Standard Bank Investment Corporation annual report reflects a transforming society

South Africa 1997, a fledgling democracy in the age of Mandela, ushered in the inspirational hope of social, political and economic transformation. Standard Bank Investment Corporation required an annual report to reflect the positive changes that were taking place within the South African society.

CLIENT

Standard Bank Investment Corporation

services

Annual Report Design • Creative Direction

Infographics & illustrations

With the concept ring-fenced the studio was required to make the idea relevant to the financial and investment sectors in which the bank operates.

With a history of foreign ownership dating back to 1862, the bank, in 1997, was celebrating its 10th birthday as a wholly-owned South African corporation. The design, branding, photography and artwork required a commitment to showcase the best of South Africa and her people. The group's financial section was typeset by the bank itself.

At the turn of the century digital photography had not yet come of age. All photographs were original positive slides. A heidelberg flatbed digital scanner was used to scan each slide. Despite Apple boasting a powerful new operating system, each scan had to be stored on its own external 20 megabyte Iomega cassette. To create one collage for the annual report (above) six photographs were loaded from six different cassettes, one at a time, into Adobe photoshop.

Above: An original Apple Macintosh Classic.

Digital photographs were so large they had to be stored on external hard drives – the files could only be used one at a time. This Mac features an 8 MHz 68000 processor, 1 MB of 2 MB of RAM and either a 1.44 MB disk drive or a 1.44 MB disk drive and a 40 MB hard drive in a sleek, compact all-in-one case with a 9" monochrome screen.

The final result – a seamless collage of images that showcased the banks multi-faceted operational sectors with a strong focus on cultural diversity.

Initially the bank was a little nervous but in the end were blown away with the final result.