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Region of Waterloo GRAPHIC STANDARDS and CORPORATE STYLE GUIDE 27 Basic Principles and Considerations When Designing a Brochure
It is important to know that for any given social marketing campaign there are many ways of getting your message to the public and all should be considered equally within your communication plan. Corporate Communications can assist you in deciding if a radio campaign, newspaper advertisement, outdoor advertising, a brochure, or combination of mediums is the best way to communicate your message.
When it has been determined that your marketing campaign will include a brochure the following are some consideration that will help you in the process of developing a brochure.
“We need a brochure.” With these four little words, you’re sent off on an odyssey that can take weeks if not months of your time. But a brochure doesn’t have to be a hassle. As with all good marketing initiatives, marvelous execution is the result of exceptional planning. Making your way through the brochure process, the following guidelines will help you stay on course, on budget and on message:
1) Pull together a brainstorming meeting
A brainstorming session with all key people, including your designer, writer, photographer, project coordinator, and the senior program staff who will ultimately sign off on the project is key. It’s important to have decision makers involved right from the beginning to avoid costly rewrites and redesigns down the road.
The brainstorming meeting is the most important of all steps in the design process as it brings together the creative and technical staff who will work on the project. Usually the person who asked for the brochure has some sort of vision and/or expectations as to what they want. In your brainstorming meeting make sure to discuss both content and visuals, and most importantly, what the key messages are that they want to communicate, and who their audience is.
What’s the brochure’s role in your marketing efforts? Determine the objectives of the brochure and how it will be distributed and how does it fit with your other marketing efforts for that program?
2) Audience & message
What type of people will be reading it? A specific group? The general public, business owners? Know who your audience is. Determine the message and the points you want to make, and ask yourself does this fit with the Region’s overall goals and objectives?
3) What is your budget?
Before you get much further into the process find out what the budget is for the project, including printing. There is no “average” cost for a brochure because of the numerous variables that come into play such as fees for creative, quantity, type of paper being used, colours, shape and size of brochure. Contact Corporate Publishing for an estimate 519-575-4538
4) Creating the text and designing a mock up.
Deciding on whether copy or design comes first can be a real chicken/egg conundrum. Most experts agree that these must be developed at the same time for the brochure to work. Ideally they work together. Many times we are thinking of the words that need to be expressed as we develop the creative behind the message. It’s a very collaborative process that usually requires copy and design to be develop simultaneously.
When writing the text, avoid the urge to include every last piece of information about the program into the brochure. Keep the copy simple, and relevant to your audience. Don’t get caught up in jargon, acronyms and buzzwords. Don’t try to tell the audience everything in the brochure. You want to get their interest, create awareness and then leave the audience with a telephone number or web site if they want to find out more information.
5) The first draft
As the piece evolves into the first draft, the text is added, and the designer in Corporate Publishing can make recommendations on size, shape and colours. The designer is invaluable at this stage; listen to their advice, as they know how colour, size and shape considerations will affect the end product, and the budget is bottom line.