A year in the life of.....

Annual reports can be beige. Very beige.

My final semester at uni was spent creating a fictional annual report for our local Botanic Gardens. I took photos of my Mum emerging from a waterfall of pink boganvillea for the CEO's letter, made column graphs with blades of grass and pie charts with different coloured leaves. It was lovely to look at, but not particularly corporate and I doubt it maintained any kind of brand guide lines.

My work in the 'real world' has been a little less pretty. I have designed numerous corporate profiles and annual reports, but never with as much excitement as my very first attempt.

I keep my eye out on my daily trawl of the world wide web for designers who have a different approach. Designers who make this kind of work interesting.

Nichlas Feltron definitely ticks this box. http://feltron.com/

Nicholas creates what he calls 'personal annual reports'. According to his 2006 annual report, he visited 8 airports, took 11 flights, played 49 DJ sets, snapped 2721 photos and read 42 issues of The New Yorker magazine. Clear and conscise, each report presents interesting morsels of his daily life.

Nicholas loves data and design. His reports smoosh the two together, making data interesting and design appreciated. No wonder Fast Company recognised him as one of the 50 most influential designers in America.

Daytum displays Nicholas' almost obsessive interest in data. You have to check out this site! http://daytum.com/ WARNING: YOU WILL LOSE HOURS OF TIME. Enjoy.