paper bag printing,catalog printing,postcard printing,brochure printing

Here are some ideas for getting better results with your brochure design.

1. Create accurate models and mock-ups for your brochure. Cut and fold your brochure to size. Use the same type of paper that you will ultimately print on, and review your work. 

  If there are any special cuts or folds at all, review them thoroughly with your printer. If you are using a fulfillment house for a mass mailing, submit all of your samples to them, and get written confirmation that they can handle the mailing with their machines. Good brochure design includes making it work with the printer or fulfillment house. And double check mailing guidelines with the post office.

2. All of the rules for good sales copywriting apply. This may be hard to hear, but if you are an accountant, or an engineer, or a doctor, or anything other than a sales copywriter, then you are not a sales copywriter. At the very least get a second opinion on your work. And harder still, listen to the criticism. 

  A good suggestion is to have a good client or an employee write the copy. You will be surprised at the difference and the result. That's how you get more effective brochure design.

3. Most readers at first will only read headlines, subheads, and captions. These must give the benefits and the motivation so that your readers will want to read the rest of the copy.

4. Use high quality photographs of your products, of pretty people, or preferably of pretty people enjoying the benefits of using your products. Pictures are really worth a thousand words in brochure design. 

 An amazing variety of photographs are available for you to use. At Professional Advertising, we can access tens-of-millions of high quality photos for you. There is a perfect one out there for your company. Find it, and buy it. If you find the right one, you are half way to a highly effective brochure design. 

 If you hire a professional photographer, check to make sure that the photographer specializes in shooting your type of image [products, people, buildings, etc.] There is a huge difference between a specialist and a general photographer. Get the specialist.

5. Your brochure copy will be read out of order. Each page or panel should contain benefits and sales copy. This is good brochure design.

6. Break your headline so that you have to open the panel in order to read it. Umm, think this is silly? Open any magazine or newspaper in your house. They always break stories in the middle of an idea so that you are encouraged to turn to the next page and keep reading.

7. If your brochure is part of a package of marketing materials, make sure that your contact information is on each and every document. Make sure all contact information is on the brochure. People pass these things along, so make sure your phone number goes along too.

8. Collect brochures from other companies, [especially your competitors.] What do you like and why? Why does their brochure design work?

9. Remember that colors represent different things in different industries. Be careful with your choice of colors. A good designer should make specific suggestions. Read The Elements of Advertising Design for more information.

10. A box adds impact on a page. You could include Frequently Asked Questions, or testimonials, within a box for more effective brochure design.

11. Use white space in your brochure design. Crowded copy is hard to read. Your photos will lose impact, and the ad will appear out of balance if you don't use enough white space in your brochure design.

12. For the average person, a conservative brochure design is boring. Create a brochure that is easy to read and interesting to look at. A busy brochure design will often work better than a well-balanced brochure design, because it keeps the reader involved.

13. Stick to two typefaces, and strictly limit your use of bold, capitalization, underline, etc. By emphasizing everything, you emphasize nothing. Keep your font layout simple in your brochure design.

14. Try not to use more than five or six lines in each paragraph.

15. Try not to use more than two or three sentences per paragraph.

16. Leave a space between paragraphs, and do not indent them.

17. Just like an advertisement, your brochure design must work to get and hold attention. Strong visuals, and a center of attention on the page will help to accomplish this.

18. Design is a big field, and these are just some suggestions. We hope you are empowered enough to know if your designer is not doing a good job. We hope that if you are creating your own brochure, our guidelines are helpful. For additional assistance with brochure design, copy writing, or marketing, please contact us to know more about brochure printing .