Does Your Business Need a Graphic Designer?

In today’s fast-paced and highly visual business environment, most businesses will need to develop graphics to help advertise and market their businesses to potential and current customers. The question is whether you should rely on your own skills or hire a graphic designer to handle your marketing needs.

When to Tackle Graphic Design On Your Own

If you are a creative type and have a background in graphic design, or the aptitude and desire to pick up the skills required to create your own marketing tools, you can retain complete creative control and save money. You’ll need to develop the graphic design skills needed to create an attractive website, as well as promotional materials, such as brochures and letterhead.

Another way to create marketing materials without hiring a graphic designer is to take advantage of the myriad of marketing templates that exist for creating attractive marketing tools like websites, letterhead, brochures, business cards and informational booklets. You can also customize these ready-made templates to create a unique logo without the advanced skills of a graphic designer.

Keeping graphic design work in-house will allow you to spend your marketing budget on the tools themselves, rather than on a graphic designer’s skills.

When to Hire a Pro

Many business owners simply do not have the time to learn even the basics of graphic design, or they recognize that in order to stand out from competition with glittering advertisements, a graphic designer must be hired for the job. A graphic designer is already trained and skilled at creating marketing tools that stand out from the crowd and aren’t derived from a template.

A template can be a good starting point for a small business, but once you’re ready to take your business to the next level, you might want to choose a graphic designer to give your business a customized and individual look.

A graphic designer will take your initial ideas and run with them to create a specialized look that will not only enhance your company’s image but will give you, the business owner, time to pursue business objectives.

A graphic designer is usually worth their price once your marketing campaign starts taking off and attracting new business, which will eventually pay for the efforts of your graphic designer while simultaneously taking your business to the next level.

4 Design Musts for Your Business Brochure

The brochure is one of the most popular and effective advertising mediums available to any business. They are very portable, informative, and cost effective. Your brochure can provide all the information a potential customer needs about your business without the need for a full marketing packet.

Designing a brochure can be daunting. Why? Sure, there is limited space, but the choices on how to fill that space are endless. You want to make sure that you put all the information you wish to convey into a brochure, but still make it interesting to read. Sometimes it’s just easier to hand off the designing to a professional graphic designer, but oftentimes to save money, you can do it effectively yourself.

What can you do to make sure that your brochure design will capture your customers’ attention and deliver the most important information?

1. Know Reader Tendencies

Remember to keep readers’ psychological habits in mind when creating a brochure. Readers tend to skim information and read more about something that captures their attention. They will generally look at photos first, any graphics, then headlines, and finally the actual text.

Avoid filling your brochure with too much text. Keep headlines in bigger and bolder fonts. Use images sparingly. And even keep text to a minimum by using bullet points. Remember, you want to get readers to want to read further.

2. Make A Logical Progression

Your brochure printing project should flow in a logical fashion. What information should your customer know first? What comes next? Avoid giving readers information that is confusing and out of sequence. A logical brochure will more likely be read rather than end up in the trash.

3. Simplify Your Content

You now know that readers like to skim and want to read things in a logical fashion.  However, keeping the content simple will help assure that the reader will read on further. Keep in mind that a brochure uses very limited space compared to a booklet or pamphlet. Avoid using industry jargon or detailed specs. Instead, use simple formats like the bullet points already mentioned. Highlight a phrase in a text box. Keep plenty of white space around your content to help make it easy for the reader to catch all the information. You just want to provide the essence of your promotional message in a brochure, and then give them a way to find out more.

4. Provide a Clear Call to Action

On the last section of your brochure, be sure to give a clear direction about what your reader should do next. Many businesses fail to provide the important call to action. It could simply be “call now for a free estimate,” or “stop by our store today.” Let customers know if they have a limited time to act. And by all means, give them your phone number, business location, and web address.

When you design your next brochure, keep these tips in mind. You’ll have a more attractive brochure that keeps readers attention and give them reason to contact your business.

4 Strategies for Creating Brochures that Sell

A great brochure is one of the most versatile marketing tools available, winning old and new customers alike.  A printed brochure can be used for direct mail marketing, given to inquiring customers, handed out at events, and even posted on bulletin boards.  If you want to reach your customers effectively with brochures, then read on to find out how you can make your brochures stand out.

Print Photos and Images

Your brochure printing job should contain clear, colorful images that promote your product or service without being distracting.  Photos should be produced by a professional and have the following qualities:

• Lighting – Images should be well lit from all angles and sides.
• Close on subject – Stay away from wide shots.  Use close-up images that show detail.
• Crop – Photos and images should be cropped and sized for the best effect and use of space.

