Archimedia Studios

Brochure Design Checklist

The Importance of a Brochure Design: A brochure can serve many purposes. It can be used for marketing, during a special occasion, or in general business. Because of this, it is important to focus on the quality of the brochure design. The brochure must carry a brand that reaches the correct target audience. Brochures are intended to inform, educate, and let future clients/customers know about your services or products.

While there are many consumer tools available in today’s business world that can be used to create brochures, we  strongly recommend  utilizing a professional graphic designer, and ask a marketing professional to help plan and review the work. In a single hour, a professional could help you to double the effectiveness of your marketing materials. Really.  It’s a cheap investment for a brochure that you are going to reprint endlessly, and show the whole world.

Brochure Design Checklist

  1. Does your brochure sell? When in doubt, err on the side of selling.
  2. Are the key benefits listed up front? Don’t bury the benefits.
  3. Does it tell the reader what action to take? Call, write, subscribe?
  4. Is it as easy as possible for the reader to take action? 800#? Map with directions?
  5. Name, address, map, hours of operation, phone numbers, fax number, E-mail address, web address, logo?
  6. Does the headline entice the reader? Does it state a major benefit, ask a provocative question, or create curiosity?
  7. Do your subheadings and captions give the critical information and create motivation?
  8. Is the text in easy-to-read, short paragraphs or bulleted format?
  9. Is it interesting to look at? Does it have strong graphic imagery? [Pictures of people and products are best]. No Clip Art!
  10. Do you use the entire inside spread for visual impact? Do you leave enough white space?
  11. Do you have testimonials? FAQ’s? Before and After photo’s?
  12. Do you ask for their business? You must ask! This is required in good brochure design.
  13. A Professional quality brochure design makes you look professional.Professional quality brochure design makes you look professional.

Brochure Design Tips – The Basic Layout

Brochure Design

The Basic Layout

For this overview, we will discuss the basic 3-fold brochure design with six panels.

The front page (panel 1) is used to grab attention and get the reader to want to open the brochure and see what’s inside. Remember, if the reader doesn’t look inside, your brochure design has failed.

So use a benefit headline, or a picture that is worth a thousand words, plus a benefit headline. If your front panel just shows your company name and logo, you will get disappointing results. With good brochure design, the front panel is an advertisement.

When the brochure is opened, the reader sees the center spread – panels 2,3, and 4. You want to take full advantage of all of this space by spreading across all three panels. Strict adherence to columns can be a mistake. It will look cluttered, boxy, and hard to read.

Your inside headline can cross over the three panels. Photos and illustrations can stretch. Copy blocks or boxes can go across the panels. You have a full-page, full-color, full-impact advertisement. Use it.

The most common mistake companies make is trying to cram in too much text. Be careful with your brochure design. You shouldn’t fill in all that white space, and you don’t have to list every bit of information. You want your brochure design to be inviting and easy to read. Use short sentences, short paragraphs, and clear visuals.

The center spread should cover everything from the introduction to the first call for action. Benefits-benefits-benefits, excellent graphics, and a call to action. That’s good brochure design. Read up on copywriting and design, hire a top graphic artist, and have a marketing professional review the work. It’s worth it.

Panel 5 in your brochure design is a good place for testimonials. Make sure to give the person’s name, and preferably their contact information. Before and after pictures also work great, or present third-party endorsements or statistics. Frequently Asked Questions could also go here. And you should include a call to action [call now].

Panel 6 should emphasize your call to action. Tell the reader exactly what you want them to do, tell them how to do it, and  tell them to do it right now. Make it as easy as possible to contact you. That’s effective brochure design.

Seven helpful Photoshop Tips to improve your workflow

1. Duplicate, duplicate, duplicate. Make copies of your layers after each successful stage. It can be frustrating to get near the end and find there was a mistake early on in the process–but if you have an earlier version to return to, you can correct your errors far more easily.

2. Name each layer as you create it. If you use a filter, consider naming it with the settings you used – such as “Unsharp Mask, 2, 150, 0”–so you know how the effect was achieved.

3. Always experiment on a copy. Photoshop is ideal for tinkering and trying out new ideas–but make sure you keep a copy of the original before you start down an unknown path.

4. Be creative with filters. The Plastic Wrap filter doesn’t just wrap objects in plastic, it can be used to create liquids of all sorts. The Clouds filter may produce lousy clouds, but it’s a great random texture generator. And give the Wave filter another chance, it’s better than it looks.

