More Than a PDF: The Process Behind a Printed Research Report

So you want an insight into the workings of a printed report for a corporate client? Well, here’s your fix.

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In this article, follow a step-by-step guide to the process of planning, designing and printing a report from the perspective of a design agency, from the first call to the final print run. It’s a little more involved than putting some text and charts on a few pages and hitting ‘print’.

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We’re not saying this is THE ONLY way to make a report, as we’re sure there are a multitude of different processes that can achieve the same outcome. This is purely a raw, real design process that gives you some insight into the working relationship between a design agency and client.Let’s take a look.

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‍Step 1: From idea to visual direction

‍Every report starts with an idea. Our client came to us with an overarching theme for their upcoming research report and wanted us to create a visual concept to relay what they had covered.

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Since we had already been provided with a theme for their content, we had a good starting point to explore how we could translate the idea visually. This led us to develop a range of creative directions, finding different ways of communicating the same talking point.

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After some discussions, the client gave us guidance on their preferences, which allowed us to work up a visual concept in more detail so they could see a more in-depth exploration of the chosen direction. This allowed us to test how the visuals would look across all elements of the report, including the cover, inside front and back covers, graphs, tables, charts and everything in between.

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If the client was still happy with the direction, we would then move forward with it.

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‍Step 2: Creating a system

‍Once the visual direction was agreed, we started building a consistent design system for the report, keeping in mind any pre-existing brand guidelines. This design system could include a number of things; everything from typography and layouts to imagery, graphic elements and colours. All of these elements worked together to create a visual language that could be used across the publication while keeping the content clear and engaging.

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As a side note, sometimes within a report, we are given more freedom to push brand guidelines and experiment with alternative colour combinations or text hierarchies that a brand might not tend to use elsewhere.

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This can be a nice opportunity to take an existing brand and explore what else it can do, without straying too far from the established identity.

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‍Step 3: Making data work visually

‍Research reports can contain a lot of data, and in this instance, it did!

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We decided with the client that it would be best to receive the final charting as soon as possible. This would allow us enough time to create infographics that weren’t just standard bar charts, pie charts or tables. It also meant we could start designing while the written content was still in progress, rather than waiting for every element of the report to be finished before getting started.

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Presenting data effectively is about more than simply dropping charts onto a page. We explored different approaches to the charting, looking for ways to make the information easy to understand while ensuring the charts felt like a natural part of the wider visual concept.

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The aim was to make the data feel like part of the design, rather than something that had simply been added afterwards.

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‍Step 4: Bringing the report together

‍With the content written and the final copy coming through, we brought all the elements together into the first full version of the report. Copy, charts, visuals and layouts were carefully considered as one piece, allowing us to see how the visual system worked across the publication as a whole.

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This “V1” document was then shared digitally with all the team members who needed to review and approve it. At this point, we could start getting a proper sense of how everything worked together and, more importantly, where things might need changing.

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‍Step 5: The art of refinement

‍As you might expect, the first version of a report is rarely the final version. From the initial “V1” submission, we worked through rounds of copy and data amendments, refining layouts and making adjustments as the content and narrative evolved.

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Sometimes this was a simple copy change that meant adjusting a few lines of text, while other times a change to a chart or piece of data could have a knock-on effect across an entire page. This was where having a flexible design system became really important, as it allowed us to make these changes without having to completely rethink the layout every time something moved.

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It was an iterative part of the process, but often where the details that made the report feel considered and cohesive really came together.

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Once we were happy with the artwork and the client was happy with the content, we could start thinking about getting the report off the screen and onto paper.

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‍Step 6: Why print proofing matters

‍Once the artwork was ready, the report was sent to print for flat-sheet proofs. This gave us the opportunity to see how the design actually looked when it was physically printed, rather than relying solely on what we had seen on screen.

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It was an important stage because there were certain things you simply couldn’t judge properly from a digital PDF. Colour, image reproduction, paper and overall legibility could all look slightly different once they were physically printed, so this was our chance to check everything before the full print run went ahead.

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We checked the proofs carefully and made any relevant amendments. It was also a good opportunity to step back and look at the report as a physical publication rather than just a collection of individual pages on a screen.

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‍Step 7: From proof to finished report

‍Once the proofs had been checked, any necessary amendments were made and the final feedback was incorporated. An amended PDF was then sent back to the client for one final review and approval.

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With everything signed off, the final PDF was sent to print and the production process could begin.

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And that was it! What started as an idea for a research report had gone through creative exploration, design development, data visualisation, rounds of amends and physical proofing before finally becoming a finished printed publication.

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It might have looked like a simple report when it landed on someone’s desk, but there was a fair amount that went on behind the scenes to get it there.

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‍Have you got a research report, publication or printed project in the pipeline? Get in touch and let’s talk about how we can turn your content and data into something clear, engaging and built to be printed.