Services > Creative

• Design and content
• Desktop publishing
• Writing and editing services

Design and content:
A look that enhances your information

Every communications message you create needs a design that attracts attention and projects the image you are striving for. But is that enough?

At The Business Word, we recognize the need for superior publication design.

A good design should:

• Encourage viewers to pick up and read the publication.
• Portray the image your corporation wishes to convey.
• Appropriately identify the sponsor.
• Effectively combine text, photos, illustrations, charts and graphs.
• Allow flexibility in page make-up.
• Fit budgetary and printing constraints.

We believe that design should enhance, not override, editorial content. No matter how attractive your publication is, your audience will not read it unless the information inside is timely and essential.

At The Business Word, we have a very simple philosophy. We view information itself as a selling tool. We make sure our publications:

• Highlight your company's expertise and enhance your corporate image.
• Give readers information they will not find elsewhere.
• Establish your firm as an authority.

But we do more. We will develop a complete editorial package for you. We position your publication for maximum impact that produces measurable results. We help you develop your marketing objectives, and we become your publications consultants and managers.

We assign highly qualified and well-trained writers to your projects to give you a superior editorial product.

We have a full-time staff of business editors who are specialists, experienced with business, law, architecture, insurance, health care, finance and retailing.

We are your source for publications, speeches and articles, presentations, client-sponsored data books and client-specific reports.

Desktop publishing:
Bringing your publications into the 21st Century

Desktop publishing is revolutionizing the publishing industry. Before 1986, the cost of making even minor changes in copy or page layout was enormous--both in manpower and time.

Typesetting was expensive and editors often waited as long as a week for revisions.

Electronic publishing has transformed or eliminated many steps in the production process. Here are just a few examples:

• Page layouts are designed on the computer. Designers can print mock-up pages and refine designs before typesetting and printing begin.
• Layout grids are stored in the computer and can be used repeatedly, reducing production time and costs.
• Articles for newsletters are written to length for the space allotted on the page, eliminating trims.
• Editors work directly on the computer, reducing design and keyline fees.
• Charts and graphs are computer generated and placed on the page electronically, eliminating pasteup.
• Headlines are typed on page. This allows editors to try various heads to determine what looks and reads best.
• Type styles and sizes can be changed with the push of a button.
• Page makeup programs "wrap" copy around photos and illustrations, a task traditionally done by cutting and pasting.
• You, the client, can see proofs for your publication before it is typeset and printed.
• We make the changes you request easily and quickly electronically, without additional typesetting and keylining expense.
• We can print pages directly from a laser printer or have them output at high resolution to achieve even higher quality.

"If this is all so simple, why shouldn't we do it in-house?"

Some of our clients do. We'll design the publication, set up the computer system, train staff members and let you do the rest.

Other clients who don't want to invest time and money in computer equipment and training production professionals choose to rely on our expertise.

Writing and editing services:
Create winning manuals and communications

Manuals can be a real headache, especially when parts of them or all of them are written by designers, engineers, scientists, actuaries or other technical experts. The experts clearly understand their machinery, systems or products, but they don't always communicate well with nontechnical folks like you and me. They often have a difficult time writing clearly.

The upshot is that the manuals or communications don't get read. They too often end up in a drawer or on a shelf "for reference" but are never used.

Clearly written and well designed books and manuals make it easier for customers to learn to use your products and services. And good technical manuals ensure that your employees will quickly learn new skills and procedures.

Confusing instruction manuals can lead to costly accidents and lost opportunities.

Use us to clear away the fog. Freshen up the words. Clarify meanings. Eliminate the fuzziness.

But we'll keep the friendliness. Or introduce it into cold, impersonal, aloof documents.

We'll help you make your documents useful. Directive. Easy to read and follow.

We're adept at preserving the integrity of your original manuscript. We enhance your message but are careful not to destroy it or lose the tone of what you write.

We've dealt over the years with a lot of technical information: financial reports, bond markets, commodity futures, property and liability insurance, employee benefit plans, health insurance, clinical medical information and employee manuals.

The secret of good editing is understanding what's essential for the reader to know. And to discern the desired response or action on the part of the reader.

At times, an editor needs to interview the engineers, scientists and other technicians familiar with the details of the subject to figure out better ways of saying things. We are very good at working with your writers or technical experts.

We make them--and you--look good.

Our expert editors are backed up by several expert proofreaders and desktop publishing specialists proficient in executing user-friendly layouts.

We can put nearly any instructions, procedures or explanations into clear English that's easily understood and acted upon.