The Do’s and Don’ts of Brochure Design

Brochures are powerful marketing tools. They spread awareness about your company, introduce new products to your audience, and provide helpful information to readers. However, a brochure is only as good as its design. 

Unlike an expertly designed brochure successfully promoting your business, a poorly designed one can damage your marketing efforts and credibility.

The Do’s of Brochure Design

Know the Purpose of Your Brochure

First and foremost, you should clearly understand why you are creating a brochure in the first place. 

What are you hoping to accomplish? Get clear about your goals. After all, your goals will determine the brochure’s messaging, layout, and overall look and feel.

Keep Your Audience In Mind

In addition to knowing the purpose of your brochure, you also need to know your audience. It would be best if you had a clear understanding of your target market. 

Then, you can tailor your brochure to maximum appeal to those customers. You increase your brochure’s chance of success by communicating with your audience in the way that best suits them.

Design a Compelling Cover

Remember to consider the importance of a positive first impression. The cover of your brochure is the first thing that readers notice, so it needs to pique their interest immediately. 

Consequently, the design may be compelling, captivating, and eye-catching. A well-designed cover convinces readers to keep reading and discover what’s inside the brochure. 

Use Only High-Quality Images

Appearance matters. Using low-quality images makes your brochure (and business) seem unprofessional. Readers are less likely to trust your company and become patrons. 

Furthermore, high-quality images, graphics, and illustrations make your brochure more visually appealing and, therefore, more effective.

Break Up the Text with Illustrations and Images

Big blocks of uninterrupted text are hard on the eyes. Readers will likely get bored or overwhelmed and move on to another task. 

Illustrations and images are a great way to break up the text, making your brochure more visually exciting and easier to read. Plus, icons and graphs can help readers better understand valuable information.

Choose Colours and Graphics that Represent your Brand

Every piece of marketing material produced by your organization must use consistent branding. 

After all, branding is how customers recognize your company across different platforms and mediums. Ensure that you use the same colours, graphics, and fonts.

Use the Correct Sizing

As you design your brochure, remember you’re creating a physical product. This means you need to keep printing in mind throughout the design process. 

You want to avoid ending up with a file that’s too small, as you’ll likely end up with pixelation problems or distortion upon printing.

Make the Copy Count

The writing in your brochure should be clear and precise and offer valuable information that readers care about. Once you have your audience’s attention, don’t squander it with overly long, rambling text. 

Tell your target audience what they need to know and convey how your products or services will improve their lives.

Include a Clear Call to Action

A clear call to action is a vital part of every marketing initiative. It helps recipients understand precisely what to do. You’re less likely to get the desired response if you don’t direct readers toward a specific action. 

Your CTA should be clear, prominent, direct, and easy to see.

Add a QR Code

Adding a QR code to your brochure can be hugely beneficial. QR codes make it easier than ever for readers to respond to your brochure. 

You can direct recipients to a specific online channel where they can learn more about your goods and services, sign up for a subscription or email list, or contact a sales representative directly.

The Don’ts of Brochure Design

Make it Crowded

Negative space is an integral part of all design. There should be room to breathe around text and other design elements. 

Otherwise, your brochure will appear cluttered, making it harder for audiences to process the information. Avoid overloading your brochure with too much copy and large blocks of text.

Avoid Pictures

Images are a great way to add visual interest to your brochure. Readers are less likely to stay interested in your brochure if all they see are large blocks of text. 

High-quality photographs, graphics, and infographics are beneficial design elements that should be incorporated.

Include Too Much Information

This aspect may seem counterintuitive, but including too much information in your brochure can be harmful. Firstly, many text and images will make your brochure look cluttered and unappealing. Your brochure must be readable. Second, your readers are busy people. 

They only have so much time to spend reading your brochure. Include relevant, practical, and valuable information without trying to include every detail about your business and services.

Forget to Proofread

Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors make your company seem unprofessional. If you can’t even take the time to proofread your brochure, how are customers going to trust the quality of your goods or services? 

Since detecting grammatical errors and typos can be difficult, it’s best to ask a fresh set of eyes to proofread your copy.

Use Too Many Fonts

A general rule of design is to use at most three fonts. This keeps the design simple and cohesive without becoming busy. 

Use one font for the heading, one for the subheading, and another for the body.

Blend in with the Competition

It’s crucial to differentiate your company from your competition. If your brochure looks similar to a competitor’s, audiences will need clarification. 

Research what other companies are doing and create your unique design.

Make it All About You

Instead of just filling your brochure with promotional text and positive reviews, try to make it more about your customers. 

Specifically, how you can improve their lives, fulfil their needs, and solve their problems.

Brochure Printing and Mailing Services in the GTA

By following the dos and don’ts listed in this article, your brochure will be on its way to being a success. After all, a well-designed brochure is highly effective at spreading brand awareness and promoting your company’s goods and services.

Partnering with a high-quality printer like Troi Mailing Services is equally important. We provide a wide range of printing and mailing services in the Greater Toronto Area to help your business.

To learn more about our mailing services in Toronto, call Troi Mailing Services at 1-866-486-9350 or contact us here.