A technical drawing is worth a thousand words, wouldn’t you agree?

Structural engineers refer to tables constantly for specifications such as beam spans and loads. But nothing’s as immediately comprehensible as a technical drawing that clearly shows how those specifications are detailed.

Is your beam specified by length overall, or open, unsupported span? Check the diagram and you’ll understand immediately.

These cutaway diagrams were drawn to illustrate Macmillan Bloedel’s parallel strand lumber (PSL) which they trademarked Parallam. Unlike dimensional lumber, these PSL posts and beams could be very accurately rated for loads and spans.

Our illustrations visually isolated the location and application of the PSL member. This let builders and engineers clearly identify the relevant portion of the specification tables they needed to refer to.

You may also be interested in our technical drawings for industrial and commercial valves

Condom brochure PDF

Easy as 1, 2, 3. We have created illustrated instructions and procedure guides for everything from installing an outboard motor bracket to putting on a condom. 

This little business card sized 3 panel brochure for Womyns’Ware in Vancouver gave clearly illustrated instructions on the dos and don’ts of proper use of a condom. If we can provide clear instructions on this subject matter, we’re pretty confident we can do the same for even less touchy subjects.

Whether it’s prophylactics or procedure guides for website content management, the key is to take nothing for granted. Clearly describe every step of the way. And make sure your illustrated procedures actually match what you’re describing. This is a critical part of a good customer experience.

Harvard Business Review describes the truth about customer experience as the “bigger—and more important—picture: the customer’s end-to-end journey”.

Did you cut your hand trying to wrestle open the plastic package? Does the product you unwrapped actually work? Are the instructions clear? Do the images actually match what you’re describing? These last 2 items are as important to a good customer experience as the first 2. Let’s make sure we get it right. And remember, it’s never too late to reassess the product documentation you already have. Perhaps it could be better. All these improvements improve your bottom line through improved customer experience.

Software manuals, or other subject matter — it’s the same basic approach.

Got a procedural challenge? We can help.

I have to admit you guys did a great job considering the raw material ;o)
— Otter Louis, Co-founder, Womyns’Ware

Exploded view diagrams can bring to mind high-tech computer generated images. But sometimes high-touch is a better option than high-tech.

That was the case with the cut-away exploded view of these hand-crafted boots.

To reinforce the custom-built, one-of-a-kind craftsmanship that went into each pair, we opted for a hand-drawn exploded view that detailed the quality of construction.

And to reinforce the tactile, high-touch quality we opted to print these on chip board rather than a fine printing paper.

The result? A truly unique marketing companion piece for these top-quality, hand-made biker boots.

But just because it’s hand-drawn, doesn’t mean we sacrificed clarity or detail. We showed everything from top-stitching down to hob nails. The ability to look at a product and create an accurate, detailed image is arguably becoming a lost art, but it’s alive and well with our in-house illustrators.

Occasionally those quickie sketches don’t need to be polished at all like you see in this ‘back-of-the-envelope’ example I texted to a friend struggling with an August wasp infestation.

You may also be interested in our cross-section diagrams that clearly show valve components.

Valve series PDF

There is an art and science to spec sheet design. The art is delivering clear diagrams and well designed pages that use consistent formatting. The science is using best practices for updating publishing files without the need to repeatedly proof-read content that’s already been reviewed and approved. In short — the most efficient systematic approach.

Complete Specifications

Industrial and commercial valve purchasers and process engineers need precise details for the products they specify. Pressure-temperature ranges; exact dimensions; component materials; ANSI ratings… the list goes on.

Our main challenge in designing this documentation is fitting this dense amount of information onto a single page without it looking jammed or cluttered. Section diagrams with leaders to material descriptions are created with the same precise clarity you find on a printed circuit board. Dimensions tables are packed with detailed specs for each valve size.

Simplify Updates

Spec sheet information also needs to be updated regularly. We suggested individual inserts for a hard cover ring binder so single pages could be updated as needed. Valve series are separated with laminated tabs for quick reference and each page has revision information in the page footer.

Excel files for material lists and dimension tables were prepared and proofed by the client. We linked those to our InDesign files and applied styling. This ensured accuracy, eliminated typos, and simplified updates.

Crisp Images in Low Resolution PDFs

Diagrams are all vector graphics so they remain crisp and clear in low-resolution PDFs. This ensures small file sizes and easy downloads from the website.

Download a PDF for one of the valve series and see for yourself.

Hey, It looks better than good! It looks great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your suggestion for section numbering rather than page numbers was brilliant. That’ll save complete reprints every time we make an update. I’ll be back to you next week.
Cheers. Have A Great Weekend.

— Peter Pedersen, (past VP), M.A. Stewart & Sons

Info sheets letter PDF

Our set of 12 information sheets for the Canadian Wind Energy Association are packed full of renewable energy infographics. Visuals use everything from baseballs to skillets to illustrate wind energy concepts. These information sheets cover everything from wildlife impacts to community benefits. Our easy-to-grasp visuals complemented our plain-english copy writing, resulting in a clear, concise snapshot of the benefits of capturing the wind as a renewable energy source.

That’s partly what helped make this “… the best communications piece ever produced by this industry association.”

In the companion poster for Canadian Geographic magazine our turbine tower bar graphs showed how Canada stacks up against other global leaders in wind energy.

These are exactly what CanWEA needed and they’ve been indispensable for project developers that want to provide an engaging, quick study on all aspects of the wind energy industry in Canada.

Given the opportunity for our members to profile their projects in these case studies, it was amazing how challenging it was to pull this information together. I have to congratulate you on a flawless design process and great end result. Many thanks!

— Robert Hornung, President, CanWEA

You may also be interested in our calculator wheels that show reductions in environmental impacts