This page is currently being updated to reflect the guidance of our new look and feel.
Please refer to the Brand intranet page for the latest materials to support you until this page is updated. Thank you!
We’re a photography led brand. Icons can help quickly indicate to our audiences and users what we’re trying to get across or send them quickly. An example of this in practice on our website is our ‘about Aegon UK’ web page. Our illustration style should only be used on the website where photography wouldn’t adequately communicate our messaging. Illustrations can play a bigger part in pieces like animations, videos or infographics.
Photography
Use of photography breathes life into our communications, while providing a mechanism to highlight our brand personality. Our use of people-focused imagery in everyday settings highlights our focus on the customers we help and support.
There is a bank of pre-approved images with accessibility information already complete on AEM to be used on the website. The bank of photography is not segmented by audience, but looking at the type of photography already used on the relevant areas of the website will give you a sense of what works best.
When choosing photography for a page, consider where the page fits into a wider customer journey and what photography has already been used. Avoid re-using photography that featured on the previous page of the journey.
You can request photography from our brand approved iStock board (link below) if you can’t find a suitable option within AEM. You’ll need to submit a MOS action for APS to supply the image – the action type changes depending on the number of outputs (for example, the number of different sizes you need as well as images). The actions used are: Fast Track for 5 outputs, Update Asset for 15 outputs and First Proof if higher. When requesting, please include the link to the image.
When uploading images to AEM, they should be 1920x1080.
Icons
Icons are best used to quickly communicate information such as linking to other areas of the site, as seen in the examples below taken from our About Us page.
Infographics and Illustrations
Infographics or illustrations should be used sparingly, and only when photography or icons cannot sufficiently communicate the information. If required, submit a creative brief on MOS. APS and Brand will then review and advise the best approach.
Infographics should be a .SVG file, this means that it will be in a scalable format. You may also want to consider a separate mobile version with different proportions as font size could be unreadable when scaled down from desktop.
Image Accessibility
- Make sure that alternative (alt) text has been used and accurately reflects the purpose of the image or provides an accurate description. If the image is linked, describe the link destination in the alt text.
- Be careful when using images with text in them. Be sure image alt text communicates the same information as the text in the image.
- When using graphs or diagrams, include accompanying text to explain the meaning.
- For infographics or complex images with a large amount of text, its best to include a short description in alt text and a long description in adjacent text.
When images are broken on the website, alt text is also used to provide context - as seen in example below.
