How to Create An Effective Brochure

1. How to Create An Effective Brochure By: Patrick Renick CS-443

2. Do You Need a Brochure? • There are many ways that one can successfully promote an organization, business, event, product, or service. • Before spending time and money on one or more, consider the characteristics of your audience and decide which method will work best.

3. What is a Brochure • A brochure is a professional, effective , and cheap way to provide information to your audience. • Designed for people to pick up easily. • Can be placed in a rack outside of businesses. • They can also describe a program or class that is being offered. • Brochures do get the word out, but they are not as effective as radio, or television advertisement.

4. Targeting Your Audience • Is your audience specialized or familiar with your subject, or are they a general audience. • How will your audience use your brochure? - For example, is it a “how to” that people will keep, or is it to promote a one-time event? • How will the brochure be used with other marketing tools?

5. Determine the Purpose • Are you persuading or informing? • Having one primary purpose can be more effective than producing a generalized brochure that tries to say everything and ends up saying to much. • Don’t overwhelm the brochure with to much information. • Get to the point early.

6. Determine the Call to Action • A call to action is a way of telling a reader to do something. - Example: Make reservations, sign up as a volunteer, visit a store, or a fill out and mail in order form. • Provide the reader with specific examples and instructions to help them take the next step. • Action steps are important, the reader may not get the point of the brochure and not be motivated to take the next step.

7. Creating your Brochure • A brochure should be clear, attractive, and brief. • Grab attention • If a brochure is in a rack with many others it has to stand out. • Make sure the cover will attract a person by using catchy phrases or images. • The entire look • Attractiveness determines how likely a potential customer is to pick up your brochure. • The design, including colors, fonts, graphics, and layout, all impact attractiveness.

8. The 5W’s and the H • The reader needs to understand the information and not be left with questions. • Who is the business or sponsor? • What is the service or event? • When is the event? • Where is it located? • Why should anyone attend? • How do I accomplish this?

9. Be Brief • Think of your brochure as an appetizer. • It should offer a small taste that makes the reader want more. • Include five or fewer key points. • Only use the most necessary information. • Use pictures, charts, and drawings rather than words when possible. • Use bullets to break copy into small, easy to scan chunks.

10. Long- Term Effectiveness • Make your brochure worth keeping. • Give you audience a reason to hang on to it, even if they decide not to call or buy right now. • Include “how to” details, this makes the brochure valuable and more like to hang on to.

11. Organize Information • Use subheadings, text boxes, and bullets to break up text and organize information. • Readers like brochures that are easy to scan and read in sections.

12. Layout • The way the information is presented helps determine how useful the brochure will be to a reader. • Good brochures present a logical pathway through the panels. • Must have a good descriptive image that is backed up by good descriptive text.

13. Size and Format • The size of a brochure is usually determined by the amount and type of information you need to include. • Examples: • A simple rack card that is printed front and back but has no folds. • A brochure with four panels or six panels. • A very detailed brochure with eight panels or more.

14. Back Panel • The back panels are an easy to find place for contact information. • Adding a map next to contact information is very helpful for potential visitors. • Mailing information can also be placed on the back panel, allowing the brochure to be mailed without an envelope.

15. Graphic Design • Effective graphic design helps grab attention. • Contrastshows relative importance, without being told, you know larger text is more important than smaller text. • Repetition attaches meaning to new things. • Alignmentcreates order. It allows you to quickly connect elements across the page. • Proximity groups things within a hierarchy and creates new sub hierarchies.

16. Visual Weight • Size - larger text carry’s more weight than smaller text. • Color – Some colors are perceived as weighing more than others. Example: Red is heavier than yellow. • Density – Packing more element into a given space, gives more weight to that space. • Value – A darker object will have more weight than a lighter object. • Whitespace – Positive space weighs more than negative space.

17. Do a Final Check • Check spelling and grammar. • Don’t rely on spell-check. • Watch for widows and orphans. • A widow is the last line of a paragraph that appears as the first line of a new page. • A orphan is a paragraph that starts a the end of the page and contains just one line. • Include cost, such as admission price, when possible. • Double check that the five W’s and the one H are prominent.

18. References • Dunkin, Apryl. (unknown date). Five Essentials For Planning An Effective Brochure. About.com.advertisement. Retrieved from http://advertising.about.com/od/brochures/a/brochureplan.htm • Bradley, Steven. (2009). Visual Hierarchy: How Well Does Your Design Communicate. Vanseadesign. Retrieved from http://www.vanseodesign.com/web-design/visual-hierarchy/ • Porta, Mandy. (2009). Creating an Effective Brochure. Successdesigns. Retrieved from http://www.successdesigns.net/articles/entry/creating-an-effective-brochure/