Heriot-Watt has developed a reputation as a progressive, research-led and commercially-focused education establishment. Its annual review is instrumental in communicating this enterprise culture to a variety of audiences. We successfully tendered to produce this document and in formulating the brief with the client, identified the principal messages to be communicated, notably the university’s overseas partnerships and international development initiatives. However, we wanted to find a way of distilling this information down to a single, visual proposition and capturing the ‘energy’ of the University. What better place than the document front cover to communicate this?

In reinforcing the brand values that underpin the university’s reputation, we responded with a photographic representation of its mission – to create and transfer knowledge, to enable students and staff to fulfil their potential and to enrich all the communities with which it engages. The ‘ink’ image, art directed by Mortonward, never fails to attract attention and certainly caught the imagination of the university. It has since been adopted for the on-line version of the review.

Often, the front cover design of key publications can become compromised by internal wrangles and a tendency to play it safe. As this document demonstrates, the concept was carried through as intended and the sense of enterprise that runs through the university is evident in this bold, memorable and strategically relevant image. We have since worked with the University on a number of student-focused and corporate projects.