OUR ENERGY ROADMAP:
AUSTIN ENERGY COMMEMORATIVE BOOK
PROBLEM/CHALLENGE
In 2007, the Austin City Council passed the citywide Austin Climate Protection Plan. With this plan, the Council set some of the most ambitious conservation goals – not just ambitious from a Texas perspective but from a cross country perspective. The initiative aimed to make all City facilities and operations 100% carbon-neutral by 2020.
This project originated several years after the initiative was passed, so that Austin Energy could show Council how they were contributing to this massive undertaking.
OBJECTIVE
Create a book to show how Austin Energy is working to meet their goals in the Austin Climate Protection Plan. Create a piece that lasts – content should have a long shelf life and the look should be timeless. It will celebrate what they’ve achieved and where they are headed.
APPROACH
The nearly 40-page Austin Energy commemorative book entitled Our Energy Roadmap is a detailed description of how the utility has changed to fulfill the Climate Protection Plan. It demonstrates how the company is leading the way for a new future in energy efficiency.
The piece would be handed out to a select few hundred, including Austin City Council members and executives of other utilities. The Austin Energy General Manager has used it as a speaking tool, plus it serves as a historical piece and a keepsake.
Because of the significance of the subject matter, the book needed to stand out from other collateral in an office – thus, the large coffee-table size of 10x13.75" – however, it also needed to have a timeless, classic look. This is demonstrated through color correction and small touches like a white-on-white foil stamp/emboss effect. The book is laminated so it can be long-lasting and touched often but is finished with a soft touch feel to be unique and memorable every time it is held.
Finally, in alignment with its environmental subject matter, the Austin Energy Commemorative Book was printed at an FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified printer using FSC certified papers made from post-consumer recycled fiber through wind-generated electricity. FSC certification ensures that products come from well managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.
A Closer Look
Trophyology of Austin, Texas created a limited number of beautiful, stained wooden casing units for the books that were given away as special gifts. This detail shot shows the living hinge on one of the cases. Each unit was handmade.
The first page of the book is a fly sheet with a white-on-white foil emboss stamp.
Roadmap navigation symbols (lines, dots, etc.) are used as elements that tie the visual aesthetics to the actual language and meaning of the piece.
This book is very photo-heavy and thus, color plays a big role in the final piece. Each photo has been carefully corrected so that the colors work together as a page, as a spread, and as an entire book.
The photography includes a mix of commissioned photos, photos from featured businesses, and staff photos. About 30% of the photography was shot solely for this book.
Photography generated specifically for this book ranged from overseeing simple assignments to basic location shoots to managing/art directing an elaborate location shoot with props and 20+ models.
Color is an important part of this piece and the time was spent to get the color just right for 100+ images.
This piece required writing extensive bid specs since several different processes and several different vendors were used to achieve the final results.
This book has a soft touch laminate applied to the cover, which gives it a very tactile feeling. The quality of the cover reinforces the seriousness of the content.
The white-on-white foil stamp/emboss on the 80# cover fly sheet is a clean and classic touch.
Through both the subject matter and the actual book itself, this piece fully embraces Austin Energy's conservation efforts.
Meeting Business Requirements
Being a role model itself is commendable, but the value of this book is that the utility has gone to great lengths to record and share their journey to help educate and motivate other companies to follow suit.
This book helps recognize how Austin Energy:
• ranks first among Texas utilities for green power sales
• offers some of the most comprehensive energy efficiency programs in America
• leads the effort to study the impact of electric vehicles on the electric system while promoting increased market share in the automotive industry
By circulating the utility’s ongoing efforts, Austin Energy may set off a domino effect that produces more sustainable efforts across the country.