Blog > Design > Business Collateral Design > 9 Key Tips for Impactful Brochure Design

The Secrets to Good Brochure Design

July 19, 2023
·
7
min read
Thumbnail for the Designity blog

Even though it seems like everything is online and scrollable these days, a good, well-designed brochure remains one of the most powerful marketing tools a brand can have in its arsenal.

Brochures offer a tangible and physical experience that just can’t be replicated online and anything a potential customer can touch with their own hands (and smell, if they’re weird like that) is going to be more memorable than something they can click away from in an instant to check their email instead.

Brochures are still in demand is what we’re saying, and clients are requesting them every day. So, if you want to make yourself an indispensable asset to their marketing strategy, mastering the art of designing brochures is a skill you don’t want to pass up.

If you don’t have a brochure design project under your belt yet (or if you want a refresher), this blog is going to lay out 9 tips for impactful brochure design so you can start creating stunning, attention-grabbing brochures that leave a lasting impression on your client’s target audience! 

Take a deep breath and embrace the fresh-printed smell with us!

Brochure Design Secrets

Whether it’s a physical or digital brochure online, here are nine of our favorite design secrets to create custom brochures that no one in their right mind would toss away.

1. What’s the Goal?

Before you even sit down to start sketching things out and customizing your design, stop and ask yourself:

What objective(s) is your client’s brochure going to achieve? 

It’s important to know what your client’s goals are as well as what their target audience is looking for so that you can effectively plan your design in a way that resonates with them.

Talk your client through developing a target audience persona before you get started. Ultimately, this is about communicating with their audience, so knowing who you’re speaking to is very important.

2. Is the Brand Ready?

Floating caption boxes with question marks. Is the brand ready?

Okay, one more prep step before you can jump in and start designing brochures for your client.

See if the brand is ready.

They should, at the very least, have a logo and brand colors.

If the client has a brand guide, then that’s perfect, be sure to integrate its guidance. 

If they don’t have one, however, politely suggest creating one before working on the brochure! The last thing you want is to spend weeks on a brochure, only to realize it’s off-brand after the print run has completed.

Be a pal and refer them here to get brand ready.

3. Into the Fold

The one thing everyone knows about brochures is that they fold. But did you know how many kinds of folds brochure creators have available to them?

From the simplest bi-fold to gatefolds, roll-folds, or double-parallel folds, use the brochure’s folds to your advantage. 

Folds should complement your design and keep your reader going in the right direction.

Are you telling a story? Utilize a Z-fold that will help you guide the narrative.

Need a step-by-step tutorial? An accordion fold can help you present the information in a step-by-step manner, with each fold revealing a new element.

You can also use folds for surprise reveals, encouraging the reader to keep going for more!

4. Tighten Up Your Copy

In general, concise bits of copy work best for brochures or any other booklet your client wants their potential customers to read. 

Think about what the target audience wants to see and be sure that the copy addresses it in a short, right-to-the-point manner. Long blocks of text might have them scanning away from valuable information or putting the brochure down altogether and that’s not what you want.

Aim for simple headers and statements to make everything scannable and keep the potential customer reading.

Placement matters too, so when you’re creating brochures, be sure to place the copy where it can be easily scanned and where it helps the narrative flow.

5. Limit the Typefaces

Graphic design software on a screen depicting typography tools. Limit the typefaces to one or two when designing a brochure.

If your client has a brand guide, they probably already have some approved fonts so it’s a good idea to stick to their guidelines.

Even if they want to branch out into different typefaces for their brochure project, gently inform them that a brochure isn’t the place to go crazy with the fonts. It’s best to stick to one or two and, if you need more variation in your text, use bolding, size, or placement to create hierarchy. 

A heading, subheading, perhaps a third-level subheading, and body copy will do just fine.

6. Get to the Point

We see too many brochures that start with information about the company and ramble on and on before getting to the point.

 While it is important to have some company info so that potential customers can look your client up or contact them, too much information detracts from the goal.

 

If a curious reader picks up a brochure, that curiosity should be sated by immediately discovering the products or services the brochure in their hand is offering and understanding their value from the very first page.

Our recommendation? Leave only the necessary company details, find the chase, and then cut to it.

7. Make it User-Friendly

By user-friendly, we’re talking about what would make reading this brochure an easy, pain-free experience. What would make it enjoyable to read?

Think about what imagery, colors, tone of voice, etc., would work best on your client’s target audience. Incorporate those into your design to keep your readers engaged. 

Choose your colors carefully as well. Colors should complement each other and your client’s brand and not be too garish to ensure easy reading. If your client has brand colors, use them to keep their brochure recognizable, but don’t be afraid to venture out into secondary and tertiary shades for more variety and to make your design more appealing.

 

Reading through your client’s brochure should be a seamless experience as well. Have your design elements guide the reader from page to page with a clear narrative that is built around one goal.

