Z The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) 2021

Case study:

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)

Project:Production and design of annual print publication

Summary

As part of our ongoing relationship, Creative Cycle worked with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to produce its annual print publication. Close collaboration, along with an in-depth knowledge of the client’s values, voice and preferences, allowed us to finalize production on time and on budget.

Challenge

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) works with Creative Cycle to produce the organization’s High Holiday Resource Guide. This annual publication is distributed to over 1,500 synagogues across the U.S., helping rabbis tie the themes of Jewish High Holidays into a message of pro-Israel activism. Given the complexity and sensitivity of this topic, AIPAC works meticulously with subject-matter experts to ensure the content is accurate and bipartisan in tone. This involves numerous rounds of revisions, with changes often made at the last minute before publishing.

The 2019 issue centered on a set of thought leadership essays that called for a unique design treatment. Creative Cycle and AIPAC worked closely to develop a visual design that would highlight this content appropriately, even as it was continuously in flux.

Solution

With ongoing input from the client, Creative Cycle managed every aspect of the Guide’s production – designing its look and feel, flowing content into layout, working with the printer to outline specifications, providing cost estimates, conducting press checks, managing the production schedule and ultimately shipping approximately 1,900 copies of the publication nationwide. For years, AIPAC and Creative Cycle have collaborated closely on this process. Because AIPAC knows the message better than anyone, our team relies on AIPAC to provide the content that informs our design process. At the same time, we stay highly responsive to AIPAC’s needs and can quickly pivot to accommodate change.

For this unique 2019 issue, AIPAC and Creative Cycle envisioned a custom design for every essay, which would require swift design on an extremely compressed timeline. However, upon review, the client opted for a more unified look and feel. Creative Cycle worked closely with AIPAC to quickly switch gears and produce a templated design that presented the content more cohesively. Because our team knew the client’s preferences so intimately, we were able to re-design quickly and gain AIPAC’s immediate buy-in.

Results

An ongoing relationship with AIPAC allowed both teams to collaborate intuitively. Our teams were able to review, discuss and modify the design approach quickly, allowing us to deliver the desired product on time and on budget. In addition, the templated approach made it easy to accommodate additional content that was delivered just two days before the Guide went to press. Our intimate understanding of the client’s needs allowed us to design and deliver with agility that’s especially vital to this client’s success.

Final Thoughts

Creative Cycle believes meaningful relationships deliver meaningful results. By intimately understanding our clients’ values, goals, attributes and needs, we design with empathy and purpose. Listening and learning are integral to our creative process — and collaborating with our clients is how we produce the most effective outcomes.

Contact Creative Cycle to explore how we can support your goals through unique collaboration.