Avista Utilities

Annual report for billion dollar energy company

Typesetting

Page Layout

Information Architecture

Design Thinking

Graphic Design

Copywriting

Company Overview

Avista Corporation is an energy company based out of Spokane, WA with approximately 1,550 employees providing electricity, natural gas and other energy services to 359,000 electric and 320,000 natural gas customers in three western states. The service territory covers 30,000 square miles in eastern Washington, northern Idaho and parts of southern and eastern Oregon, with a population of 1.5 million.

My Contributions

While I was on staff at 116 & West (formerly Klündt | Hosmer), I had the opportunity to design the 2015 Annual Report for one of their largest clients, Avista. I was the lead designer on the project, which meant developing the theme, headline, front and back covers and the entire editorial section of the report under the direction of the creative director and in collaboration with other creatives and project managers at the agency.

Tools

Illustrator

Photoshop

InDesign

Timeline

2 months

The biggest challenge when working on a document as important as an Annual Report for a public company is being overly diligent and making sure every detail is perfect. We had trouble sourcing the right imagery that we wanted to use in the editorial section of the Annual Report, so we commissioned out a local photographer, Dean Davis, to help us capture a few shots to help polish off the design. Although the editorial section of the report is heavily influenced by one of their main brand colors, red, we knew that we couldn't use it in the financial sections for obvious reasons.

We explored hundreds of cover themes, concepts and designs before landing on the one you see here. This design is based around a custom photograph we commissioned from a local photographer, Dean Davis, at Spokane's minor league baseball park, Avista Stadium, which the company acquired the naming rights for in 1999. Each year the report has a different theme, and "Bringing Energy to Life'" was the theme we came up with for the 2015 Annual Report, which went on to win the "For-Profit Annual Report" category at the 2017 Spark Awards.

Results

100+

Cover explorations

30+

Theme concepts

Award earned

While on staff at 116 & West (formerly Klündt Hosmer), I was the lead designer in charge of the Avista 2015 Annual Report. Throughout the project, we explored over 100 cover ideas as well as over 30 theme concepts before landing on "Bringing Energy to Life". This concept pushed us to highlight the many ways Avista embeds itself in the community. The report was well-received by the Avista team and ultimately won a Spark Award of Excellence.