An annual report needs to outline information in the simplest way possible, using visual aids such as photos and infographics to provide context and increase comprehension. If successful, the grouped nature of the information will allow readers to find trends in the data and make informed future goals. This report would be released to the public and would be of particular interest to stakeholders of Innovative Medicines Canada's member companies.
We took advantage of Innovative Medicines Canada's varied colour palette and categorized sections by colour, improve content scanning capability. A one-column layout and large, AODA compliant text allowed the site to be accessible for all and easily navigable. White space is also crucial for documents with large bodies of text; we implemented ait generously in the annual report. Research studies at Wichita State University claim that implementing whitespace in between paragraphs and in the left and right margins will increase comprehension of your text, sometimes up to a 20% improvement.
Example image caption.
In addition to presenting information to stakeholders, the microsite and printed report served as ways to reinforce and develop the Innovative Medicines Canada brand. We employed colourful imagery, pattern overlays and parallax (a web effect that causes the background of a site to move at a different speed than the foreground as the user scrolls). We separated sections by assigning each a colour and applying it to different section elements such as headers, infographics and photo overlays. To accentuate the innovative aspect of the Innovative Medicines Canada brand, we applied contemporary design styles to the report and microsite such as overlapping text, generous leading in the body copy, and headers set in large, thin type. On the microsite, the circular call-to-action buttons in each section have a custom interactive hover animation as a visual tie-in to the Innovative Medicines Canada branded patterns.