How we make instructions. Aesthetic and clear.

Starting our kit card journey, one of the most unique challenges for us was creating the directions for assembly. It requires some CAD capability, graphic design, and a general knowledge of printmaking to make them effectively.

Unfortunately, I'm not very good at any of these. But we can figure it out.

I always like to start my search with some inspiration from successful sources. And for this project, Lego is the gold standard. They have stylish booklets that give you all the information you need, beautiful gloss prints, and the occasional easter egg. So what can I pull from them without getting a graphic art degree first?

My main takeaways were that showing a parts list for each step and providing two different views greatly increases the clarity of the step and helps to convey what you want to show. 

So I made some pretty good knockoff Lego-style instructions.

Then I checked what it would cost for me to print full color pages, stapled binding, the whole nine yards. And let me tell you; HOLY CRAP

so anyways, they're folded in half and printed in black and red on letter size paper.

Buy the kit cards though, they're cool and snap together really well.