Planning a Brochure – What To Consider

Despite us living in an increasingly digital age, sometimes there’s no substitute for having a well-designed, professionally printed brochure to read at your leisure.  Your brochure reflects your business, so you’re gonna want it to look professional, right?  Well if you don’t plan it out correctly, your company brochure could just end up in the recycling bin.  You know the five P’s – Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance!

To avoid that fate, always think about:

Your Readers’ Needs

Always pre-plan by thinking about what your client wants. Look at your demographics and think logistically about what the reader would want to take away with them. What is the brochure’s purpose? Decide what would make them keen to read on.

Create an appealing front cover

The first page your reader will see is the front cover. Get it wrong and they loose interest. Think like the popular magazines do and make it interesting with promises of offers and promotions inside or exclusive insights.

Folds

The typical marketing brochure is comprised of an A4 sized sheet that measures 210mm x 297mm or 8.3″ x 11.7” that folds in three. Is that what you want? Or do you want to try something a little different? There are actually many options, but remember print bleeds and where the folds are will determine how much you can fit on. And very importantly make sure that your design all unfolds in the right order.

Keep it Concise

You can only fit so much onto a brochure so make sure all of your copy is not too wordy yet remains of value.

Paper

You have many options so go a little more luxe, if your budget can stretch to it, and create a glossy magazine style. Or go for a textured paper that matches your artistic client base. Tailor all design decisions to your demographic.

Colour and Pictures

Go colourful and incorporate some interesting pictures into your design. People are naturally drawn to pictures and colours help headings and logos stand out. But consistency is key to maintaining professionalism, so don’t get too carried away.

Make it a Keeper

Putting valued information in your brochure will encourage the reader to keep it, refer to it often or pass it on to other people. You don’t want your hard work to end up in the bin, so craft it with as much need-to-know information as you can.

Contact Details

May seem like an incredibly obvious one but your contact information needs to be crystal clear on this document. Do you want it on the front and back or at the top of every page? Make it as easy as you can for customers to contact you.

Check out CWDmedia’s previous blogs for further design tips.