Advice most welcome: page limited technical document

[Dennis]

Hi everyone, long-time lurker first time poster here.

I'm doing a job for a corporate client just now to create an attractive and contemporary print layout for a technical proposal. It's only 20 pages long (including cover and contents) but strictly page-limited, so the client wants to get as much info on each page. The content is a mix of editorial narrative and associated diagrams etc, and I have full creative control. It will be double wire-bound. Minimum font size is 10pt.

My dilemma is how to keep everything nice and clean while still getting about 600 words to a page and I'd be grateful for any advice anyone has, or good examples they've seen elsewhere.

 

[Paul Murray]

I'd say use a smallish type size to give you more space and perhaps use columns where possible. You might find some inspiration here – Graphic Design and Editorial inspiration – The Book Design Blog

 

[Dennis]

Thanks Paul, that's a really nice site.

I just finished the project today. My solution was to use a wider outside margin than normal and put a subtle menu down the side of the page, with colour-coding. That meant I save room on the page itself and got to about 600 words on the page, comfortably laid out with decent space, using 10 point Whitney.