Although we live in a digital age, brochures are still relevant. Trade shows, offices, and face-to-face meetings provide prime opportunities to keep your brand in the client’s mind. Smart brochure design anticipates customer interests and appeals to them. It also incorporates brand identity in everything from paper choice to layout and word selection. Use these brochure design tips to create a positive impression that lasts.
Define the Purpose and Target Audience
Knowing why you’re creating marketing materials helps the “how” details fall into place. Are you attracting large corporate accounts or focusing on individual customers? Is the primary goal to provide product details or evoke an emotional connect? Your purpose will influence choices in color, typography, photography, paper, layout, and phrasing.
Study the Competition
Once you have defined the target audience for your brochure, it’s a good idea to study how others targeting the same audience have gone about it. Colors, visuals, treatment of text, layouts, sizes, even the number of pages can create subliminal messaging and identify common threads can give ideas on how to approach the design of your brochure. The idea is not to copy good brochures, but to set a benchmark for quality, facilitate ideation and creativity and also to get an insight into what might resonate with your audience.
Details Matter
Heavy or specialty paper stock can raise costs significantly, and it may be tempting to cut corners. But if you are targeting the top management of large corporate accounts who expect high quality, the investment may be worth it. If your audience is predominantly children, colors and art play a greater role. While targeting seniors, small fonts, and fine print should be avoided. Use texture to reinforce brand identity. For example, a bookstore might choose paper with a heavy, slightly rough feel to remind readers of their favorite book. On the other hand, an upscale restaurant may select glossy stock to highlight mouthwatering photos of their cuisine.
Attention to seemingly minor details can convey that you understand your audience and care about them – thereby creating an intangible connect that goes beyond just conveying the message contained in the brochure.
Typography and Minimalism
While using multiple typefaces can create drama and interest, avoid using too many fonts can add “noise” and clutter. Minimalism in typography can exude class, create a brand association and personality. Use your company’s signature font, along with one or two other selections. Use something unique. Many font packages are available at reasonable prices. Choose a type face that is easy to read, and stay away from clichés.
Every typeface has a personality. Typography in design is the art of getting the best of the font families being used. Be sensitive to how different typefaces behave with drop caps, small and large sizes, justifications and spacing – character, word, and line.
Visual Communication is Powerful
Describing the message in the text can seem the obvious solution, but visual communication can often be even more powerful and compelling. Using pictures, diagrams, icons, and illustrations to tell a story, create metaphors, build a personality or just create a visual impact can create a lasting impression. Photography
It may be a cliché, but a picture IS stronger than a thousand words. Quality photography can make a huge difference to the brochure.
Even if your budget doesn’t have room for a photo shoot, stock photos are an affordable alternative. However, be wary of images that are run of the mill. Look for artistic angles and artful lighting.
If you use average photos, your brochure design will look average too.
Communicate with Color
number of factors go into color-related decisions. Does your business use a particular color scheme? You can play around with tones and hues within its range.
Color psychology plays a part too. For example, red is a powerful color that also influences hunger. Depending on the shade, blue can denote authority or peace. Use various shades to set the tone for the entire brochure.
Empty Spaces Play a Role
Sometimes, a few words on an empty page can create more impact than a page full of paragraphs of information. Spaces play a huge role in communication. When used wisely, they can create a subtle feeling of openness and largeness that tightly packed information may not be able to. On the other hand, a tightly packed newsletter with very little empty space can create a busy feel that suggests a lot is happening in the company. Once you know the feel you want to create, spaces can help you achieve the desired result.
Be Concise
Give your reader enough information to spark questions that they can only answer by making contact with you. Stay away from complicated words or technical jargon. Give a basic overview of the event or service the brochure promotes. Make sure to include contact information such as a phone number, email address, or website so clients can easily get in touch.
Be Innovative
Give clients a reason to keep your brochure around. Experiment with a unique binding. Perforate the last fold, so it can be used as a bookmark. Regardless of the approach you take, be creative. Your innovation may be the reason customers choose your company over the competition.
Designing a brochure doesn’t have to be complicated. Understand your purpose, and align every choice with it. Use color, font, layout and other elements to enhance brand recognition and set the mood for your event or services.
Most of all, be yourself. Use these brochure design ideas as a launch pad, and allow part of you to shine through your work. Your authenticity will inspire customers to come back for more.