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Tips for creating multi-page templates

In 35 years of operation the People's Light and Theatre Company has earned a reputation for diverse and challenging programming. It also has earned praise for an energetic education program that extends the reach of the productions it puts on stage.

In the past, Hollister has worked with People's Light to create print curriculum materials that were delivered directly to teachers or through Newspaper In Education programs. Then, People's Light decided to go digital. The theatre company came back to Hollister to design a series of learning guides for online delivery.

Now People's Light is reaching parents as well as teachers, while strengthening its website as a community education resource. To keep costs down (always a concern for arts organizations), the series has a single, unified design with semi-custom alterations where needed in individual pieces.

When designing a multi-page template for a series:

  1. Think through the elements all guides will have in common and the elements that will differ from guide to guide.
     
  2. Work with the writer to establish word counts for each common text element (i.e. plot summary or playwright profile) so that text blocks can be a fixed size.
     
  3. Plan the layout so that most pages are fixed designs but a few are flexible to accommodate the elements that require a unique display.