5. Don’t erase anything. Use a Layer Mask instead. That way, you can always reveal pat of a layer you’d previously hidden. Once it’s erased, it’s gone.

6. Rather than applying a Curves or Color Balance adjustment to a layer, use an Adjustment Layer instead. The effect will be the same, except that we can go back and change the adjustment at any time–or copy it to a new layer.

7. Learn to use the Pen tool. It’s the single scariest Photoshop tool, and many users just give up on it. Take a day to master it and you’ll value it for the rest of your life.


9. Convert layers to Smart Objects in complex compositions. Each time an object is scaled, rotated or distorted, some quality is lost. With Smart Objects, we can tinker as much as we like without losing any quality. It can be heartbreaking to see an image looking soft or ragged, simply because we changed our minds one time too many.

What NOT to do in Poster Design

Poster printing is one of the most popular means of marketing any business. In fact, when a marketer is put task on what collaterals to come up with when promoting one’s business, print posters would definitely be on top of the list. Posters are just that common when it comes to marketing collaterals.

Remember then to steer clear of these no-no’s when printing posters to promote your business or band:

1. Do NOT clutter please.
Poster printing design is simple. You do not need to complicate things by providing overly complex and intricate design just so you can come off as someone who is skilled at designing. You are only confusing your target readers with your design. There is such a thing as simple and clean design. Keeping it clean and straightforward can help your target readers to easily understand your message and respond to it right away. It is not about shoving every element you know in your collateral. Rather, it is about choosing the right elements that would emphasize your message to your target clients.

2. Do NOT write long messages.
Posters are well known for their direct and brief messages as people often pass by them in a matter of seconds. Hence, your target readers should be able to grasp your message in as fast as 10 seconds. If you have a very long message, you will more than likely lose your opportunity to say what you want to say. The rule of thumb is to always keep your message short and simple.

3. Do NOT put too many images.
One main message is enough for your poster design. Do not put too many elements that your target audience gets confused and overwhelmed by your design. Your images have two objectives – to attract the attention of your target audience, and to emphasize your message.

4. Do NOT choose fonts that are very hard to read and only confuse your target audience rather than enhance your message.
Your message is useless if your readers cannot make heads or tails of your text. They will not make an effort to decipher your message in just a few seconds. They can always read other posters and have whatever they need from other marketing collaterals.

Bad weather equals good photos for opportunistic photographers

by nathan mccreer

Be Patient

After many rainfalls or storms, comes a spectacular burst of light. Often this light lasts only momentarily, but is worth waiting for. But you’re never going to catch it if you’re still staring out of that window. Part of making good photographs is being an opportunist. Weather reports are easily accessible through the internet, over the radio, and in newspapers, often with detailed information.

You might be able to find out if the cloud cover or storm is about to pass. If not, head out anyway. Yes, it might all be in vain and remain gray and unappealing until nightfall and be a complete waste of time, but what if it isn’t?

If you speak to, or read any book written by a successful landscape photographer, they will tell you stories about how they visited a place dozens of times and waited for hours before getting that one in a million shot. Have a look at that shot. Was it worth the time? Chances are it was. Imagine the satisfaction gained from someone looking at your photo and letting out a breathless “Wow!” Then you’ll be the one telling the stories. A simple way to think about it is that you get out what you put in.

Be prepared

Have you done any research on your subject? Have you visited your location at this time of day before? Do you have a list, or at least a mental outline, of the photos you want? Have you considered the equipment you might need to take? Answering these questions will take you a long way to being able to seize the moment when it does eventually arrive. Instead of fumbling around trying to attach lenses, tripods, filters and any other gadgets that might be necessary, (and I do mean “might”), you will simply be able to step out of your car, or hiding place, gear in hand, and calmly collect the images you’ve been imagining.

A little foresight in taking care of these things beforehand allows you to focus completely on taking photos once in the field. As with anything else, if you can concentrate completely, you’ll likely do a better job.

What’s your purpose?

Think about what you are actually trying to achieve with these pictures. Do you even need blue skies? Many a moody, muted landscape has been created using the worst weather conditions. If you have an interest in shooting black and white images, you could be in for a real treat. Many subjects, such as outdoor portraits, can work better in overcast conditions, enabling you to pick up the lines in someone’s face and add character to the portrait without having to worry about your subject squinting their eyes from the sun or dark shadows appearing over half of their face.

Most successful photography, like anything else, comes from having a clear goal and taking the steps necessary to achieve it. It also comes from working with the elements and planning for various possibilities. Open yourself up to new ideas and you will find that your photography improves markedly.

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