Telling the Tale of a Creative City

Creative Seattle 2005, the latest annual report from the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, debuted at the Mayor’s Arts Awards, the kick-off to Bumbershoot weekend. Designed to capture the city’s creative life, the report is a colorful, energetic journey through the last year of the Office’s activities.

Like many organizations, the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs had a lot of programs and lists to include in its annual report. But by giving this year’s report a look, a theme and a simple structure, we successfully turned a “list of lists” into a vibrant story about the work it does to support creativity in our city.

Creative Seattle 2005 organizes all of the Office’s annual activities into four distinct and easy-to-navigate chapters by grouping similar programs and coding them with color. Its consistent design elements and a small number of large full-page images (rather than a large number of small images) create readability and graphic impact throughout.

Whether it’s a 12-page black and white booklet or a 70-page full-color extravaganza, every annual report is a chance to tell an exciting and dynamic story. So as the year draws to a close and you begin to gear up for your organization’s next report, ask yourself, what’s your organization’s story this year? What did you accomplish? What changed?