A Budget Proposal We Can Be Proud Of
A Little Background
Each year every department in the City of Los Angeles submits a budget proposal to be reviewed by the City Administrative Officer, the Mayor’s Office, and the City Council. The contents of this document are vital in getting the positions and funding a department requires in order to operate and deliverer city services. Consisting mostly of mandatory data, it is quite often a very bland document in nature (at least to us). This year, our General Manager Grayce Liu, proposed (pun intended) to create something less like the document below and more like the document above.
Most budget proposals look similar to the one above. As a small department we didn't have the budget to go to an outside design firm, and even if we were able to, the last minute content changes/additions make it very difficult to send out for production.
Who is responsible for this project?
Almost everyone in the department contributed in writing the content of the budget proposal. However, the team responsible for the core writing, design, and binding of this budget proposal consists of four people; Armando Ruiz (Director of Administrative Services), Sevak Paramazian (IT Manager), Jose Galdamez (Elections Coordinator), and Arin Abedian (Multi-Media Marketing Strategist). However, for this project, we each took the additional roles of bookbinders, and creators.
Some features we're proud of:
Every budget proposal must have an organization chart; showing current positions and requested positions. We wanted the person reading the organization chart to be able to compare the differences in a snap (See below).
Who is responsible for this project?
Almost everyone in the department contributed in writing the content of the budget proposal. However, the team responsible for the core writing, design, and binding of this budget proposal consists of four people; Armando Ruiz (Director of Administrative Services), Sevak Paramazian (IT Manager), Jose Galdamez (Elections Coordinator), and Arin Abedian (Multi-Media Marketing Strategist). However, for this project, we each took the additional roles of bookbinders, and creators.
Some features we're proud of:
Every budget proposal must have an organization chart; showing current positions and requested positions. We wanted the person reading the organization chart to be able to compare the differences in a snap (See below).
We enjoyed doing the binding in house (some credit goes to our printer, which staples!).
How did we pull this off in house?
The cover: We used white cardstock that we already had in the office.
The transparent film: We used transparent printing film used for overhead projectors.
The transparent film: We used transparent printing film used for overhead projectors.
Putting it together: We prepared stacks of paper in the right order: cardstock (front cover), three sheets of paper (content), transparent film (org chart), more paper (content), then cardstock again (back cover). Then we clicked on print.
Binding: Fortunately our printer stapled, but we added the finishing touch by taping the proposal.
Outcome:
Pride: Although we may not receive a higher budget just because we have a beautifully designed budget proposal, we did impress many city officials and other departments.
More readership: Since it was easy on the eyes, with graphics, imagery and colors; more people were interested in reading the budget proposal.
More readership: Since it was easy on the eyes, with graphics, imagery and colors; more people were interested in reading the budget proposal.
Experience: It was a great learning experience for us
Low cost: the only money spent was on material.
Breaking the perception: We proved that a city budget proposal doesn't have to be boring.
