Winning Complex Work
CLS Living
Proposal Design · RFP
The Challenge
A nearly 50-page property management RFP has a lot of ground to cover. CLS Living needed to communicate its experience, management approach, market research, competitive analysis, operational plans and results, all while making a convincing case for why they were the right partner.
The challenge was making that much information feel manageable. The proposal needed enough structure to keep the reader oriented, but enough variety to keep 50 pages from feeling like 50 pages.
My Approach
I built a flexible editorial system that could handle very different kinds of content without making every page look the same. Strong typography and photography give the bigger ideas room to breathe, while maps, charts, tables and comparison graphics make the more detailed sections easier to understand.
I also paid close attention to pacing. Dense analytical pages are balanced with simpler, more visual ones, giving the reader a break and helping the important information stand out.
A large portfolio and geographic reach distilled into one quick visual snapshot.
There’s no getting around the amount of data in an RFP. Good information design makes it much easier to get through.
Strategy is more convincing when you can show the results.
The Result
The finished RFP takes a lot of information and makes it feel organized, approachable and convincing. The reader can move through the proposal, understand the bigger story and still dig into the details when they need them.
At the end of the day, a proposal has one job: help win the work. Good design can’t make the case on its own, but it can make a strong case much easier to see.
Corporate Publication
Sysco