As one of the leading manufacturers in building materials, BPB wastes no time with introductions in its traditional sized, slim annual report. Although the basic blue cover page with thin sans-serif typography may promise a typical corporate report, this lightweight account’s uncoated pages hold many surprises.
Contrarily, a colour panel next to the insert contains summarized information in large round type, without full stops. Complementing this novel design is a consistent white border that runs throughout the entire report and the fresh round bar charts and graphs. The small text-only headers and unorthodox placement of page numbers also contributes to this report’s unusual persona.
These pages and inserts adopt a quirky format by using abstract photographs, mainly for their colour, as backgrounds with white overlay headings. The background photographs, in particular, have minimal reference to the actual content of the section; some are even intentionally blurred. While the Chairmen and Chief Executive each have their own portraits beside their reviews, the Board of Directors’ group image, when closely examined, are individual shots compiled as a collage, giving it an almost panoramic look. Apart from the unique photography styles used, this report does not sport any unnecessary pictures.
To simplify the information, the two columns of material are written as points in square, unjustified paragraphs and shown graphically, surrounded by white space. Uniquely, each member of the Board of Directors is given their own small introduction followed by extensive financial and administrative information. A thin, black, sans-serif font is maintained from cover to cover, giving it a uniformity and besides the occasional colour variation this report assumes a very simple design. All in all, the BPB Annual Report for 2003 keeps everything short and sweet without any unnecessary content.
