Print Design TipsTips and Information About Printing

A leaflet is almost as simple to design and produce as a flyer – the difference between a flyer and a leaflet is that a flyer is usually printed one or both sides, but it is not folded. A leaflet is more akin to a newspaper – it is folded, sometimes with a bi-fold (one fold in the center) or tri-fold (turning the paper into a 3 page pullout. The leaflet is usually printed on both sides too, but because it is usually one color but has a layout which resembles a newsletter.

The first thing to do when designing a leaflet is to roughly draft out the layout by first folding the paper into the format you are looking for. Once you have made the paper folds, lay the leaflet draft out flat and number the sections as follows:

When folded, the pages will now follow within the leaflet if you follow this scheme.

Next, sketch out the rough layout; place boxes where you will be putting in graphics and images; do you want a border?

You should also think about the color scheme for the paper and text.

Grab Attention!

Target your audience with a real headline grabbing statement – remember your product or service is not what the audience are interested in – it is what your product or service does to solve a problem the prospect audience has which will motivate them to read more.

Use Motivating Words and Phrases

Words such as the following:

These are known as “Power Words” because they are emotive and play to needs of readers.

KISS

Keep It Simple Stupid – use clean lines and avoid clutter within the leaflet. Focus on the text because that is where the message for the reader will be, not the images.

Color is a key element in print and graphic design (including web design) – good use of color will make an ad, induce prospective readers to pick up your collateral and add that “Factor X” which makes a great flyer. Poor use of color will result in a further contribution to the local landfill!

Color must be made to be subservient to the overall rendition of the printed material – the message is key and all the other elements, such as layout, fonts, spacing, imagery and graphics must fall into line along with color in supporting the message.

If you use color badly, this will disrupt the overall impact and impression you are looking to create. Too much will overload the material and prove a distraction from the result you are looking for. Too little color will render the printed material bland and lifeless. You must strike a balance which can sometimes be a very fine line and is where an experienced print designer and partner are worth every cent of the money they charge.

Smaller projects, such as a business card, may use only one color, though two-colors will usually have a greater effect on the finished product. Multiple color schemes should usually be limited to the se of four colors to avoid overkill. No matter what the number of colors you use, you always should ensure that there is enough white space to contrast and place a setting for whatever imagery and colored text you are using to sit within.

There is more to consider with color than just the actual color schemes – shading plays an important part too. Black and red provide the most attention grabbing colors for headlining or underlining areas which you wish to accentuate; blue and yellow are considerably more subtle in their impact while green is considered a soothing color while orange is associated with fun and a good time. Do not be bound by the simple palette available – play with the shading so you get the right tones and contrasts for your work.

The most important element of your business printed material is not the presentation; not the graphics; not the layout; not the paper; not the fonts and colors.

The most important element of any business print job is the message – the printed word.

“Uniformity of message” simply means that all of your business communications relay the same message. This is a sub-set of “branding”, where imagery is also used in the creation of a corporate identity which the buying public instantly recognizes and comes to rely upon and trust.

Consider this:

Market flyer states you are the #1 reseller of widgets to the US Government;

but

Marketing brochure states you have just been appointed to sell widgets to the US Government.

While the two are not necessarily incompatible, it is strange that you claim you’re #1 in one piece of collateral but claim to be a new supplier in another.

This is an important point as customers will read more than one piece of your marketing and business collateral and such inconsistencies will stand out.

It is not simply the words and their meaning which should be the same, but the impression you are seeking to create. Being #1 at something implies you have been around for a while, or have cornered a new market. Being a new supplier indicates neither of these – their is lack of uniformity of message here.

Calendars are a great promotional tool for use with clients and prospects – they follow one very important sales rule – they are in front of the client all of the time! If you print calendars up for use with your clients and prospects there are some simple rules to follow when putting the design together.

Use Good Quality Materials

You need to have a superior print finish for a calendar to be used by a customer. They are not going to hang something on the wall if it made from poor quality paper or has a poor print finish. Do not skimp on the cost of the materials and work with your print partner to deliver the best result for your budget. It is better to reduce the print run and be more selective in handing the calendars out to people than have a larger print run of poor quality (as many will never be used).

Include an Appointment Book

Making sure there is adequate space to include appointments and key dates is a good tip – make sure you include all the key dates that you can think of. For instance, if you have a company golf day, have that included but don’t forget the key holidays and celebrations.

Leave Lined Space at the Bottom

Leave an area at the bottom of the calendar so users can make notes to themselves – you can even have a separate section which has a simplified “to-do” list. You are making the calendar something that people will see has utility for themselves and this will make them more inclined to use it.

Pick a Theme and Stick with It

Target a theme which is associated with your business, however if you are in a business which is not “glamorous”, you may choose something such as sports, seasons, models or shots from around town. Many successful amateur calendars have gone on to be world bestsellers simply because they have struck a theme which has universal appeal.

Company Branding & Contact Information

Don’t forget why you are engaging in this project – to get your brand, your business and your contact information in front of customers and prospects in an ever-ready format which they use everyday.

Make sure that every page has your brand logo and company contact information included on it – you will be surprised at how many draft designs omit this information!

Web design is not the same as print design, though the approach may be similar in terms of the design elements and use of graphics, textual elements and other print/rendition issues.

Print design has a tangible substance – you print it and that’s the finished product. You can see the finished design, handle it and take in the physical, sensual design elements, however this is not so for a web based design. Web based design work is not produced with a physical rendition on paper – it is designed for viewing on a computer screen, using a web browser and both of these factors will affect how the imagery and finished work are rendered to the individual viewer. In this sense, web design is transitory, it has no permanence in that what you see is what you get every single time, and you certainly cannot handle the finished product (even printing it out is not a true rendition).

For a client looking for help, there is a great deal of difference between a web designer and a print designer. Many web designers come to the art with a background in print design, however you as the client must be aware of the difference in the medium they are using if you are to get the most out of your budget.

When you look at a print design company, you should be assessing their physical portfolio of products in order top ascertain the print quality, design standards and quality of the finished work. With a web designer you should not be looking at printed renditions of their portfolio at all, but use a computer and web browser – in fact, look at the websites they have produced using different computers and web browsers to see how their finished product actually looks in real life to the end-user.

Web designers may have a browser they prefer to work with – Safari is the Apple Mac’s default web browser and many designers prefer to use a MacIntosh for their graphical work because it possesses superior graphic capabilities and applications. The “but” is that your customers may be like the 98% of the rest of the world who run Microsoft machines, where the default browser is Internet Explorer. Make sure the web designer is rendering your finished product so it looks good in the web browsers you target or expect your clients to be using.