Arts for Health Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Annual Report and Journal

Arts for Health Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (AFHC) is a charitable organisation that promotes the role of the arts in improving health and well-being. Now involved in a great diversity of projects – from Primary Care to Mental Health, they wanted to reach a wider audience and we were commissioned to design their new marketing materials, starting with a quarterly journal and annual report.

The name of the organisation, ‘Arts for Health’, is a bold declaration – much like a campaign statement, and we wanted to apply this same tone of conviction to the marketing materials. To give both publications a uniform voice, we developed plain speaking, typographic covers to announce the agendas of each: ‘Reclaiming the arts for everyone’ (the journal) and ‘Improving health and well-being through creativity’ (the annual report). Similar style statements are continued inside the publications, as headings for the main articles. Our intention was that even a brief flick through the publications would leave no doubt about what AFHC does and represents.

We decided to use photographs taken by AFHC as part of their everyday visual diary, rather than professional photography. In selecting these, we wanted to show the interaction between creative practitioners, health care professionals and patients – which is at the heart of everything AFHC does. These images, of ‘real’ people engaging in creative activities, act to illustrate both the diversity of the projects and their real benefits.

The overall look and feel, consistent across both publications, focuses on reinforcing the organisation’s mix of professionalism, creativity and approachability. One typeface, Akkurat, was used throughout for its incredible legibility and clear speaking but subtly warm tone. To create a cohesive system, both publications use an A5 format, chosen for its ease of handling; the journal is also stitched with looped staples, so issues can be collected within a binder. To identify these new publications as AFHC materials, both use a predominant palette of the organisation’s corporate orange and purple. An extended set of contrasting colour pairs will be introduced for future issues of the journal.

For the annual report, the mandatory financial information was given an efficient business-like tone through the use of succinct headings and a restrained palette of black and purple. In contrast, the activities review section is visually rich and in full colour, highlighting the array of creative projects AFHC has been involved in over the past year.

Font

Akkurat by Lineto Type Foundry

Printing

St Austell Printing Company Limited

Park Lane Press Limited, Corsham

Paper

Revive 100 Uncoated, 100% post-consumer recovered material (FSC certification) from Robert Horne Group

Related projects

Arts for Health Cornwall & Isles of Scilly brand identity

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