A first year, told as a magazine
An online annual report for the cultural investment fund Brabant C — designed not as a PDF, but as a living digital magazine that mirrors the projects it celebrates.
- Client
- Brabant C (via DutchGiraffe)
- Period
- 2015 — 2016
- Type
- Online annual report
- Role
- Art direction, Visual design, Editorial collaboration, Animation direction
Brabant C is the investment fund through which the province of Noord-Brabant supports art and culture of national and international standing. Brabant is full of ideas for ambitious cultural projects — what is often missing is a way to make them financially sustainable. The fund exists to close that gap.
When we first sat down together, Brabant C was only ten months old. They wanted to underline that early track record with something more substantial than a press release: a public annual report that did justice to the projects backed in its first year — alongside, not inside, their website.
Culture and creativity, hand in hand
Built on the WP-Magazines platform, the report became a dynamic online document — informative, inspiring and genuinely enjoyable to read. Long-form text, portraits, photography, data and animation share the same space, each used where it adds the most.
A geometric visual language
Alongside portrait and project photography we developed a geometric visual language — a family of patterns standing in for the diversity of the projects. The patterns frame quotes, lift formal articles out of monotony, and carry animated figures.
Editorial collaboration
The first editorial meeting was less about visuals and more about rhythm. We mapped the year’s topics into a balanced flow — template pages alternating with visual breaks, and an overview page with sub-pages for the projects. In total the report runs on eight repeating page templates.