And once the reader makes it to the end, make it easy for them to respond. Add an obvious call to action at the end and be sure to include contact information for your client at the end so that they don’t have to flip back.

If they would work with your client’s target audience, QR codes that lead to landing pages or their home website are good ideas to include here too, as well as social media handles to enable potential customers to start following your client’s brand.

8. Use High-Quality Photos

A collection of photos fanned out. When designing a brochure, be sure to use high-quality photos.

Any professionally designed brochure has great visuals!

If your client wants to use photos instead of illustrations, then be sure to use the right ones! No one wants to flip through a bunch of obvious stock photos.

Suggest photos with an obvious central point of focus that don’t look too cluttered or busy.

And if your client doesn’t want to spring for photoshoots and insists on stock photos, then do the best you can and pick the least stock image-y stock images you can find so that your brochure doesn’t have a forced, generic feel to it. 

You’re shooting for authenticity and credibility here.

9. Be One-of-a-Kind

If you want to create an effective, professional brochure, one that engages your readers and encourages them to read the whole thing instead of tossing it away, then you’ve got to get creative.

Think about the target audience. What would keep them reading? What imagery do they want to see, what copy will persuade them to take action?

Be creative! Bring out your inner artist, lean on your many years of design experience, and don’t be afraid to try new things!

Sketch out some prototypes and get some user feedback from your client as well as other designers and tweak where necessary until you’ve got a stunning brochure that is truly a work of art!

<div class="c-blog_comp-cta cc-component-2"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left"><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-wrap"><img src="https://global-uploads.webflow.com/61cdf3c5e0b8155f19e0105b/63695243d096983691046ac3_Potential-Creative.png" loading="lazy" alt="" class="c-blog_comp-cta-left-img"></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-cta-right cc-dark"><div class="c-blog_comp-content"><div class="c-text-wrapper cc-mb-32"><div class="c-title-4 cc-bold"><strong>Like to work as a freelancer with consistent income?</strong></div></div><div class="c-text-wrapper"><div class="c-text-2">Designity's collaborative model is designed to give you all of the perks of being a freelancer without the income instability.<br></div></div></div><div class="c-blog_comp-wrapper"><a href="http://designity.com/creatives" target="_blank" class="c-button w-button"><strong>Join Our Creative Community</strong></a></div></div></div>

The Power of Professional Design

We hope these expert tips come in handy the next time a brochure template project comes down the pipeline! 

By showcasing your professional work, you can make your clients quickly recognize the value of a design expert and think twice about using a free brochure maker for their printing needs.

Until then, keep creating, keep pushing boundaries, and keep delivering remarkable design!

What’s your favorite brochure design project?

Share this post:

More in Design

Mobile App Design

No items found.

Marketing Advice

No items found.

Customer Marketing

No items found.

Demand Generation

No items found.

Corporate Marketing

No items found.

Creative Agency

No items found.

Augmented Reality

No items found.

ecommerce Design

No items found.

Social Media Marketing

No items found.

Industry Design

No items found.

Content Marketing

No items found.

Video Marketing

No items found.

Industry Marketing

No items found.

Design Services

No items found.

Jacob Cass

No items found.

eCommerce

No items found.

Financial Services

No items found.

Video Production

No items found.

Package Design

No items found.

OpenAI

No items found.

Web3

No items found.

Logo Design

No items found.

ChatGPT

No items found.

Digital Marketing

No items found.

Artificial Intelligence

No items found.

Creative Directors

No items found.

Trade Show

No items found.

Designity

No items found.

Recession

No items found.

Law Firm

No items found.

Freelance

No items found.

Motion Graphics

No items found.

Comparison

No items found.

In-House Teams

No items found.

Website Design

No items found.

Branding

No items found.

99Designs

No items found.

Staffing Agency

No items found.

Cryptocurrency

No items found.

Healthcare Design

No items found.

SaaS Design

No items found.

Blockchain

No items found.

Business Collateral Design

No items found.

Creative Teams

No items found.

Freelance Marketplace

No items found.

Creative Advice

No items found.

NFTs

No items found.

Graphic Design

No items found.

Copywriting

No items found.

Virtual Reality

No items found.

Team Building

No items found.

Design

Stay Inspired by Upgrading Your Inbox
Sara, a Designity content writer.
About the author:
Sara Lopez
Sara is a Texas-based copywriter.
Interested in content collaboration? Email at press@designity.com
Keep Reading
Your Designity creative team, against a yellow blog background.
About Designity
Designity is your on-demand, virtual creative team with a designated creative director to manage projects and guarantee 5-star quality. A diverse network of vetted, US-based creatives are in their hands to collaborate with and support you in 80+ areas of expertise like website & app design, logo & branding, video production, digital advertising, and more.
Try Our
2-Week Trial
No up-front payment required.

Share this post:

Back to top