Designing any type of printed promotional material is fairly difficult task – for example is how to create a good brochure design. The necessity to balance the amount of information and images, incorporating the business brand, having the ability to stand out and look professional and being easy on the eye. With so many components to consider when planning a design for brochure printing, here is a simple guideline of things to avoid!
Too Much Information!
Whilst it is the common desire to give your reader as much information about your products or services, remember that pages full of blocks of text may not be very inviting to read! A brochure should have the ability to grab the attention of readers through the use of bold design and broken text – for which headings and bullet points are always a great tool to employ in such occasions. By selecting only the most important details about your business, categorised in appropriate sections and paragraphs, you will be able to avoid over-stuffing your brochure and potentially putting-off potential customers.
Full Text Brochure Design
By accentuating the points of the above section, it is helpful to break down your content with the use of imagery. Pictures and charts are a great way of not only breaking up the look of your pages, but they also convey easy and understandable information relevant to your service or product. Remember, pictures speak louder than words! Additionally, the choice of imagery needs careful selection as well as following copyright laws, and avoid using poor quality or low resolution images, as this will result in an amateurish and unprofessional representation of your business.
Neglecting the Power of Colour
Although the use of black and white colour can be extremely efficient (depending on how it is implemented into a business brand), it can have the tendency to make a printed material look unprofessional and lack the allure needed to draw in readers. Never underestimate the power of colour, but similarly understand that too many colours can result in an unfocused and shoddy attempt of design. Many businesses will have perhaps one or two specific colours incorporated into their brand design, so these colours or a separate complimentary colour should be used to build the basis of your brochure.
Flimsy Materials
Brochure printing enables businesses to produce a physical promotional item that can directly represent their credibility and reputation as well as services or products, therefore avoid using cheap flimsy paper as this will only send out the wrong impression to your potential customers. A good quality substrate will enhance a readers’ first impression and reflect your status as a trustworthy and genuine business. Couple this with a dynamic and alluring design you can be sure to represent yourself at your best!
Forgetting a Call to Action!
The whole point of brochure printing is to appeal directly to your target markets, promote your wonderful services and ask them to take action. A brochure without a call to action is of no worth. It’s that simple. Whilst you will have all of your available contact details featured, without a persuasion of perhaps “For your free no-obligation quote” or “10% off with this brochure” for example, you are not actively seeking business, just displaying it. Give your readers a reason to get in touch, and from that point you can build a rapport and hopefully turn that reader into a customer!
Overlooking Proofing
We are in a fast-moving society, and rushing any type of work will only lead to mistakes. Perhaps you have deadlines to meet? Perhaps your printer needs your brochure design as quick as possible? Whatever reason, never eliminate the importance of proof reading as it may have disastrous consequences. Just one spelling mistake can change the opinion of a reader and lead them to completely disregard your services, so check every possible detail – from grammar and spelling, to paper bleed and resolutions – this will avoid any costly amendments.
