31 Oct Make your bid shine like your costume this Halloween.
“Halloween is not only about putting on a costume, but it’s about finding imagination and costume within ourselves.” Elvis Duran
We can all be guilty of leaving the design of our bids to the last minute and rushing them. Whilst content is important and vital to winning, appearance can make your proposal stand out from the crowd and be memorable.
Many Halloween costume competitions come with their own set of rules and criteria you have to follow. In the same way, many tenders – especially public sector tenders, have to be submitted with certain typefaces, font size and layouts. It is vital to ensure your submission is compliant and you understand the restrictions on design but take every opportunity to max out the areas you can add some design to, in order to allow light relief to the assessors whilst being relevant to the questions being asked.
Graphics have their place, if allowed. Showing something as a graphic rather than text can make understanding it easier and also more accurate. In breaking up text, you can affect the assessor’s emotional response and influence how they look at the remaining response.
As with good costume design, a graphic shouldn’t need explanation. If someone is dressed in a black dress with a pointy hat and broom, it’s obvious they’re a witch. There’s no need to expand further. The same theory should apply to your graphics. If too much explanation around a graphic or image is needed, then you have to question if it is doing the job it should be doing and may need removing or adapting.
Also, keep the design of your proposal consistent throughout, ensure that the formatting is the same; headings, font size and type and brand colour scheme etc.
Stick to these simple rules and you will be on track for a winning bid proposal this Halloween.
