When we think of a brochure, we think of a layout, color scheme, graphic element, and the text that go into it. This is how we are programmed to think. But there are three more vital elements that we often ignore when thinking of a brochure design.
No matter how great the copy of a brochure is, and how killer the design and layout of the brochure is; miss any of these points and you will brochure will fall a way short than the intended target. These elements together provide meaning to the whole effort of creating a brochure, without which a brochure is nothing but an attractive piece of useless bundle of paper that serves no purpose.
The human element
What a brochure designer often forgets to do is to look at a design from a customer point of view. And when I said customer I meant three things:
- Immediate customers – The people or company for whom the brochure is designed.
- The end user – The customers of your customer. People who will be reading scanning and browsing through the brochure.
- Prospects – Prospects could also be labeled as non-customers who want to be your client’s customers.
A brochure designer needs to keep the wants and aspirations of each group of people in mind when designing a brochure. Each one of them should feel that their needs have been taken care of. It is not only the responsibility of a copy writer or a marketing person to think of the various groups of audience who will go through the brochure. It is the responsibility of designing team as well.
Compassion and understanding
In your customers’ mind a business equate to greed and an effort to rob them (your customers) off their money.
This judgment may be far too strong, but it is not far-fetched. It is the business owners only who created such perception by their deceitful act. As a businessman it is your duty to undo the mistakes your companion did, and this could be done by showing compassion for your customers, and trying to understand them and helping them understand you.
No one dislike dealing with a person who is honest, then why will they not deal with a company that is honest in its dealing. Do not behave like a big ugly company that has stripped itself off all the human emotion. If you can, try to portray a real human being.
I wrote about the basic business tenet of compassion and understanding at this point in an article that talk about brochure design because I believe if you do not have compassion and understanding at the core then it will not reflect in the brochure that you get designed for your company.
You must show your customers that you understand their needs and that you just do not want to sell your products but you want to solve their problem by understanding the real requirement. This may appear tough, but with a proper selection of words, you can achieve this goal.
Missing action
I have seldom seen any brochure that asks people to take action. Why not? It is a marketing material, and its aim should be to make some sale or ask people to take the action desired by the marketer. Why this very important piece goes missing in a brochure?
A brochure, indeed, is created with a primary motive to inform the target audience about the product and services offered by the company creating the brochure. But what suggest that there should not be any secondary motive of asking the reader to take desired action? For me, this is beyond comprehension.
In my view, every brochure must have a subtle call to action embedded at critical junctures in brochure copy. And while writing copy of brochure or laying out the design make sure that a brochure does not look like a sales page or advertorial pamphlet. The call to action should be subtle. This should be done to guide your customers into taking the action that will bring them closer to the sale, and you should do this from behind the curtain; i.e., subtly.
Conclusion
The three things that I have discussed above may not appear in your brochure in the way copy, color, layout, graphic element, and design do, but these things will have long-lasting effect on your customers, who in turn may build positive feeling about you. I will recommend using these things as filters when designing a brochure.
About Richy:
Richy is senior graphic designer at VA Business Services. He has 15+ years of experience with Print and Advertising graphic designing. If you want to hire a Graphic Designer VA, please visit our Graphic Design Services Page and send us your valuable details. We assure you quality work delivered at affordable rates.
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[...] few guidelines try your hand on brochure designing. Also you may like to read my earlier post on Killer Brochure Design – 3 elements that Often Gets Ignored, I wrote few days back and feel free to send me your [...]