establishes the theme of your report, but also clearly outlines all major points.

Pro tip: make sure your executive summary is prepared with your intended readership in mind. Are you looking to appeal to prospective investors? Supply partners? Industry talent? Whoever you’re looking to win over, make sure your executive summary includes insights that would be relevant to these figures.

Don’t use overly technical, industry-specific jargon

It’s very rare that an annual report will be read only by other people in your industry. Prospective partners like suppliers and investors may not be overly familiar with your industry jargon, so relying on technical language to get your points across may actually end up alienating your readers.

This is why it’s best to use accessible language, opting for plain English wherever possible. And if you do happen to work in an industry that’s flush with acronyms, consider even publishing an appendix or index with your report to ensure definitions are readily accessible to readers.

Don’t overcrowd your information

The biggest cardinal sin you can commit when it comes to annual report graphic design is failing to utilise your white space. These reports are already information-dense by nature. After all, you’re effectively summarising an entire year’s worth of performance data. So why make it even more complicated by drowning out your key insights with irrelevant information?

If you suspect your annual report is too dense with info, consider running a few A/B tests on your report format and layout using some unbiased test subjects (i.e. administrative employees, friends and family, etc.), or perhaps even by consulting an annual reporting specialist for more professional insights.

Don’t use distracting fonts and colour schemes

You want your annual report to look great, but not at the expense of readability. So swap out your ‘Clip Art’ inspired fonts for cleaner, sans serif options in neutral colours.

And speaking of colours, it’s always best to stick to the colours represented in your brand guidelines, and adhering to a strict and conservative colour scheme outside of data visuals. The focus at all times should be on the insights in your report, be there in text or graph, chart, or table format.

Don’t just focus on numbers

Finally, your annual report isn’t just to showcase your performance, but also to advocate for your company’s voice and ethos. Use your intros, conclusions, and echo blocks to write copy in a strong and consistent tone of voice. By engaging with the words you use to support your insights and findings, readers will be more likely to forge a connection with your brand and business. This is how your annual reports can convert readers into investors, partners, and supporters of your brand.

Elevate your Annual Reports with these Design Tips

With the right approach, your annual reports can be a serious asset to your business year on year, helping you gain new trading and partnership opportunities, and establishing your company as a force in its industry.

Be sure to follow the dos and don’ts we’ve outlined above to ensure that your annual reports help strengthen your brand image and reputation, and cultivate trust with investors from the get-go.