The Quiet Power of a Smart Template
How One Strategic Tool Can Help Your Team Move Faster, Look Better, and Stress Less
In AEC marketing, most deadlines are tight, most documents are long, and most RFQs aren’t created under ideal conditions. You’re juggling input from a dozen people, chasing down project details at the last minute, and racing to upload before the portal closes.
In all that chaos, it’s easy to overlook one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal: a smart, well-built InDesign template.
This quiet workhorse won’t write content or chase resumes—but it will help your team move faster, stay on-brand, and sidestep layout headaches. It takes care of the tedious stuff, gives junior staff a strong starting point, and keeps your formatting sharp—even on tight turnarounds.
A smart template should:
Include pre-built layouts for resumes, projects, letters, and more
Be packed with paragraph and character styles to simplify formatting
Use swatches to lock in branding and make color management a breeze
Lean on guides and master pages to keep layouts aligned and polished
Work alongside a library of pre-styled content blocks for quick layouts
It’s not flashy—but it’s a game changer. Every hour you save on formatting is an hour you can spend on strategy, storytelling, and tailoring your message to the client.
If your current process involves digging through “that one SOQ from last year” or rebuilding styles from scratch, it might be time to trade the patchwork for a smarter system.
