Tip of the Day - Style

I have lost count of the amount of times I have seen bids that do not have a coherent style throughout the bid.  Although to some people it may not seem important, I cannot stress enough how having a clearly presented bid makes a difference for an evaluator.

The first thing to do on style, is agree as a project team what your style will be for the bid; this includes font type, font size (including for headings and sub-headings), colour schemes, line spacing and how you will present case studies and examples (amongst other things).  This forms a style guide for all those working on the bid to follow.  I would also recommend that the style is followed throughout the bid, not just applied at the end; this hopefully avoids inconsistencies due to a lack of time before submitting.

I would recommend, for the public sector in particularly, that the style is kept as simple and clear as possible. The objective is both to be eye-catching and make the bid easy to read; too many colours and pictures can end up being a detriment to what you are actually trying to say.  Although this is probably blasphemy, do not be hamstrung by any brand guidelines; winning a bid is more important than following brand guidelines to the letter.

Different styles work for different organisations and for who you are pitching your bid to. The style that has ended up working best for me has been:

·         Arial Font

·         Size 14 for headings, 12 for sub-headings and 11 for main text

·         1.5 line spacing and no extra gaps before or after paragraphs

·         Colour boxes for case studies

·         Use of PowerPoints for shorter examples or those involving pictures