Where did your brochure go wrong?
Ahhh…the brochure. It’s a simple tool to effectively market your business or at least that’s what it supposed to be. I have a lot of clients from the small one person start ups to the larger fortune 500 types and it is amazing to me what people will slap together and call a brochure these days.
Unfortunately, I’m under contract with some companies where I don’t really get a say in the design or the direction of things either, and those are the days I feel small follicles of hair on my head popping out new grey matter. Anywho, the fact remains a brochure should be simple, tasteful, and get your message across clearly.
Here are some basic tips:
For all you at homers who are designing it yourself, SAVE YOURSELF THE TIME!! Your brochures that you’re doing in MS WORD or MS Publisher don’t look as good as you think they do. I’m not just saying that because I’m in the industry and people pay me for this type of service, but let’s get real. Be serious about your marketing and have your collateral professionally developed.
If you have a logo (AND you SHOULD have a logo) use it on the cover. This is a way to brand yourself. It needs to be used various places throughout the brochure as well, but it must be located somewhere on the cover to identify your company immediately. It does NOT need to be large. Your cover art is VERY VERY important. It needs to compel the target audience to open your brochure, so your logo need not be large, but I am of the opinion that your NAME and LOGO needs to be ON THAT COVER no matter what.
Think of your target market. If you are a corporate recruiter, don’t put pinks, and mauves on throughout the brochure. Who is your audience and research them? What colors are they using? It will give you an idea of where you may need to be. It doesn’t necessarily mean you have to conform to that, but pink isn’t corporate unless you work for the breast cancer society.
USE PICTURES to get your message across – straight text is boring. Zzzzzzzzzzzz snooze. Ok enough said. Visuals
COPY – Your copy is JUST as important as the design. DON’T write it yourself. Unless you are a professional copywriter, you are too close to your business to be objective. Hire a professional to write your copy. I MEAN IT!! Good brochures show the consumer what they can offer them. What benefits can your company offer the client? List that information FIRST. Don’t start off with your address, and history about the company!!! Who cares!! They want to know what you can do for them! If there is space for your history, that is ALWAYS last and THEN put your contact info on the back. HIRE a professional copywriter or marketing consultant to write it for you. Keep copy simple. You may understand what you do, but the world at large may not, so the copy must be SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE!! Use bullets, headlines, etc. These need to be strategically placed depending on the type of brochure you are designing.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR BROCHURE? – Please remember to keep this in mind and put it at the forefront of the development. Don’t loose the perspective of WHAT you are trying to do. Are you trying to attract new customers? Are you opening a new branch of your business? Are you highlighting key aspects of your company? Are you selling a new product?
TYPE/FONT FACE - PEOPLE PLEASE don’t use more than two to three font faces throughout the WHOLE piece. If you do, the entire thing will look like a 3rd grader did it. Use professional fonts too. Comic Sans is NOT a professional font, unless your target market is 3rd grade CHILDREN!! I’m not saying it can’t be done, but on a whole don’t use hokey fonts unless REALLY that’s what your brochure needs and I don’t see a call for that often.
CONSISTENT MARKETING – If you already have a logo, letterhead, business card, etc., try to keep your brochure in line with those materials. What does that mean? Don’t reinvent the wheel!! If all of your marketing collateral is burgundy, DON’T have a navy theme to your brochure. Keep it consistent. Your brochure should be burgundy or burgundy based.
BE DIFFERENT – There are all different sizes of brochures. The standard is 8.5X11 tri-fold, but there are SO many options out there these days. Research a different size and stand out in the crowd. It will be more cost effective to stay with the 8.5X11 tri-fold, but if you have the few extra dollars to spend, it will certainly be eye catching to have a different fold, or die cut brochure.
SMART COMPANIES have their COMPETITORS brochures!! Yes – collect your competitor’s brochures and see what you like/dislike etc. You’ll see EXACTLY where you need to be.
Written by Maryann Little owner of Big Bull Creative
NH New Hampshire Graphic Design Company 7/5/2007