SEC Investor Report
Editorial design for an SEC investor publication: a 12-page report on how analysts rate stocks, and what their ratings leave out.
Editorial Design
Data Visualization
Publication
Finance & Government
Made with
About the project
Analyst ratings move markets, but few investors read the fine print. This report makes it readable, in a system as steady as the institution behind it.
The cover
One continuous band of hairlines rises across the cover like a market line: the report’s motif at full strength, so the outside and the inside read as one piece.
Foreword from SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins, opposite a contents page set in the report’s teal panel.
Type
Futura sets every section title in capitals over a short rule; Avenir Next carries the reading and the numbers. Two geometric sans serifs, one calm voice.
Futura Medium for headlines, Avenir Next for body copy, captions and chart values.
Charcoal
HEX #241F21
RGB 36 31 33
Deep Teal
HEX #034F61
RGB 3 79 97
Ice Blue
HEX #BFE8FA
RGB 191 232 250
Slate
HEX #99ABBF
RGB 153 171 191
SEC Blue
HEX #3F85D1
RGB 63 133 209
Hairline
HEX #313134
RGB 49 49 52
White
HEX #FFFFFF
RGB 255 255 255
A charcoal ground instead of the expected red, white and blue, with deep teal for data, ice blue for headings and SEC blue saved for the seal.
Data
Every figure is built from the same parts: a round icon, a plain-language question, ice-blue bars on deep teal. Learn the system once and every chart after it reads at a glance.
Survey figures run in a sidebar beside the text, with a closer look at the risk chart and the U.S., Europe and global growth predictions.
Spreads
Dense regulatory text is broken into columns, numbered provisions and pull-out figures, with running heads and folios on the pages that need them.
Rule changes and conflicts of interest, and a closing spread that hands the decision back to the reader.
Project
Analyzing Analyst Recommendations
Type
Investor publication, 12 pages
Sector
Finance & Government
Disciplines
Editorial Design
Data Visualization
Cover Design
Year
2026
Context
Graphic Design Studio,
Adelphi University
Design
Benjamin Eppel
Analyzing Analyst Recommendations is a 12-page investor publication designed for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It explains who research analysts are, who they work for and how conflicts of interest can shape a “buy” or a “sell,” in a format built to be read rather than skimmed.
The ask
The brief supplied the copy and the running order: cover, foreword, contents, executive summary and five sections, with survey data to chart. It called for a cohesive type pairing, a palette beyond the usual red, white and blue, consistent imagery, and running heads and folios on part of the pages.
A quieter institution
Financial regulators tend to look either patriotic or anonymous. This report takes a third route: a charcoal ground with deep teal and ice blue, so it reads as calm and authoritative, closer to a well-made annual report than a government pamphlet. SEC blue is held back for the seal.
One line, many pages
A band of fine parallel lines flows behind the text throughout the report, a quiet stand-in for market movement. On the cover the same band is drawn at full strength, rising across the page beneath the headline, so the motif introduces itself before the report is opened.
Making numbers readable
Survey results sit in a teal sidebar beside the text they support, each figure introduced by a round icon and a plain-language question. Bars, industry icons and pie charts share one palette and one set of type styles, so the data reads as part of the editorial voice rather than an insert.
Clarity as a service
The result treats investor education as a design problem: dense regulatory content organized into a hierarchy a reader can follow, in a system flexible enough to carry future SEC publications.
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SEC Investor Report
Editorial design for an SEC investor publication: a 12-page report on how analysts rate stocks, and what their ratings leave out.
Editorial Design
Data Visualization
Publication
Finance & Government
Made with
About the project
Analyst ratings move markets, but few investors read the fine print. This report makes it readable, in a system as steady as the institution behind it.
The cover
One continuous band of hairlines rises across the cover like a market line: the report’s motif at full strength, so the outside and the inside read as one piece.
Foreword from SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins, opposite the contents page.
Type
Futura sets every section title in capitals over a short rule; Avenir Next carries the reading and the numbers. Two geometric sans serifs, one calm voice.
Futura Medium for headlines, Avenir Next for body copy and chart values.
Charcoal
#241F21
Deep Teal
#034F61
Ice Blue
#BFE8FA
Slate
#99ABBF
SEC Blue
#3F85D1
Hairline
#313134
White
#FFFFFF
Data
Every figure is built from the same parts: a round icon, a plain-language question, ice-blue bars on deep teal. Learn the system once and every chart after it reads at a glance.
The risk spread, with closer looks at its sidebar chart and the growth-prediction pies.
Spreads
Dense regulatory text is broken into columns, numbered provisions and pull-out figures, with running heads and folios on the pages that need them.
Rule changes, conflicts of interest and the closing spread.
Type
Investor publication, 12 pages
Sector
Finance & Government
Disciplines
Editorial Design, Data Visualization, Cover Design
Year
2026
Context
Graphic Design Studio, Adelphi University
Analyzing Analyst Recommendations is a 12-page investor publication designed for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It explains who research analysts are, who they work for and how conflicts of interest can shape a “buy” or a “sell,” in a format built to be read rather than skimmed.
The ask
The brief supplied the copy and the running order: cover, foreword, contents, executive summary and five sections, with survey data to chart. It called for a cohesive type pairing, a palette beyond the usual red, white and blue, consistent imagery, and running heads and folios on part of the pages.
A quieter institution
Financial regulators tend to look either patriotic or anonymous. This report takes a third route: a charcoal ground with deep teal and ice blue, so it reads as calm and authoritative, closer to a well-made annual report than a government pamphlet. SEC blue is held back for the seal.
One line, many pages
A band of fine parallel lines flows behind the text throughout the report, a quiet stand-in for market movement. On the cover the same band is drawn at full strength, rising across the page beneath the headline, so the motif introduces itself before the report is opened.
Making numbers readable
Survey results sit in a teal sidebar beside the text they support, each figure introduced by a round icon and a plain-language question. Bars, industry icons and pie charts share one palette and one set of type styles, so the data reads as part of the editorial voice rather than an insert.
Clarity as a service
The result treats investor education as a design problem: dense regulatory content organized into a hierarchy a reader can follow, in a system flexible enough to carry future SEC publications.
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