A combination of stunning images and high impact infographics made this investment prospectus design a success in attracting investment to support Sudan’s transition to democracy.

Background

With a primary focus on emerging markets, Noble Capital Group is an independent corporate finance and advisory specialist. The company offers a comprehensive solution for corporations and governments seeking to raise capital for business expansion or large scale infrastructure projects.

Focus on Sudan and its new beginnings: with the end of a 30-year-long military dictatorship following peaceful protests, the lifting of international sanctions, and an opportunity to benefit from debt relief, the Northeast Africa republic is now primed for investment to aid with the restructuring and development of the country. With lots of opportunity across mining, oil, gas and agriculture, the Sudan government needed to attract significant investment towards infrastructure to build a robust electricity network, and roads and railways that would not only unlock the potential of the different Sudanese states, but also provide new opportunities for landlocked neighbouring countries given Sudan’s geographical advantage thanks to access to the Nile and the Red Sea.

Challenge

Noble Capital, in partnership with the Sudan government, tasked us with the creation of assets and the design of a 120-page investment prospectus targeted at a wide range of international institutions and world leaders. The prospectus would be presented at the Paris Conference, a forum attended by Heads of State and international government officials with the aim of sharing the EU’s commitment to continue supporting Sudan’s transformation to democracy. The investment prospectus design had to reflect government branding, but also work as a standalone piece to engage the wider international audience.

There were a number of challenges with this project:

• vast amounts and a constant flow of data from our client had to be digested and visually interpreted in a way that would make it immediately engaging
• the lack of existing collateral meant that all maps, infographics and icons would have to be created from scratch
• the prospectus and assets had to be produced in a very short timeframe to meet the window of opportunity provided by the conference

Solution

We quickly put together a team so that the creation of assets and the design would run in tandem. With our client supplying materials daily, we set up regular meetings to guarantee a continuous and smooth workflow and quality checks. The result is a highly visual document that informs and engages page after page.

The prospectus is visually consistent throughout and easy to digest thanks to the way it presents complex data sets, economic sector interlinkages, charts and maps, helping validate our client’s message and supporting the strategic investment story. With lots of detailed information to get across, structure is key for the success of the prospectus both within each page and also in the document overall. Sections 1-8 serve as an introduction to the region, then from Section 9 the investment prospectus gets into detail on the country’s core competencies (agriculture, oil and gas…), with detailed maps that help bring the information to life.

Colour-coding and strong photography are two of the key elements within the prospectus, which whilst incredibly detailed is also visually uncomplicated. We conceived the design to work in a small screen (for conference attendees viewing a digital version on their mobile devices), and also to be highly effective when viewed on a bigger screen or in printed format. Other aspects we considered carefully are tonality, typeface and iconography – all chosen to fill the prospectus with a positive, uplifting and vibrant feel.

The use of colour helps readers navigate the document, giving the option to concentrate on specific areas of interest.

Interesting snippets of information are given prominence by extracting them from the main body of the text, making the reading experience varied and memorable.

In Section 10, we turned short, mid and long term projects into a timeline of Stability, Growth and Wealth for the country, supported by a visually strong infographic-style structure that aids with understanding of the different areas covered, and fill the page with possibility and hope.

As well as providing Noble Capital Group with a striking and effective design that showcased Sudan and the possibilities it offers, there was a heavy project management element rooted in internal collaboration at Parker and also externally with our client:

• conscious of the strict deadline and the large amount of content to fit in, we started by creating the icon style and maps in advance to get client feedback; we could then work on any changes while Noble Capital focused on preparing the rest of the content before sending it to us
• we then put together a team of designers and artworkers, who would flow content in section by section
• with content supplied in PowerPoint, we extracted all the information and data and recreated everything in a short space of time
• the project’s lead designer created the main layout, while two other designers worked on the tables, graphs and icons
• as one section was completed, it would be sent to our client straight away for sign-off, while the design team started work on another section. With tight timings, the team grew with two more designers on board to guarantee the strict deadline was met

The completed publication was produced ahead of time for the Paris Conference and was extremely well received.

“The positive feedback we’ve received on the prospectus has been nothing short of overwhelming, in every sense of the word!!

The American government have been absolutely blown away by the quality of the prospectus, and just this morning we had a message from someone who’s been working in Sudan for over 20 years, and said the document was the single greatest presentation on Sudan that he had ever seen!

So thank you very much again for all of your incredible efforts alongside us to bring it to fruition!” – Director, Noble Capital Group