Win Business, Make Money.
I began the second stop on my career journey at Datapoint Corporation working in Corporate Communications as a graphic designer. The plan for me, six months removed from graduation with a degree in Journalism (Commercial Art Minor) from Southwest Texas State University, was to take a few pieces of the design and production of company collateral from a host of freelancers, and bring it “in-house”.
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I was fortunate to get the chance to work with Tom Hudgens who had worked in-house for Datapoint, and was working for us at the time as a freelance designer. Tom showed me the ropes and helped prepare me for taking over some projects, eventually. However, eventually, turned into immediately – I was tasked with producing the next year’s Annual Report after my first week on the job, something I had never done before.
On the Job Training
At this time, Annual Reports were still a big thing. Advertising Agencies and Design Studios vied for these prestigious jobs. Publicly traded companies were required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to submit financial statements for shareholders, investors, and employees. These reports were famously creative and came in all shapes and sizes. Some of the most well known and highly respected designers of all time worked in this space and the quality of work was leading edge.
It was a big deal to have an annual report design in your portfolio. What’s amazing is that I got the chance to design an annual report in my first year working in the field. I was way over my head, but I had the gumption and a good team in Corporate Communications to help.
The CEO of Datapoint, Doris Bencsik, and the Director of Corporate Communications, Pat Coble, were advocates of my eagerness to learn, and they gave me the chance to cut my teeth by designing annual reports and other consumer and internal facing large projects without any experience. I parlayed the experience I gained from designing Datapoint’s Annual Reports and other publication projects into a portfolio that allowed me to pursue opportunities on the agency side of the business doing the same type of work.
The majority of my career has been spent designing and producing multiple page annual reports, magazines, brochures, and proposals. It’s the sweet space I like to inhabit and it’s where my talents and personality align. You have to know how to layout and design these complex pieces, but more importantly, you have to know how to shepard the process along, and keep all the stakeholders engaged. Organization skills and disciplined execution are required in equal measure.
Tom told me long ago that I would find satisfaction as a designer producing projects with “staples”. It’s as true now as it was then: projects with lots of pages that require staples (binding) are professionally fulfilling to me. Luckily, I learned how to design these projects successfully by being thrust into the fire and learning in real-time: press checking an annual report at 2:00 AM, and signing off on the delivery of a quarter million reports six months into your design career tends to accelerate your learning curve.
Adaptable Skills
Annual Report design, like most other large print jobs, got swallowed by the internet. Electronic documents and reports work perfectly fine, and there is no under-estimating how much money companies saved by eliminating the need to print anything at scale. The quality of short-run digital printing technology has evolved significantly and on-demand printing has become the de-facto standard.
The need to print conceptual and glossy annual reports has waned, and the reporting rules changed too, but the skills and abilities required to produce a large document is still relevant. My skills designing annual reports evolved too, and now my hard earned experience benefits businesses that need to submit proposals (RFPs) to win contracts.
Win Business, Make Money
A proposal is similar in scope and has much of the same attributes as an annual report: carefully crafted messaging, key visual elements, and properly formatted financial statements that meet submission requirements. When you have to bid on a project, a quality designed proposal can move your entry to the top of mind of your audience. Submitting a proposal that wins business, makes money.
Not everyone can produce a document that can make money.
I create thoughtfully designed proposals that make you look good, and help you win business. That’s how I help you make money.
LET’S GET AFTER IT!
My mission is to make you look good. I help business owners succeed by delivering thoughtfully designed content that solves communication challenges. Punch-up your efforts by adding Parrish to your team today.