How to Design a Brochure that Totally Kills It

A killer brochure design can knock the socks off your target audience in more ways than one. To use a brochure as a advertising and marketing tool is not only a good idea, but a fantastic one! It has been a popular marketing tool for years now, thanks to its wide reach. While there have been many businesses that have nailed it when it comes to creating brochures that lead to conversions and an increase in ROI, but there are some who miss it completely. While its potential cannot be ignored, the truth is that creating a great brochure design can take a lot of thought and effort. Here are a couple of critical steps to design a brochure design that wows and kicks a**.

1. Know its Purpose

Begin to first truly understand the purpose of your brochure. Start by conducting a survey of potential customers to get their opinion on what they would like to see in a brochure. The data that you collect will give you an insight on the kind of stuff your brochure needs to have. This will also help in conceptualising future marketing and ad campaigns. Another way to get clarity on the purpose of your brochure is to ask yourself– what reaction do I want my customers and clients to have after they have seen my brochure design? What goals do I want my brochure to achieve? Once you answer both questions, you will have a good grasp of what to include in your brochure.

2. Use High-res Images

High-res images are another vital component of a fantastic brochure. People these days are used to everything high definition, thanks to the onset of tablets, Smartphones, TVs, etc. While his may seem like a no-brainer, there are still some businesses that try to cut down on costs and use frightfully low-res images in brochure design. This can lead to consumers viewing your business as unprofessional and not credible enough.

3. Don’t Go Overboard with Font Usage

The use of fonts is another important area to focus on when creating an awesome brochure design. Using too many different types of fonts in an effort to be unique and funky is a bad idea. This could make your brochure look unorganised, gimmicky, and unprofessional and like it has been designed by a 10-year old in ‘Paint’. At the most, 2 different fonts should be used. You can use bold, italics and increase the size of your font to change things up.

4. Be Careful With Colour

Use colours carefully and wisely.  A splash of too many colours could result in your brochure looking garish and it could also distract your user immensely. The human eye is said to be drawn to beautiful colours and colour combinations. But that doesn’t mean that you paint your brochure with every colour of the rainbow! Designing something that is eye-catching and informative rather than garish is important. Don’t use neon colours, which are not only overpowering, but also take a reader’s attention away from the actual content. Make sure that you use colours that complement each other and do not clash.

5. Keep It Simple

A simple, elementary design is always best when we’re talking about brochure design. A clear concise design, adequate, pertinent text and a couple of images and you're all set. A simple brochure design always trumps those that look like they just have too much going on – loads of text, too many images and an unfortunate number of CTAs. Less is more with life, and the goes for brochures.