Behind the Scenes: Designing an 83-Page Company Profile for a Heritage Firm
How do you make 19 conservation projects feel like one story? This is a look behind the design of the Hericon Consultants company profile, an 83-page A4 landscape book from Vega Creative Studio, Rajkot.
Company profile design starts with the reader
Hericon Consultants is a Mumbai-based heritage conservation practice. Its readers are government departments, trusts and institutions. They read slowly, compare firms and look for proof. So the book had to feel calm, serious and trustworthy, and still be a pleasure to turn through.
What happens behind the scenes
We start with the grid. Every project gets the same structure, so the reader learns the page once and then reads quickly. A large photograph fills one side and the facts sit on the other.
We choose a quiet palette. A warm cream paper tone, dark text and big photographs. The buildings supply the colour. The design stays out of their way.
We set the type like an inscription. Project titles are in tall, wide-spaced capitals, close to carved lettering. Body text is small, even and easy to scan. A thin, letter-spaced running header carries the firm's name on every page.
We standardise the fact sheet. Every project lists origin, location, client, year of restoration, grade of heritage, scope and project cost. Readers can compare projects without hunting for numbers.
We mix photographs with drawings. Conservation is as much about drawing as about building. Sepia-toned elevations and sketches sit beside the photographs, which brings back the feeling of survey drawings.
We organise by chapter. About us, vision statement, approach, projects, research and documentation. The reader always knows where they are.
One project page, taken apart
Take a page such as Bharat Bhavan III in Mumbai. The title sits in capitals at the top left. Under it, a block of seven facts. Below that, a short paragraph on what was done to the facade, and a drawing of the proposed front elevation. On the right, two photographs show the building from two angles. Everything has a place, so nothing competes.
Lessons we carry into every profile
Repeat the structure. Repetition is what makes a long document feel easy.
Let the work be the hero. Big photographs, small decoration.
Design for comparison. A fixed fact sheet turns pages into proof.
Think about print from day one. Paper tone, margins and image resolution decide how the finished book feels in the hand. We check colour and resolution before we send anything to press.
Planning a company profile or brochure?
We design and print it, and we make sure the printed book looks as good as the screen. Talk to Vega Creative Studio.
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