Apple | Annual Reports

Designing annual reports was a big deal in the ’80s and ’90s—a rite of passage alongside designing a logo and a poster. Electronic communication largely displaced these expensive printed publications. I miss the opportunity they gave designers to craft extended visual narratives that were measured and nuanced.

I designed Apple’s 1984 report and served as creative director for the 1986 and 1987 reports—all pivotal years. Then again, every year at Apple in the ’80s seemed pivotal: the Macintosh launch, Steve Jobs’s departure, financial setbacks, and a recovery fueled by new products.

The 1984 and 1987 reports capture two different Apples. In 1984, it was a confident company coloring outside the lines. By 1987, it was acting like an adult and coloring inside them—with some quirky brilliance intact. I slipped Easter eggs into a handful of pages to reassure Apple diehards that the company they loved still existed, even without Steve Jobs.

1984 Annual Report

Apple’s 1984 annual report captured the confidence and ambition surrounding the Macintosh launch. This presentation traces its creation, from adapting the “1984” Super Bowl commercial for the cover to showcasing the Macintosh factory and recruiting prominent figures to demonstrate the computer’s creative potential. Personal anecdotes—including Garry Trudeau’s contribution that didn’t make it past legal—reveal the thinking behind the work. The presentation then follows the 1985 quarterly reports, showing how their emphasis shifted toward the Apple II product line as early optimism gave way to financial setbacks.

1987 Annual Report

Apple’s 1987 annual report captured a company gaining momentum while holding on to its unconventional spirit. This presentation offers a behind-the-scenes look at its creation, from Jill Savini’s art direction to the playful details that kept a polished corporate publication distinctly Apple—including a lizard hidden in a product photograph. It also recounts how an interactive timeline developed by Hugh Dubberly and his team became a last-minute HyperCard supplement, extending the report beyond print and demonstrating a new way to communicate with shareholders.