Moving powerfully into the future
In its 2001 annual report, SBB put new ideas on track
The SBB has come up with new ideas in its 2001 annual reportBy Andreas PanzeriWith a forecast section, the SBB wanted to set itself apart from the traditional pattern of conventional annual reports for once. 16 future scenarios were to supplement the mere retrospective of the past financial year - and also provide the railroads with internal material for further training.
"The fact that the 2001 Annual Report does not depict a single train is probably unique in the 100-year history of SBB," says Stefan Haas, Head of Public Relations at SBB, commenting on the new style. The 2001 Annual Report of the Swiss Federal Railways has been completely revamped graphically. "Our theme was the customers - and we pursued this idea radically," explains Haas.
Instead of everyday scenes from the course of the year at Deutsche Bahn, which are shown in various picture formats throughout the 60-page publication in the 2000 report, the 2001 annual report now has a concentrated picture section right at the beginning. The back chapters of the report contain only texts, figures and graphical tables.
The "opening credits" picture section shows portraits of numerous SBB customers in full-format photos. A short story has been knitted around each of these pictures in three-line legends. For example, a boy is enjoying the milk that is being transported by train with Cargo Domino to various processing centers in Switzerland.
A senior couple enjoy traveling with the GA travelcard. A student praises the fast train connections to university. A fruit merchant appreciates the fast transport of his citrus fruits from Sicily to the distribution center in Switzerland. A young woman travels by train to a spring weekend, another to the Street Parade and so on...
The importance of numbers for future development
However, the content of the new annual report is radically different from the graphic design with such artistic photos. On behalf of SBB, the Prognos Institute in Basel has developed 16 different future scenarios. These outlooks into the future paint a picture of possible traffic developments over the next 20 years. With this forecast section, SBB wants to set itself apart from the traditional structure of annual reports for once.
Instead of a mere retrospective of the past financial year and a sterile pile-up of facts, SBB wants to take the reader on a journey by rail into the not-so-distant future to celebrate this year's 100th anniversary of rail travel in Switzerland.
These futuristic transport scenarios are also used internally by SBB as food for thought in management training and further education courses. "They therefore also serve as a basis for discussion for the further development of the Federal Railways," explains Head of PR Stefan Haas.
Specifically, these visions deal with entrepreneurial freedom in the EU networks, various backgrounds to flexible planning, future forecasts for the development of passenger kilometers and the future of the Zurich economic area.
The people behind the report describe the "law of large numbers" as a "design experiment". This means that each chapter of the annual report begins with a graphically striking number. "SBB's size, range of services and market position bring immense numbers to light," the commentary states. In detail, the annual report shows that SBB carried out over 304 million passenger journeys in 2001, covering 13.3 billion passenger kilometers.
The newly designed annual report was produced by the agency New Identity Ltd, Basel, and managed in-house by the Communications department in Bern. The photographers were Donald Christie, Duc Liao, Gerhard Linnekogel, David Roth, Comenius Röthlisberger, Ursula Sprecher, Paul Wetherall and Kia Naddermier.
"The fact that the 2001 Annual Report does not depict a single train is probably unique in the 100-year history of SBB," says Stefan Haas, Head of Public Relations at SBB, commenting on the new style. The 2001 Annual Report of the Swiss Federal Railways has been completely revamped graphically. "Our theme was the customers - and we pursued this idea radically," explains Haas.
Instead of everyday scenes from the course of the year at Deutsche Bahn, which are shown in various picture formats throughout the 60-page publication in the 2000 report, the 2001 annual report now has a concentrated picture section right at the beginning. The back chapters of the report contain only texts, figures and graphical tables.
The "opening credits" picture section shows portraits of numerous SBB customers in full-format photos. A short story has been knitted around each of these pictures in three-line legends. For example, a boy is enjoying the milk that is being transported by train with Cargo Domino to various processing centers in Switzerland.
A senior couple enjoy traveling with the GA travelcard. A student praises the fast train connections to university. A fruit merchant appreciates the fast transport of his citrus fruits from Sicily to the distribution center in Switzerland. A young woman travels by train to a spring weekend, another to the Street Parade and so on...
The importance of numbers for future development
However, the content of the new annual report is radically different from the graphic design with such artistic photos. On behalf of SBB, the Prognos Institute in Basel has developed 16 different future scenarios. These outlooks into the future paint a picture of possible traffic developments over the next 20 years. With this forecast section, SBB wants to set itself apart from the traditional structure of annual reports for once.
Instead of a mere retrospective of the past financial year and a sterile pile-up of facts, SBB wants to take the reader on a journey by rail into the not-so-distant future to celebrate this year's 100th anniversary of rail travel in Switzerland.
These futuristic transport scenarios are also used internally by SBB as food for thought in management training and further education courses. "They therefore also serve as a basis for discussion for the further development of the Federal Railways," explains Head of PR Stefan Haas.
Specifically, these visions deal with entrepreneurial freedom in the EU networks, various backgrounds to flexible planning, future forecasts for the development of passenger kilometers and the future of the Zurich economic area.
The people behind the report describe the "law of large numbers" as a "design experiment". This means that each chapter of the annual report begins with a graphically striking number. "SBB's size, range of services and market position bring immense numbers to light," the commentary states. In detail, the annual report shows that SBB carried out over 304 million passenger journeys in 2001, covering 13.3 billion passenger kilometers.
The newly designed annual report was produced by the agency New Identity Ltd, Basel, and managed in-house by the Communications department in Bern. The photographers were Donald Christie, Duc Liao, Gerhard Linnekogel, David Roth, Comenius Röthlisberger, Ursula Sprecher, Paul Wetherall and Kia Naddermier.
