Tru-Line Word template

Tru-Line Civil corporate stationery system and website.

Civil engineering is the sort of work where you are out in the field getting your hands dirty so the matt laminate, and radiused corners ensures they are robust and presentable on the job.

To illustrate TruLine Civil’a mission statement opening spread I rendered a suitable, typical photocomposite of men and machines at work, traffic management in action on State Highway 1.

TruLine’s tender bids are illustrated with relevant documentary photography from the case study library of images that I am shooting.

A key personnel CV two page spread.

A montage of 9 typical page layouts from a Truline tender bid documents/

Formulating impressive documentation within a tight timeframe

The Tru-Line Civil rebrand’s good-looking corporate stationery system works hard and adapts easily. The design conforms to the world’s most popular business look. It is corporate—uncluttered, clean and impressive, while the dynamic illustrated logo sends a powerful message.

MS Word tender bid document template

In addition to the full set of corporate stationery the simple design of the custom Word tender bid document delivers highly critical business-to-business information. This information is prescribed by client’s ‘Registration Of Interest’ and ‘Request For Tender’ (R.O.I. and R.F.T.) documents.

Diligent research, collaborative teamwork, high standard of presentation

I do not come from a Civil Engineering background so collaborating with members of the team at TruLine, including the contract manager, engineers, site foremen, Quality Assurance, Health and Safety, Traffic Management, is an essential part of producing a great outcome. TruLine’s tender documents are read by industry professionals who read every word. While there is no need to “hook” the reader in, this audience is particularly discerning with an eye to accuracy of information and writing that has a high ratio of relevant insights to words. In order to write compelling content with every tender bid;

conduct a learning programme relevant to the type of works involved in the tender,
find out what the background is and what the drivers are for construction of the project, interviewing key personnel involved as required
learn how the need for the civil works came about. The history in general, the funding sources for the works.

This due diligence conveys to TruLine’s client audience that they have a solid grasp of their objectives and project outcomes desired.

Document structure strictly bound by the client R.O.I. and R.F.T.

Key to composing impressive tender bid documents is to follow the lead client’s which is set in their R.O.I.. Because the documents are formulated as a response to customer’s specifications they can be rather long, dense with text, charts, relevant imagery and tables. It follows that best practice dictates organising strictly according to the stipulated semantic structure, with particular emphasis on distinctive heading, body and table text styles. A key component of good long-form document design is that the textual information is very well presented.

Well crafted Typography

Generous linespacing, paragraph indents, luxury margins and strategic use of white space to ensure that the text flows like water from a tap, and the document is easily thumbed backwards and forwards through. Case studies, customer references, staff CVs, Excel spreadsheets and Gant charts are all integrated into the final bound documents according to the client prescribed scheme.

Consistent grid based layout and typography

The grid-based layout, consisted text size, alignment and numbering sequence sweeps the reader smoothly from front to back uninterrupted so they can relax and absorb the information they have requested. Should they need to jump and backtrack, the TOC (Table of Contents) and section tabs enable this to be achieved with ease. Professional photographs from the TruLine case study image library that I’ve built are appropriately placed and captioned. The typeface family used is sharply defined and “newsy” which makes it very well suited to laser printing. Relevant case study track record information on the TLC website is hyperlinked in the PDF. Final polish is added to the layouts with intelligent use of headers and footers that contain document meta information and the small but authoritative logo.

In-house printing, binding and finishing

For a neat corporate look the mirrored-page, single column, duplex layout is built on a four column grid to handle odd shapes and sizes of images. The duplex layout enables professional 2-sided printing on the in-house laser printer as the client R.O.I. often stipulate electronic as well as published and bound copies of tender bids be submitted. The tactile finishing touch to these professionally presented documents is the high production value, offset printed, laminated and embossed, A4 document covers and presentation folders.

Managing digital assets, maintaining high standards, meeting tight Deadlines

The structure and design of the document template, a well managed library of digital assets and a tried and true methodology of remote working with client collaborators enable me to bear the pressure and responsibility of composing documents under pressure that are consistently professional, and championing a production workflow that invariably runs smoothly and consistently meets or exceeds client expectations.

Extras

The opportunity to supply relevant addenda to the tender bids is often specifically invited. To that end several types of on-point custom addenda documents have been composed;

Individual Case Study documents
Key Personnel CVs
“Trenchless technology” overview and specification sheets of specialist TLC plant

The integrated brand Website design

The print design combines with the web to create a consistent brand presence.

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Credits

Printer: Brightprint Ltd
Font credits: Vitesse, Vitesse Sans (Forza), Helvetica Neue, Helvetica Neue Condensed