Brochure Design Basics

Master brochure design basics to advertise your business far and wide

While some companies think that brochure design consists of nothing more than printing off some company information and folding the result into three parts, brochure design is much more involved than that. Brochure design actually involves carefully crafting and targeting your company information for maximum appeal. It can involve market research, careful layout, selection of the best images and the creation of important and easy-to-scan content. Good business brochures can mean more sales and more leads, so using forethought before taking brochures to the printer is a must.

Whether you hire brochure design services or design your own brochure, understanding the basics of business brochure design gives you an edge. Brochures are often the literature that customers take away with them and keep if they are considering a purchase. Brochures give you the opportunity to promote your business easily and affordably. If you want to make the most of brochures, consider:

1. Learning the basics of corporate brochure design so you fully understand your needs.

2. Using software to design your own business brochures.

3. Designing virtual brochures to take your marketing message online.

 

Master brochure design basics so you can work with a professional or design on your own

If you decide to hire someone to create custom brochure design options for you, you still need to be able to communicate your aims and needs. This can be hard to do if you don't understand the difference between bifold and trifold brochure design (brochures that are folded into two or three parts, respectively). Understanding brochures lets you know your options and enables you to choose the brochure style that will best reflect your business.
Try: Tom Egelhoff offers a step-by-step process for designing a brochure, complete with examples. This is a great way to familiarize yourself with what really goes into designing a company brochure. DesignSitesUp offers some useful examples of successful brochures.

Take advantage of software programs to design your own brochures

You may not want to outsource each of your brochures to a design service. Using brochure design software gives you a great sense of what is possible in terms of brochure design and style, so that even if you ultimately decide to hire a professional, you will have some knowledge of what you like and don't like beforehand. If you do decide to design your own brochures, brochure design templates available with many software programs make the task very simple.
Try: Tutorialized can show you how to create a simple, functional brochure using only Microsoft Word. Belltech Systems offers a Business Publisher software title that creates brochures that fold into two, three and four segments. SmartDraw comes with brochure design samples and templates for easy creation of company brochures.

Use virtual brochures so Internet users can get your promotional message

While you may think of brochures as merely paper-and-ink creations, many businesses are now using virtual brochures to save costs and promote themselves more widely. Virtual brochures are similar in design to their paper counterparts, but have the added advantage of being online, so they are easy for your customers to find. Virtual brochures can also save you money on printing costs and are gentler on the environment.
Try: Process Peak can design and install virtual brochures online, allowing you to expand your business. Electronic Media Arts, a full service digital media and design company, has recently added virtual brochure design to its list of services.

 

• Brochure design and printing go hand in hand. If you've decided to make use of traditional brochures, you must consider printing costs. Before approving a final brochure design, visit your printer to ask for an estimate. If a brochure needs a special high-grade paper or your brochure will cost more to print for other reasons, it's preferable to know that up front.

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