Brochure Layout

Brochures are an important part of marketing your business. A printed brochure is a great way for customers to get information about your business. Brochure layout is a vital part of ensuring that the right information gets through to your customers.

The first step in designing a brochure is to decide what the main purpose will be-- to advertise, educate, or entertain. Next, decide on the brochure design. Will it be a standard tri-fold brochure or require special folding? Is it going to be a standard size or something different? Will the design have bleeds? Also, is it going to be mailed? If so, check with the Post Office to make sure the brochure will meet postal standards and to determine the postage cost. After you have decided on the purpose and format of the brochure, designing the panels is the next step.

Since the front panel is what viewers see first, this is the most important part of the design. It should be obvious from the front of the brochure what the purpose of the brochure is, and the brochure design should be interesting enough for the reader to want to read the entire brochure. Too much text on the cover will lessen the brochure's effectiveness, so select a simple, focused headline and message with colorful, eye-catching graphics.

Viewers should be able to find the information they are looking for - and what you want them to see - quickly and efficiently. If a pamphlet has too much information, it can be overwhelming for viewers. People are more likely to skim over large bodies of text. Using headers, subheaders, bulleted lists, and callout boxes are good ways to organize text. If you are promoting a service or a product, don't worry about including every detail of your product or message. You will want the reader to be intrigued enough to contact you for more information, allowing you to open a dialogue with potential clients.

It is important to consider how the panels of the brochure will interact with one another. For example, you can have a photograph go across two inside panels, or even have the entire inside as one informative section. It is a good idea to sketch out the design on paper before you write the copy. That way you will be able to prioritize images and important text, making the overall design much more effective.

A few design tips to remember when considering the brochure layout and design are:

Limit your design to 3 typefaces, or fonts, in the brochure. An example would be to choose one serif, one sans serif, and one script font for the entire piece and stick with only these fonts throughout the design.
Keep your look consistent with your website and other printed materials, to help the reader with brand recognition.
Be consistent in type sizes, image styles, borders, etc. Consistency in the design will create unity. Without it, the brochure will be visually confusing
Keep the body text point size to less than 12 points, unless you are targeting an older audience.
Use white space when you can. Brochures can hold a lot of information, but if the design is too cluttered, it will be unappealing or frustrating for the viewer. Simplicity in design can be very effective.
Be informative, but don't feel as if you need to list every detail of your product or service. Give your readers a reason to contact you for more information.

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