As members of APMP, we know the Book of Knowledge tells us, “Graphics improve recollection up to 86% and communicate faster than text alone.” That said, not all of us are graphics wizzes and may not have access to a graphic designer full time to support our proposals. I sat down with a graphic artist extraordinaire, Ashely Johnson, to talk about graphics for proposals and get her insights.
Ashley says, “Less is more.” Visual elements are supposed to enhance the language or the information that’s already there, not distract from it. Each visual element should be an extension of the information on the page.
Also, your client is typically smarter than you may give them credit for. Arrows, underlines, and bolding can be helpful, but do just one of the groups. For example, using a giant red arrow may be sending the message that you don’t trust the readers of your proposal to understand what you’re proposing, which can come across as lack of confidence.
What about white space? Ashley’s rule of thumb: If you’re getting ready to add something, take something else off, instead because you probably already have too much.
“Objects are symbols that could replace repetitive language are always preferable,” says Ashley. For call outs, she recommends featuring client quotes or data that are meaningful to the client, like CSAT scores
Some tips if you’re working with a graphic designer:
- Be flexible. The visual design is going to change along with decisions you make about the content. Things are never stationary in the RFP space.
- Know what you’re asking for. What are you proposing? What are your goals for the graphics? What message does it need to send?
If you aren’t lucky enough to have access to a graphics department of graphic designer, do not stress! There are some really great resources you can use to enrich your proposal and help to draw in the client.
- PowerPoint | It’s a really great resource with royalty free assets that can easily turn into and match any internal brand guidelines you might have. PowerPoint has an entire free stock image library built into the application itself. So you actually have access to the entire free like Microsoft Getty like overlap like image based within your PowerPoint application, but again it. Ashley recommends checking out YouTube videos online to get the most out of your PowerPoint. Even if your proposal is in Word format, you can create your graphics in PowerPoint and then copy and paste them into Word.
- Free Image Sites | There are online sites that offer a wide variety of images you can use and then make it more personal by putting your own “stamp” on it. Examples include pexels.com, lds.com and pixabay.com
“It’s not your job to draw graphics all day,” says Ashley. “Find a tool that can build something you can talk to and provide a better visual representation of what you’re trying to convey to the client. That’s only going to help you. But you also shouldn’t have to do the job of somebody else in order to get your point across. So I think there’s probably a good middle ground in there.”
By Jennifer Dunlap
Jennifer Dunlap is an accomplished proposal manager who is well-versed in writing and editing responses. She has the ability to consistently produce quality results in a fast-paced environment, prioritizing appropriately to manage multiple quick turnaround projects simultaneously.
