The Dos and Don’ts of Brochure Design

When a company wants to highlight a particular product or service, effective brochure designs serve as a powerful tool for them to drive awareness. There’s a reason why it is one of the most used marketing collaterals out there.  

Brochures pack a lot of information in a compact way. Plus, it works great for both print and digital use. They can educate people quickly and in a more digestible format.

Plus, people tend to trust print ad channels the most when making purchase decisions, as found by MarketingSherpa. Consumers find the most value in print ads compared to TV, mail, radio, and other channels. 

This article will guide you to give your campaigns a boost with an operative brochure. We’re going to talk about the following things: 

After reading this article, you’ll be equipped with the design knowledge needed to produce a brochure that consumers can trust. 

Elements of a brochure

A brochure has three primary purposes. That is to act as a reference for prospective clients, build credibility, and generate leads. However, it can only achieve these things if it is designed well and provided with enough information.

In this section, you can familiarize yourself with the essential parts of brochure design. This way, you can be aware of what a brochure should contain before you start designing one. 

Fold

Tri-fold. Letter fold, z-fold, accordion, and half fold are some of the most popular ways to fold a brochure. Each fold presents you with different spaces that you can use to segment your content. 

Cover

Leaflets are packed with information, so you want to balance this out with a brochure design cover that looks inviting. You can use a striking combination of imagery and typography to urge your audience to read the rest of your brochure. 

Branding

Incorporating your brand identity into your brochure can be as simple as adding your company logo and brand colors to the layout. Applying this allows you to present your brand consistently and make it easy for the audience to recognize you. 

CTA

Call to action or CTAs helps you lead your readers to your website or other platforms where they can access your goods or services. It is another tool for you to lead consumers further down the path of purchase. 

Space 

Providing an appropriate amount of space provides emphasis and coherence. This is one of the most critical parts of your design, as the lack of proper spacing can lead to visual clutter. Without space, you will end up with an oversaturated design that is hard to understand.

Typography

Your design’s text should be readable to make it easier for your audience to read the content. As a general rule, you want to use 12-point font for the text body to make it easy to read. 

Illustrations

Illustrations let you decorate your brochure or present data in a visually appealing way. This design element keeps you from making a brochure that is too wordy.

Dos and Don’ts

Brochures are informative, and they can give you the power to present something in-depth to your readers. 

Compared to other collaterals like posters and business cards, brochures can give you more avenues to educate the audience. 

But there’s one thing that can take away all the good that brochures can bring. It’s called a bad design. To prevent that, read this quick guide of brochure design dos and don’ts. This section will help you discover what you should and shouldn’t do when making a brochure for your business.

Dos

Design a compelling cover – Judging a book or a brochure by its cover comes as a natural instinct. The cover encourages people to find out what’s inside. Creating a visually intriguing cover will definitely catch your readers’ eyes and get them to start learning more. 

Keep printing in mind – You need to know the standard dimensions of a brochure. After all, you don’t want to end up with a file that’s too small. This may result in design pixelation problems or distortion. For reference, the standard brochure size is 8.5 x 11 inches.

You can also use unique printing styles to take your output to the next level. For example, you can experiment with adding different print effects for a creative touch. To achieve this, you can try out the foil stamping method for printing, which provides metallic accents. There are other print design ideas that you can experiment with and make something remarkable.

Use illustrations to break up the text – Brochures are for disseminating information, but they don’t have to be boring. Adding illustrations like icons and graphs can entertain readers and allow them to understand data better. 

Know your audience – Determine which members of the audience you are going to speak to. This will give you a better idea of how you can approach your audience the way they want. 

Add a QR – This is entirely optional, but adding one can provide serious benefits to your business. You can use this to lead people to your online channels. By scanning QR codes, readers will find themselves on your website where they can learn more about your goods or services.

Don’ts

Overcrowd – Always give substantial white space for your text and other design elements. Without this, you will create visual clutter that takes away the effectiveness of a brochure, making it harder for audiences to process information. 

Forget to give importance to the CTA – The CTA is always going to be the star of the show. This will lead your readers to the next step of the purchase process. As much as possible, you want to give it a clear visual prominence. Designers recommend designing CTA buttons with warm colors like red and orange to make it pop.

Look similar to the competition – Audiences may confuse you for other brands if you look too much alike. You can avoid this by researching your competitors and learning what type of design they’re using.

Take crop marks and bleed for granted – This will help make the printing process easier. Bleed is an extended area that ensures your brochure has color up to its edge. 

The standard bleed area is a 1.25-inch margin. On the other hand, crop marks indicate where the print worker should begin trimming the paper. 

Pay attention to the color mode – Knowing the difference between RGB and CMYK can make your design stronger. It is a driving factor behind color accuracy. RGB is best for digital use, while CMYK is best for printing. 

Brochure Design Ideas

At this point, you are now armed with the basics of design. But we’re not going to stop there. 

This section will give you fresh inspiration for your brochure. Take a look at how you can use the design tricks you’ve learned to create something that is one of a kind. 

Start scrolling and refuel your creativity with exciting design concepts.

Brochure Design by HUSSAIN AHMED

Brochure Design For Viraltalks.com by  accustra

Elegant, Company Tourism Brochure Design by ecorokerz

Ice Cream Shop 4 FOLD SQUARE BROCHURE by ROCK design ????

Playful, Company Brochure Design by alex989

Playful, Traditional Brochure Design by ecorokerz

SAP Women Drive brochure exterior view by Karolina Burdon

A well-designed asset can give you more confidence when handing them out during conventions, meetings, and other methods of brochure distribution. 

Conclusion

Some brands take print collaterals like leaflets for granted. It’s seen as an old-fashioned and outdated practice, but this is a common misconception.

There is a good reason why marketers haven’t dropped the ball on print collaterals just yet. A study by Temple University found that printed collaterals have more emotional weight than digital ads. This can put you at an advantage point, especially today, where consumers seek to make meaningful connections with brands. 

With brochures, you can increase engagement, desirability, and, ultimately, brand value. It is a solid addition to your collection of marketing materials.

Get access to professionally designed brochures by running a brochure design contest. You’ll receive original design bids from DesignCrowd’s community of graphic designers, and from that selection, you can find the ideal brochure for your campaign.

Try it today.

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Written by DesignCrowd on Thursday, September 3, 2020

DesignCrowd is an online marketplace providing logo, website, print and graphic design services by providing access to freelance graphic designers and design studios around the world.