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CASE STUDY:
California Department of Water
Resources
Border Governors Conference Report
The Border Governors Conference
is attended by governors and state agency representatives
from 10 member states to address important border issues affecting
the United States and Mexico.
Objective:
Create a bilingual (English and Spanish) report for the 2008
Border Governors Conference which is informative, visually
rich and reader-friendly.
WDC Solution:
Climate change was one of the themes of this year's event
hosted by Gov. Schwarzenegger. Development of a report supporting
the theme would describe water sector impacts from climate
change in a manner suitable for those with a technical background
in the subject area as well as those with little or no technical
background.
To make this information reader-friendly and less intimidating
to a non-technical audience, the publication incorporated
a highly visual approach: extensive use of dramatic water
and drought landscape photographs, supergraphic typography
headings and color zones for sidebar info and figures/charts.
Use of pull-out text emphasizes essential points and enhanced
understanding of content.
Challenge:
- Aggressive Deadline: A short 5 weeks was the timeframe
in which to design, layout, translate and prep for print,
the 142-page English and Spanish report. In this time, 29
figures created by DWR Graphic Services, were converted
by WDC to match the layout style. Content, captions, plus
a total of 34 graphics & tables were translated into
Spanish, a 3-week process (for the first round alone). Occurring
concurrently, the English version was laid out and proofed
by the client as the Spanish translation was received for
layout. As the Spanish layout neared completion, English
edits were received from the client and immediately sent
out for translation.
- Approval Process: The client was traveling during much
of the process. Managing review and approval of proofs necessitated
rigorous coordination of client travel schedule/availability,
designer workflow and vendors, to hit crucial benchmark
deadlines.
- State Budget Delay: Even after files were turned over
to the printer and proofs were signed off, one more obstacle
arose. Due to the state budget impasse, the printer was
ordered to immediately stop work. After several days on
hold with a looming drop-dead deadline, the job was approved
to proceed.
Results:
- The report was distributed on time at the Border Governors’
Conference in Hollywood.
- Additional distribution at DWR water industry conferences
[Association of California Water Agencies, Colorado River
Water Users Assoc.] and at Science Conferences [American
Geophysical Union, American Meteorological Society].
- University of Arizona, provided source information for
the report requested several hundred for teaching and educational
reference.
- The report has been distributed by the Water Education
Foundation and will be distributed at DWR’s upcoming
Border Governors’ Water Work Table drought science
conference, March 2009
- Considered the first substantive bilingual technical
publication for DWR, the report serves as a future model
for similar future DWR bilingual reports
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