Care & Upkeep

• Introduction
• Using a Design System
• Getting STarted
• Design
• The Grid
• Typography
• Choosing & Using Illustrations
• Maps
• Production
• Printing
• Care & Upkeep
• Using the Templates
• Bibliography

Some brochures are designed for a specific short-term use. When that’s past, the life of the publication is over. Others will have longer lives. In this case they must be kept current. The best way to keep a publication up-to-date is to include only material that will not go out-of-date, which is not always possible. This is true of information contained in lists, maps, and charts as well as text. If a publication will contain dated material, adjust your printing amounts so you don’t end up with copies you can’t use. It’s wise to include a date or edition number somewhere on the publication so you can see which version is being handed out. When a brochure with significant information becomes outdated, stop distributing it. If you give visitors a reason to think one brochure is incorrect, why should they think the others are accurate? Maintaining a constant vigil for the accuracy of brochures takes discipline but it must be done to maintain your park’s credibility.

Records

Keep records of all your activities. Originals and negatives should be labeled and kept in a safe place. Computer files should be backed-up and named so they can be found easily. Keep track of when and how many brochures were printed, and how fast they are used. Keep a file on each publication to collect suggested changes and corrections that visitors and staff discover for the next printing. Records will make your life easier when it comes time to reprint an old brochure or plan a new one. They also allow those coming behind you to produce publications to the same high standards. Remember, it’s not your publications program, it’s the park’s.

Park Standards

Prepare a park stylebook to help you be consistent in your publications. As you make decisions about typeface, style, size, and language use, keep them in your stylebook for reference. Will you use 9/12 or 10/12 NPS Rawlinson? What size and type of dingbat did you use for lists? Will you use flash flood or flashflood, a.m. or A.M., snowmachine or snowmobile? The HFC Editorial Style Guide should be the basis for your park style guide. The U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual and the Desktop Style Guide are good references also (see Bibliography). Create a style guide for your maps as well – base it on the NPS Wayside Exhibit Map Standards