I’ve been helping a proposal centre to pull together a style guide recently. The team’s writer (hi, Jen!) unearthed a quote that I love:
Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance.
Sam Brown
A few days later, Graham Ablett (one of our Strategic Proposals colleagues) pointed me to the wonderful website for the Hotel Foz do Iguacu in Brasil. It’s so bad that I had to resort to Google to make sure it’s not a spoof.
The introduction page (do watch the introduction!) is full of cool graphics effects; the layout is highly professional… it’s just that they seem to have run out of money after all the work with the designers to pay a competent translator. Almost every page made me laugh aloud; my favourite runs as follows:
Our Business Center consist with one reserved room, equipped with the computer connected on the internet, telephone, fax machine and a specially project table for you to make your own work reunion. Here you didn’t stay disconnected of the world that are around you.