Publications for the Lean Enterprise Research Centre

Designing and editing to make a complex subject accessible and interesting to its readership

Tasks included

• editing and copy writing
• typography and graphic design

What was needed

Staff at the Lean Enterprise Research Centre at Cardiff Business School wrote an introductory guide to the principles of 'lean thinking'. The client wanted 'Going lean' to be eyecatching and colourful, designed to reflect the fact that this was an accessible introduction to the subject. The client also wanted the text to be edited so that it was jargon-free and easy to read, in order to appeal to a broad readership in the business community.

Our solution

The guide contained a great deal of detailed information on a very specialised subject, both as text and graphics. These needed to be interpreted more clearly and simply.

We brought three main skills to this project:

• We edited the copy so that the information was presented in a clear, straightforward, jargon-free language with an informal feel.
• We re-interpreted the graphics so the information they contained was easy to see and understand.
• We designed the guide to attract the reader and, once attracted, to guide them through the book using clear, legible and well-ordered 'sign-posting' and layout.

Ongoing work

The guide proved extremely popular and we also put together a version for the LERC website.

LERC later asked us to produce a companion volume to the original guide, and also to revise their brochures about the Lean Enterprise Research Centre and the courses they offer. We also produced another course guide and an accompanying flyer.

We recently edited and designed the 96pp A4 booklet Staying Lean: thriving, not just surviving.

Our clients told us: ‘... we are very pleased with Staying Lean. Everyone that has been given copies has been very complimentary... thank you very much for all your help.’

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