House Style

Branding

A company will spend significant time and resource creating and maintaining their brand. It is often the case that the point at which they do not use the brand is within a proposal to their prospective client. AWE Inspirations’ proposal enhancements ensure that the client's brand is used to add value in the bid.

One of the main components of a brand is the logos of the companies. In AWE Inspirations’ Proposals, all logos are redrawn or captured to publishing standards so that the maximum value can be gained from the recognition of them. This is done, not only for the bidding company's logo but also for the prospects logo as well as any customer references and partner companies.

The diagram shows the contrast in using this technique over the normal "web capture method".

Message

AWE Inspirations will work with the bid team to establish the message that they wish to communicate within the bid. This might be any of the following examples:

Professional
Creative
Technical
Modern
Establishment
Inexpensive
Appropriate for Government
Reliable
For Discussion
Quality
Reactive - Pro Active

Colour Palette

As part of the Proposal Enhancement design process a colour palette is chosen and presented to the bid manager for approval. Once this has been agreed, all of the diagrams, layouts documentation etc., is based upon the colours contained in the palette.

Font & Style Sheets

The choice of fonts goes hand in hand with colour palette selection and branding design. A font can communicate a wide variety of feelings and emotions. It is very important that the fonts within a document reflect the message that is to be communicated in the bid. Once a set of fonts have been chosen, a set of styles are developed so that the complete published document is consistent and structurally correct.

The style sheet is created in such a way as to give the reader impressions such as openness, readability, professionalism, European or American etc. The styles with the package are used in all parts of the design and consequently the deliverables. For example the layout of text on the CD, the front cover, even the label on the package should match that which used for publishing the document.

The picture above shows an extract from a style layout sent to a bid team for approval. To view and example of the full style sheet click here to view a PDF.

Look & Feel

Once the branding, colour palette and housestyles have been chosen then the message reflecting the overall look and feel is taken into account to create a final design and set of templates to be used for the published document. These choices are communicated electronically to the bid team with the use of thumbnail graphics as well as sample designs.

An example of a design that had a specific "look & feel" is for a bid designed for Melbourne Australia. In this design the client wanted to have a life style theme with a direct orientation of Melbourne and NOT Sydney. The contact sheet for the bid team is illustrated below, showing a page of images that were used in the final design.

To download an example of the full contact sheet click here.

Cover Design

The cover of the document is clearly the most important part of the design exercise. This is the first view that the client has of the document and must give the most positive impact. It is also the image and layout that is used for most of the other deliverables, such as DVD box, presentation covers, boxes etc.

Divider Design

Dividers are typically hand made sheets with named tabs representing the sections of the document. Each image must match the look and feel of the document in combination with the name of the section that is represented.