The originality of your brochure is somewhat self explanatory. This applies not so much to the design of the brochure, but how your company is represented. It should inform the audience of something unique about your company in order to make you stand out. The design of your brochure has to do with its outline and layout. In cases like this it is best to go for a simple design that is uncluttered and easy to read. Make sure only necessary information is included.

The images that are used in your brochure should always be the highest quality possible. Always ask the person who is designing your brochure what type of images they will be using. Sometimes they will take their own photos and other times they may prefer to use stock images. Regardless, make sure that they use high-resolution images.

Color is important in a well-designed brochure. Colors have a way of invoking feeling and emotion in a person. The colors used in the brochure should also go well with the images used such as the company logo. Finally there is the page bleed. This is where color runs off the edges of your brochure when printing in order to account for any shifts that may occur. At least a 1/8 bleed is recommended.

Tip #1 – Choose a Partner Where the Quality is in Control

This may mean abandoning printers who focus on price at the expense of quality; achieving the quality you are looking for time after time requires a state-of-mind to deliver consistently.  You cannot expect either yourself or your partners to deliver the standards you are looking for on the cheap or by cutting corners while if you are thinking quality, that is much more what you are likely to get with the end result time after time.

Tip #2 – Get Organized

Being organized will help you both to maintain clear communication which in turn avoids silly mistakes between initial enquiry and final product.  If you are not organized it also means more work for your print partner which in turn means more cost to you or a loss of interest in your account – neither is good for you!

Tip #3 – Punctuality

Your printing partner needs you to be timely with submitting and approving drafts – they have to do their share when you have done yours and they have other clients to cater to as well as you.  Being late, or leaving things to the last moment is not good for you either as you may be putting your print partner under undue pressure to get the job delivered on time when in fact you are the one holding everyone up.  Rush jobs usually mean more mistakes and poorer quality – be on time!

Tip #4 – Be Clear what You Want and What You Expect

Don’t let your print partner second guess your requirements – if you want cheap and cheerful, you’ll get that but if you want top of the range quality, you must make it clear to the print partner this is what you will be demanding when the final product is delivered.

Don’t hold back – be very clear what you expect and what you will accept.

Tip #5 – You Decide What Your Quality Standard Is!

You are the one who sets the bar when it comes to quality so never let anyone tell you what constitutes quality  - you set the standards and everyone will judge you by the standards produced!

Illustrated stationery printed with the personal details of a friend or family member or even for your own use. These can be stylish, modern, or as traditional as you wish. The choice of lavish packaging is amazingly extensive. Playing cards, drink coasters, all printed with your own design, or from the huge selection offered by the printer with your own message!

Birth announcements, party invitations, wedding stationery, just inform the print-shop of your wishes when ordering, chose the design from their extensive range on offer, or supply your own.  What nicer gift for a new born baby than a photo album personalised with the family details and information about the Baby’s progress throughout the first year or even five years for the larger version. 

Maybe have a family photo printed on the front cover!!  

An album depicting the life of a loved one due to reach a special Birthday or retirement, including photos of them and their school friends, work colleague’s, special events enjoyed over the years.

How about personalizing your wine or beer with your own labels to enhance the bottles for the occasion to add a touch of class when you present a bottle of home made wine, jar of preserves as a gift or at the table! 

How about personalizing your clothing embossed with your club emblem or sport-team’s name, fund raising paraphernalia for your club/team/charity, calendars with pictures of your choice, be it pets, nature, scenery, or even photographs of your club/team members. Mugs with your team logo, even have your team photo printed on. Pens printed with a logo or contact details…the choices are endless!

Once you have made your selection, you must decide if you will submit your own design or take advantage of their experienced, in-house design team.  Although you will be given expert advice and guidance by your consultant, you will need to provide information about your company, the products and services on offer.

Firstly, consider the choices of what form of advertizing material you wish them to produce for you, and what quantity you require.  You may simply need as little as just the basics with envelopes, plain or printed with your company details, headed notepaper, compliment slips, business cards, or, all of this stationery and marketing collateral and reports.  It is advisable to use the same design, color, company logo on all of your printed products to enable your clientele to recognise your communications at a glance.

Marketing materials are also offered by the printer.  Leaflets or flyers are one of the most cost effective promotional techniques.  The design from your company stationery will enhance the immediate impact on existing clients, and familiarise your company to new clients. Consider your client-base and what is most likely to attract their attention to maximise an effective marketing campaign.

A sound principle is to place content first  and design second – assuming you are following this, let’s now concentrate on some design issues.

Inversion Impact

When you read a headline of a newspaper, you will frequently find it has been inverted, that is the headline is in white against a solid, black background.  This leads to a greater visual impact than simply printing teh headline in, say, larger typeface.

This can also be used for grapic imagery and photographs may be particularly effective but you need the help of a skilled designer to garner the most out of such complex imagery.

Less is More

Buy no means are we advocating the minimalist approach but if yiou are trying to pack as much content into one page or one document, you are going to overload your readers.  Marketing and company brochures in particular are prone to this common error and it pays for you to take a huge step back and look at what truly is vitally crucial for your readers to understand and cut out the extraneous pieces of content you are stuffing in.

Work with the Grid

The grid is a design technique for arranging layout and especially for simpler pieces it is best to “Stick with the Grid!”

You don’t need to strictly follow the grid and settle for the staid 3 column layout; try experimenting with different combinations and personally I find the 7-column setup expands the possibilities enormously with sidebars, 2-column overlaps and so on.

