BY: Colleen Jolly
All digital imagery can be categorized into two main types: vector and raster. Vector images are resolution independent whereas raster images are resolution dependent. Resolution then, is the quality of your image and is often referred to in dots per inch (DPI) or pixels per inch (PPI). All computer monitors are based of the small rectangular cells known as pixels.

Vector images are created based on mathematical equations and can be scaled up or down to any size without losing the crispness of the image quality. Vector graphics software uses the algorithms to create the best possible image based on the screen resolution of your monitor. Raster images are stored pixels that do not change when you scale them, their size and quality is set and is not relative to your screen resolution.

Making a visually appealing proposal goes far beyond just graphics and encompasses everything from the writing, binding, and the overall layout and to have a winning proposal you must keep this in mind. When formatting a proposal you must be aware that the reviewers will be looking at a multitude of proposals and will get lost in page after page of plain text.  To ensure that your proposals are read and your message is conveyed here are a few simple tips to help you stay away from giant blocks of plain text.

1.     Every page should have a graphic or table that uses color to get the reviewer’s attention.

The Source Selection Board members come to the Orals with a list of RFP requirements and the descriptive evaluation factors. They are there to make check marks against the requirements and assign some qualitative value that represents the evaluation factors.

There is no room on their “score sheet” for how effectively your team put the competitors down.

BY: Colleen Jolly
Each color has several individual components that holistically create its identity as a ‘color.’ When you starting creating graphics or other aspects of visual communication that have more than one color you must not only consider the individual components of a singular color but how that color will interact with other colors.

Basic color theory involves understanding the placement of colors on a color wheel, which is a circle divided into 12 equal parts showing the interrelation between those colors based on their specific placement on the wheel. The visible spectrum of colors is divided into three main types—primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary colors are blue, red, and yellow. These colors cannot be mixed or derived from any other colors but can be mixed in various quantities to make every other visible color. Secondary colors—violet (or purple), orange, and green—are made when each primary color is mixed with each other (blue + red = violet, red + yellow = orange, yellow + blue = green). Tertiary colors are the blending of secondary colors with primary colors such as orange + red = orange red and blue + green = blue green. Placing the colors in a wheel easily shows the inherent interrelationships between color.

First Ever Video Blog: Graphic Library

BY: Colleen Jolly
Color is the most important aspect of any visual item and is the very first thing that people see and react to. It may sound trite but people really do judge a book by its cover and first impressions are always the most lasting. Color sets the tone and creates an immediate and visceral emotional reaction that may differ in different cultures.

Here are some common Western (American, Canadian, most of Western European and Australia) emotional understandings of color. This list is not exhaustive and individual colors may have different or additional meanings related to an individual or company’s experience.

BY: Wendy Frieman
Anyone who missed the story in the New York Times on September 26, 2011 entitled “The Secrets of a Principal Who Makes Things Work” missed a treasure trove of advice—it’s not only about education; it is so very applicable to the proposal management profession. Just change some of the nouns and building names. Here are a few gems from that excellent article that we can all learn from:

“A good principal has her own style.” And so for proposal managers. Much as we search for the holy grail, for that one set of processes that can be universally applied, we each work in our own way. Trying to be something we are not is stressful and authenticity is empowering.

After learning from Brooke Crouter the depth of information that an effective capture professional gathers I can’t insist strongly enough that Orals teams and capture professionals must work closely together. If not, both capture and Orals risk being wasted efforts. In my twelve years of Orals coaching and consulting, I can count on just a couple of fingers the proposals that were really shaped by what the capture process produced.

BY: Susan Trivers, MBA
Every company intends their series of internal (color) reviews to improve their proposal and their Orals. The challenges are A) to ensure that these color reviews have clear and specific goals understood by the Orals team as well as the reviewers; B) they are scheduled appropriately; and C) that the comments generated are used effectively.