iFuture Ipswich
Print magazine and template system for Ipswich's Corporate Plan
Print-ready magazine design and InDesign template system for Ipswich City Council's iFuture Corporate Plan 2021-2026. Making complex civic planning accessible through thoughtful layout and data visualization.
The Challenge
Ipswich City Council's iFuture Corporate Plan guides the city from 2021 to 2026 across four strategic themes. Vibrant and Growing. Safe, Inclusive and Creative. Natural and Sustainable. A Trusted and Leading Organisation. Each theme contains dense strategic data, progress metrics, and community initiatives that need regular communication.
Council needed a print magazine to share the plan with the community. But they also needed something sustainable. A template system they could use for ongoing quarterly updates and annual reports without calling in designers every time.
The balance was tricky. Professional enough for formal governance reporting. Accessible enough for community distribution. Flexible enough for Council teams to update themselves. Structured enough to handle complex data visualization across multiple themes.
The Solution
We designed a print-ready magazine and built reusable InDesign templates for long-term use.
The magazine presents the Corporate Plan in an accessible format. Clean layout hierarchy guides readers through four strategic themes. Data visualizations turn dense metrics into digestible insights. Quarterly progress snapshots and annual highlights get appropriate visual weight. Print production specs ensure quality reproduction for community distribution.
The template system gives Council teams independence. InDesign files structured for quarterly updates. Modular layouts accommodate different data types. Consistent visual language across all themes. Clear documentation for internal updates. Council can refresh content without redesigning from scratch.
Each of the four themes gets visual consistency while maintaining distinctiveness. Color coding, typography, and layout patterns create coherence across what could feel like four separate publications.
The result is a print file ready for community distribution and a system Council can use for years. Template flexibility means quarterly and annual updates stay on brand. Council teams have everything they need to communicate iFuture progress independently.
How It Works
The magazine design and template system balance professional governance requirements with community accessibility.
The Magazine Design
The print magazine takes the full Corporate Plan and makes it approachable. Not simplified. Approachable.
Layout hierarchy matters when you're presenting strategic themes, quarterly metrics, and community initiatives. We built a structure that lets readers scan or dive deep. Headlines communicate key progress at a glance. Data visualizations show trends without spreadsheets. Theme sections use consistent formatting so readers know where they are.
Print production specs ensure the magazine reproduces well. Color profiles tested for offset printing. Typography sized for readability in magazine format. Image resolution appropriate for print quality. Bleed and margins calculated for professional binding.
Four strategic themes could feel fragmented. Visual consistency ties them together. Shared layout patterns. Coordinated color systems. Unified typography. The themes feel distinct but connected.
Built for Council Updates
The template system is the long-term value. Council teams needed to update quarterly metrics and annual reports without redesigning everything.
InDesign templates handle this. Modular layouts for different content types. Quarterly snapshot formats. Annual comprehensive review structures. Data visualization templates for metrics. Consistent styling across all documents.
Documentation walks Council teams through updates. Where to swap content. How to maintain formatting. When to use specific layouts. Clear instructions mean non-designers can keep documents on brand.
Template flexibility accommodates five years of reporting. New initiatives get added. Completed projects get archived. Progress metrics update quarterly. The system adapts without breaking.
Council team independence achieved. Update iFuture materials year after year without designer involvement.
