Urban Outfitters’ Annual Report

For my Publication Design class, we had to choose a company to design a 28 page minimum mock annual report for. I chose Urban Outfitters because of a few factors. Their design aesthetics were something I admired and it’s very opened ended to the point where I didn’t have to really rely on certain themes. For example, if I chose Hot Topic, I would have to restrict myself to the alternative style. Black, chains, piercings, and cheesy graphic tees. My other choice was the U.S. Postal Service, but that was shot down because others believed it would of been boring to design. So here’s my final project, along with pictures and cover process, check it out under the cut.

I ran into MANY challenges. Mainly with the process of the cover for my annual report. I wanted to try something different than your usual paper hardcover. I looked into plexiglass covers and having it laser engraved. With the research of plexiglass, I found that acrylic sheets are more efficient. Easier to work with, and much cheaper. I knew I wanted a texturized cover so I looked into many options. Sandpapering the cover, sandblasting, laser etching, vinyl film, paint, and screen-printing. After many trials and error and lack of resources, I found a fake “frosted” spray at my local hardware store and it worked perfectly with what I wanted. The acrylic sheets were cut at Tap Plastics located in Seattle. They were unbelievably patient with my lack of plastics vocabulary and got me what I needed no matter what size the project.

The design aesthetics I wanted to create was to juxtapose dark with light colors, if that makes any sense. I relied heavily on geometric shapes to go along with the geometric style of the Urban Outfitters’ logo. Another perk with this project, was that this was the first project I tried taking my own pictures. I gathered a few of my friends and dimmed the lights for my own photoshoot. The photos came out nicely and I felt like it fit the Urban Outfitters’ theme.

Booklet Info:
13 x 7″
Steel post binding
31 pages
cover: acrylic sheets with hinges

Pictures of the actual booklet:

Spread examples:

Video Process of The Cover:

Few notes about the video:
- this was the process of TWO covers. One cover I used the masking tape on the acrylic sheet to create the stencil, and other cover was sprayed with a separate cardboard stencil. I forgot to film me spraying the masking tape cover. Just incase I messed up on a cover, I had another cover to back me up.
- the liquid in the bottle was acrylic glue. Apparently the fumes are considered cancerous in the state of California. And it melted my plastic gloves. Dangerous…
- the fumes stayed in my room for 2 days.

Overall, this project was probably the most energy draining project I’ve had the pleasure of finishing. Also the most proudest. There are some things that need to be fixed, but I’m sure I’ll correct it by the time of portfolio review.

Thanks for checking this out! Let me know what you think in the comments!