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Dear all, I'm involved in a fairly heated discussion about the use of 'bid books' or 'visual essays' in design practice. [A bid book/visual essay describes in texts and shows in pictures a specific approach to a particular problem in a situation. It shows potential solutions and provides arguments that support both the process and the anticipated results. A bid book/visual essay is aimed at commissioners to enable a swift and hopefully positive decision about a proposal. They are paid for by a commissioner.] Personally, I've only seen a very limited number of these visual essays but that might be because I'm working in a very limited corner of graphic design/information design. My question: In which areas of design are bid books/visual essays used? [I can see the benefit of these bid books/visual essays in design education: they clearly show how students make progress and provide afterwards the basis for reflection and assessments.] However: are they used anywhere in a commercial design practice? Kind regards, Karel van der Waarde [log in to unmask]