Graphic Design and Print – CPB Technical Product Guides
I started a programme to help educate and support farmers, salesmen and advisors using information guides, training sessions and field support. I drafted a Creative Brief for a set of technical training manuals or product information booklets to assist the distributors and their customers.
A shortlist of graphic design agencies put forward ideas along conventional lines using A4 or A5 ring binders. At a training session with 35 distributor sales representatives, I gave them opportunity to evaluate the mock-up designs. The feedback I received led to a very different style and design for the final material.
The salesmen made it clear they already had car boots full of A4 folders as well as office shelves sagging under their weight. They felt they were an impractical design. For their daily job working with farmers out in the field, they needed something small that could fit in a coat pocket or a vehicle dashboard, and rugged enough to cope with splashes of mud or rain (or worse!) It needed to be easy to read on the hoof, a handy reference rather than a sit down, serious read. The language needed to be easy to understand with minimum technical jargon.
The result was a range of mini-guides, third A4 size, spiral bound with durable paper that stood up to rough treatment and wiped clean. The content comprised of clear text, quality pictures and informative diagrams and data charts. The copy explained a very technical subject in clear, simple language. Demand amongst farmers and distributors was huge, their feedback was overwhelmingly positive and the first edition reprinted several times. The knowledge the guides conveyed helped in part to address the management problems and contributed to a sales recovery and market domination.
The design won an award from Business Link East Anglia for printed literature. This style was much copied by competitors and effectively became an industry standard.