Project Statement
Groundwork Milwaukee is a local non-profit organization that aims to support and sustain community gardens and protection of urban waters. Their mission is to help facilitate community members to help transform empty lots into community spaces. The organization was updating its handbook, giving valuable information in creating a community space. In addition to updating the manual's content, they needed to redesign the handbook to be visually appealing and accessible for community members and staff. The handbook had to be digitally and physically published with a table of contents.
The handbook is designed to be easy to navigate, with understandable information supplemented by relevant charts and pictures.
Newly Revised Handbook
The project required me to place all the body text within the handbook using the organization's branding assets. Milwaukee Grows: Garden Leader Handbook had to have a divisible page count of four to account for the binding of the booklet. It also requires a table of contents that lists chapters and subsections for easy reference.
I had two supervisors I would talk to weekly to receive feedback and make new revisions from our meetings. The latest edition has two text columns for the body text to sit more easily with the images and graphics. This was added to help readers quickly scan the page for specific information and integrate images within the layout. This is done for accessibility to help readers parse through the text.
Within InDesign, I automated the table of contents with paragraph guides that create multiple spreads that are consistent. This is to help place the body text into the design and avoid the trouble of creating visual errors. The table of contents is interactable as it links the chapters so readers to go to the desired page immediately. After meetings, the finished handbook came to forty-four pages to ensure the design and contents were satisfactory.
