Research: NHS Direct

Available from: http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/About/CorporateInformation/OperatingStatistics/~/media/Downloads/NHSD_Annual_Report_Accounts_2011-12.ashx

 The NHS Direct Annual Reports and Accounts uses photography differently to the two previous examples, favouring images that fill the entire page which is a popular style at the moment, especially with overlaid text. On the cover I feel that the type is quite tricky to read, being white on a pale sky, but the photography provides a personal touch on a document that could appear quite cold and serious.

 The interior pages again use a minimal style, and again blue is favoured although that is not surprising as it is the colour of the NHS logo and many of their publications and signage. I chose this page to analyse as it shows a way of attractively displaying a visual piece of data, in this case a map. This is aesthetically much more pleasing than the table used in the AOHN Annual Report, and the different shades of blue are attractive used together. The map displays quite a lot of information and the rest of the page compensates by being mostly plain and empty.

However, the rest of the document looks more like this page, reams and reams of text broken up by the occasional photographic element, blue page or graphs, and doesn't provide easy reading for the casual observer. It is still clean looking with the blue lines still used but nobody would choose to look through, and is definitely aimed at people working for or with the organisation.