This is one area where good communications with your printer are essential as there will be some things that to you as the customer may seem a little off the wall and “out there” but to him are pretty straight-forward pieces to create.

To get your creative juices flowing and hopefully help you with your next meeting with your print partners, here’s a few hints and tips for you to use.

Think Outside the Paper

The mind works in funny ways sometimes and one of the quirks you can capitalize on is the m nd w ll f ll  n th  bla ks.

You can use this to your advantage when designing your marketing media so when you are looking at layout, don’t focus simply on what will fit in the space – use the borders too and don’t worry about overlapping the edges.

Paper Standards

Depending on the purpose of the printed communication you are likely to use the established paper sizes bu, there are times when you shouldn’t and there is no reason why you have to follow them religiously.

If you are looking to get your brochure noticed, use a non-standard size so it doesn’t fit precisely into a neat pile of letters and other documents – make sure it overhangs or peeks out of a stack of papers and this will help get it noticed in the sea of junk that everyone accumulates.

Content is King

Foxus on the content – this is where your message is contained and not within the imagery – don’t let design take over your project, it is important but remember people read so focus on that first and make teh design revolve around the content.

There are two issues with printing quality – the objective standards that can easily be measured and the more subjective aspects such as color tone, design layout and ideas that flow between you and the print shop.

When you are checking through the work produced, and particularly when you are making your selection for an initial print run, check out the objective issues first as these are straight forward and errors are simply and quickly found:

·         Are the pages in the correct order?

·         Is the binding straight?

·         Have the pages been printed positive with no mishaps with over-printing and the colors merge properly rather than casting color shadows due to misalignment?

·         Have the pages been properly typeset so they are printed with correct margins and footer and header spacing as well as appearing straight and true rather than offset at some angle?

Once you have this out of the way, you have to consider the more subjective issues which for the most part will be dealt with by a combination of your gut feel which will significantly improve over time and the feedback you get from others, especially the readers and users of your material.  In particular, consider the following:

·         Color scheme and mix; how the subtle use of color is brought to bear on your printed materials’

·         The ink coverage on your materials – is it acceptable across the whole spectrum of the publication or medium you are using?

·         Editorial and physical layout – make sure you do not allow the graphics to dominate your written message.

·         Compromises over colors and how your requirements are interpreted, this really comes down to how well you work with your print partner and the quality of communication between you.

This brings about one of the issues you need to consider; if the print quality is not up to the grade what is your position when it comes to getting the printer to accept responsibility for work that is not up to scratch.  You shouldn’t have to be looking over the shoulders of the printer at the shop, nor is it practical – you have every right to expect consistent quality, run after run, no matter where you happen to be situated and if a printer isn’t prepared to step up to your mark when it comes to quality they really have no justification for expecting your repeat business.

Both quality and cost can vary significantly so ensure that you have been informed of any special deals that may be on offer, only order large quantities if you are likely to use them all to avoid the risk of a false economy! 

Make sure that the printing company are aware of any important time schedules you may have, and obtain assurance that they can meet any dead-lines. 

The essential Information to include on a detailed draft layout is: your Company name, logo, graphics, photographs, or digital images. Contact details, including address with zip code, web site, email, telephone number (many people forget this one) and remember, your customers will vary in their choices of how to communicate with you so it is important that you cater for their needs.  

Include all services that your company offers but don’t focus so much on what you do and who you are – focus on what problems and needs you can satisfy and solve for your prospects and customers because that is what they are looking for.

When your Brochure is ready for print, consult the printing company design team for advice, after all, it is their expertise that you are paying for!  Most print and design shops that are worth the name will be able to take your brief and information on CD, DVD or email and you can also send a print-out of the artwork for their reference.  This makes sure that everyone is working from the same material and pool of ideas so you are not disappointed when you get the proofs.

Once your brochure has been designed, it is time to send it off to the right company in order to be printed. The following things should always be kept in mind when choosing your printing company: Quantity, Order, Proofs, and Turnaround.

The quantity refers to the number of brochures that you are going to have printed up at a time. In order to keep your costs as low as possible, you should always order in wholesale quantities. Order refers to the size and design of the brochures. You will want a company that is able to provide you with as many options as possible so you don’t have to limit yourself.

Proofs are the examples that a professional printing company should be able to provide you with. It is important that you see what the company can provide before giving them your money. Turnaround naturally refers to the company’s turnaround time. If you are in a hurry you should make sure the company you are doing business with will be able to get them to you on time.

Perhaps the worst mistake a company can make is to create their own business cards using their home printer. Nothing screams amateur more than this and in all actuality you won’t be saving much, if any, money at all. Custom printed business cards are not nearly as expensive as they once were and thanks to the internet you can buy them in bulk quite inexpensively.

These days it couldn’t be easier to find a printing company online that can design and print professional custom business cards for you. Using the internet you can even create your own cards using a variety of pre-made templates, clipart, etc. You can also upload your own photographs and graphics in order to create a more personalized finished product.

You may not have to use the internet if you prefer not to; there may be quality printing companies in your area that you can go to in order to have your custom business cards designed and printed. Chain and franchise stores may be the place to go if you are looking to save money and still get a quality product.

In short, business cards are one of your most important methods of reaching customers, so never attempt to cut corners by making your own cards unless you have the know-how and equipment that can produce professional cards.