How to Create a Brochure Design with Basic Design Skills
Basic design skills, such as structure and color, can be applied to projects as different as building a home or creating an ad campaign. One area those skills come into play is designing a brochure, which requires more than inserting text. You need basic design skills -- and information about message and audience -- to make decisions about the formatting, colors, decorative elements and the positioning of text and graphics. A well-designed brochure effectively communicates the intended message to the targeted audience.
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Instructions
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Identify the purpose for the brochure, message to be communicated, reader you wish to receive the message and action you want him to take. Jim Egelhoff of Small Town Marketing.com suggests that the purpose of most brochures is either a "call to action" or to "educate in detail."
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Generate your brochure copy first if the content will dominate the message and you intend to include a lot of information.
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Begin the brochure design first if you intend to use limited information and employ color and graphics as attention-getters.
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Select a brochure size and orientation. For instance, you might choose a tri-fold brochure to be printed on 8 ½ by 11 inch paper. A tri-fold brochure provides you with six pages for copy and graphics.
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Choose the font sizes for your brochure. You will use different size text for copy in paragraphs, headings and subheadings. The overall design of text is important to the ease of readability. Select a font size that is easily readable, but not too small or too large, and use bold text to draw attention to headings. Refrain from using all caps or underlining for emphasis.
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Add elements that improve the readability of text in your brochure. Set the margins of the text using a ragged edge on the right, or a non-justified edge, to provide variety and readable line breaks. Limit paragraphs to two or three sentences that make up no more than 10 lines. Format text in paragraph blocks without indentation and with spaces between paragraphs.
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Select the items that will appear on the front page of your brochure. Use your organization's name and logo. Add a brief statement that invites readers to open the brochure.
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Design the brochure pages by inserting and positioning text boxes on each page. The margins on each page should be identical. Position boxes in the spaces where you will insert photographs or other graphic elements. Using the boxes helps you move formatting elements around as you perfect your design. Information should flow in a natural order, such as who, what and where.
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Create a few design elements, such as lines, framing or edging to make your brochure design more noticeable. You might choose to add color to separator lines or add color to the text for headings.
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Proofread your brochure to eliminate or correct errors, misspellings and design elements that do not work well. Ask someone else to look over the brochure and provide feedback on the design and if the brochure fulfills your purpose.
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Tips & Warnings
Collect brochures from similar companies or brochures that catch your eye and examine the designs. When completing the brochure select paper and print quality that speaks well of your company. Design your brochure to match the design and colors of other company literature. Save your brochure design as a template that allows only the text and photos to be altered.
References
- Bureau of Labor Statistics; Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition - Graphic Designers; May 2010
- Tom Egelhoff's Small Town Marketing.com; How to Design and Write a Basic Brochure; Tom Egelhoff
- LogoInn.net; Brochure Design Tips for Your Business; Ben Johnson; Oct. 2010
- Microsoft: Create Brochures That Help You Sell In Publisher
- Photo Credit Creatas/Creatas/Getty Images
