Tips on brochure design

As a leaflet delivery company we occasionally get asked to deliver other items such as magazines and brochures. For some reason this seems to mainly occur in Croydon, Streatham and Norwood; I have no idea why as we deliver to Dartford, Dulwich, Catford and all around the M25. Anyway, some of the features of design are similar in a brochure to those for a leaflet. However, although you naturally have more space and layout in a brochure, content and appeal factors will be different.

Highest potential financial outcome

Think hard about which target of readers are likely to generate the most revenue for your business. It’s no point delivering a brochure or a door to door distribution leaflet that’s designed for the high net worth income bracket to an inner city estate. If your brochure is about 5* luxury travel, it makes sense to deliver it to the more exclusive properties. When you have decided this factor then make sure the content – or at least 75% of it – is designed for these people.

Company Personality

For a brochure this is even more important to get right than in your door drop flyer. Is your company image consistent throughout your marketing material? Do you know what your corporate image is and does this reflect what you offer and at what standard? It’s no good stating you offer a state of the art interior design service with top of the range brand names if you are appealing to people who are looking for a simple cut price decorating job.

Audience reaction

The one thing that remains consistent with almost every marketing campaign you undertake is audience reaction. ‘What is the response you want to get from your target audience?’ Check and check again that you are targeting the right audience. Do you want these people to visit a website, pick up the phone, respond to an offer in a limited time or enter a competition?

Collecting Information

Start making a note of useful factors about your business that you can weave into the copy. How well can you describe your business in 50-100 words? Can you succinctly express the nature of your product or service so that readers will easily understand, without complex jargon? What about hours of business or when your premises are open to visitors? Don’t forget your fax number if you have one and your website address. If you are a limited company, you should include your registered address. Do you have a good quality set of images and logo? What about a neat ‘how to get to us’ description? If your brochure is has the space, include 1 or 2 testimonials or recent news.

When you have collated your brochure material, a draft mock up will help you to see where something doesn’t look so good and you can make alterations at this stage before giving final approval to go to print.

Hope this helps everyone, anyone have any more tips?