C&PA Professional Graphic Design and Production Services

Sources Sought Notice "C&PA PROFESSIONAL GRAPHIC DESIGN and PRODUCTION SERVICES March 30, 2017 INTRODUCTION The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the U.S. Department of Energy's primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL develops renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and practices, advances related science and engineering, and transfers knowledge and innovations to address the nation's energy and environmental goals. BACKGROUND The Communications and Public Affairs Office (C&PA) plays a strategic role in communicating NREL's mission to lead the nation toward a sustainable energy future by developing renewable energy technologies, improving energy efficiency, advancing related science and engineering, and facilitating commercialization. To advance that mission, the C&PA builds awareness, understanding, and support for the work of NREL and its sponsors by developing strategic, high-quality communications products and solutions. OBJECTIVE To assist with NREL's strategic operations, the C&PA requires support to provide graphic design and production services for delivering a variety of communication products. Products may include materials such as fact sheets, brochures, technical and management reports, conference/seminar materials, exhibits, technical illustrations, architectural and 3-D illustrations and animations, videos, corporate graphics/branding, posters, website design, and presentations. SCOPE Materials shall be produced that help NREL effectively present technical and scientific information, and consistently support program and/or corporate identity. The work to be performed will be based on the specific project effort required, and includes: - Understanding and working in accordance with NREL (https://www.nrel.gov/web-standards/photos.html) and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) communication standards (https://energy.gov/eere/communicationstandards/eere-communication-standards-guidelines). - Proposing creative solutions within NREL's and EERE's communications/graphic standards to design and produce high-quality communication products and/or services that effectively meet NREL's objectives. - Providing design and production services for products that are scientific in nature. These services require the Subcontractor to be able to interpret scientific data in order to visually represent technical information. - Providing design and production services for products that are non-scientific in nature. These services require the Subcontractor to translate technical information about NREL's sciences and technologies into non-technical visualization for a lay audience. The Subcontractor shall be required to have a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site or other reliable electronic file transfer method from which the C&PA can access graphic files, and the ability to conduct business via phone, facsimile, U.S. mail, overnight or priority mail, electronic mail, carrier service, or in person. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS Organizations responding to this Sources Sought Notice must be a creative staffing agency with the ability to resource requested work drawing from a pool of qualified designers, illustrators, data visualization, and production specialists who demonstrate specific capabilities, attributes, and skills, as indicated below. NREL reserves the right to include additional requirements for qualification in any resultant official Request for Proposal. - Develop visual conceptual solutions for a full range of technical and outreach strategies, and turn the concepts into products - Design for the Web and mobile applications - Develop vector and photo illustrations - Produce 3-D illustrations and animations - Design and produce large format projects such as exhibits, posters, and banners - Design and produce PowerPoint presentations - Develop project-specific materials, including logos, cards, brochures, letterhead, and other collateral materials - Retouch and manipulate photos - Lay out document pages to be printed and/or converted into PDFs (the documents consist of any number of pages, from one to 100 or more) and build final art files per NREL specifications - Take designs to completion by applying brand style guidelines, typography, composition, and layout across multiple project types - Prepare graphics to be used for print, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and on the Web - Produce products within an existing template or established brand identity - Provide quality control to all files prior to delivery for client review and/or approval - Produce all electronic products intended for online publication for 508 accessibility compliance, or as required by NREL specifications - Deliver files packaged for Adobe InCopy, if necessary per project Work Order. - Attend project review meetings at NREL sites. The need for travel will be determined under each individual work order, if necessary. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE, NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. VERBAL RESPONSES WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. ALL INQUIRIES MUST BE PROVIDED IN WRITING VIA E-MAIL. Any organizations interested in working with NREL to provide the services described within this Sources Sought Notification shall provide a response as soon as possible but no later than 5 pm, MDT, April 14, 2017. Telephone calls will not be accepted. Interested parties shall respond via email to William Algiene (william.algiene@nrel.gov). The response is limited to 6 pages of single spaced text of 12-point font or equivalent, with minimum 1" margins all around. Brevity is encouraged. The response shall include: - Name and address of the company - Point of contact including name, title, phone and email address - Address how each of the qualification requirements listed above are met - Corporate Qualification Statement may include a company brochure, pamphlet, or Web Address, etc. (not included in the page count) - Link to publically available market pricing (if available) Failure to adequately address each of the items above may result in your organization being deemed non-responsive. Responding to this request identifies your organization as an interested candidate only. Your submittal is not in response to a Request for Proposals (RFP).