Use Clear, Brief Descriptions

Brochure printing generally uses only 2 sides of a standard 8-1/2′ x 11″ paper.  If you have a lot to say about your business (and what business owner doesn’t?), you need to carve your copy and use brief descriptions that offer clear word pictures.  A brochure is not the place to write novel-length product descriptions.  Save that for a catalog printing.  Use the brochure to get a customer’s attention and call for more information.

Utilize Lists

A brochure’s real estate is limited.  Part of a great brochure printing design is the use of white space, or blank space, behind and beside text.  That is why lists make a great pairing with brochures.  Use bullet lists, numbered lists, or any type of list that provide easy-to-read benefits to your potential customers.

Highlight with Font

The use of font in a brochure is vital.  Font style should match your business.  For instance, a financial services business would not use a script font, but a jewelry designer might.  Font size is also important.  Use large font for headings and subheadings.  Grab the reader’s attention with catchy headings.  Utilize bold and italics for emphasis on lists or other important details in your brochure copy.

Good brochure printing choices can turn an unmemorable brochure into a customer catching marketing masterpiece.  Take some time to develop your brochure.  Better yet, hire a professional copywriter and graphic designer who know how to use these techniques to create a winning brochure.

Black and White vs. Color Brochures Printing

Brochures are a staple of business marketing materials.  They are bigger than a business card and contain more detailed information about a business.  They can easily be size of an 8 1/2 x 11 standard letter paper or even special sized for greater impact.

There is so much business promotion potential with brochures printing.  However, to make the right impact, one must first decide to design a brochure using color or black and white brochure printing.

Impact

The impact of your brochures printing depends much upon the purpose of the brochure and the colors used.  Black and white brochures may be best when they are printed frequently with time-sensitive specials and a customer form to fill out.  In contrast, a full promotional color brochures printing by the thousands may be best done in choice for multiple use.

If your intention is to grab the eye of the beholder, then a color brochure printing may be the best choice.  Black and white brochures, however, can offer great simplicity and elegance for a business who does not want to seem precocious and overbearing.

Design

Brochures printing design can be a big color determination.  If your design includes photographs, especially of people and faces, a color brochure is the obvious best choice.  Graphic designs, logos, and illustrations are also best used in color brochures.

Black and white brochure printing should not be discounted automatically, however.  High contrast silhouettes or other single color designs and shapes can work very well in a black and white brochure.

Cost

Cost is an important factor when determining whether to utilize color or black and white brochure printing.  By far, black and white brochures will cost considerably less than full color brochures.  A full color brochures printing may cost three to five times more than a simple black and white.

However, the question one must really ask is whether the extra cost for color would translate into greater sales and more customers.  Sure, a black and white brochure may save money, but if it doesn’t drum up business, it is a waste of money.

Brochures printing will likely continue to be a major part of any business’s marketing materials.  If you are looking to produce a brochure for your business, be sure to consider the cost associated with printing, as well as the goals for the brochure.  Whether you choose black and white or color, a brochure will be one of the best marketing tools for your business.

4 Creative Ideas for Catchy Brochures

Brochures are one of the most effective marketing materials that a business can use.  Effective brochure printing can highlight the beauty of a product, clarify a business idea, and promote business services.  If your business brochure is not making the impact you desired, try using these 4 simple yet creative brochure printing ideas.

1. Lively Images

Brochure printing with lively and eye-catching photographs creates great impact.  Be sure to use high-quality photos and images produced by a professional.  A professional photographer can capture your product in the best light and angle.  You might also try incorporating professional stock images easily found on the internet for your brochure printing.

2. Creative Copy

Brochure printing with great images can create a solid impact, but words are what sell people.  Before your brochure goes to the printer, make sure you have quality copy.  Great copy should be succinct, informative, and persuasive.  In addition, be sure to put plenty of white space in a brochure.  A brochure with too many words is distracting to most readers who have little attention or time to read a brochure the size of a novella.  Use professional writers to develop your brochure copy.  The words you use on your brochure printing can be the difference between a glance and a sell.

3. Font Size and Shape

Words make the sell in brochure printing, but they do no good if the reader cannot read them.  Your fonts should be readable and in the style of your business and brochure.  Standard serif fonts are preferred for conservative businesses.  Artsy type companies could use a creative cursive font.  Make sure your headings and subheadings are different size as well.  Headings should be catchy, but not overbearing.  Try different colors for headings to make an even bigger brochure printing impact.

4. Irregular Size and Shape

Who says your brochure printing job has to be standard size?  Some of the best brochures with the most eye-catching impact are of irregular shape.  How about a brochure booklet?  Some businesses commission a brochure printing in booklet size, such as a small photo album.  The booklet is catching, high quality, and represents the unique standards for the business.  Or how about a brochure printing on an 8 x 20 inch paper folded like an accordion?  Some of the best brochure printing is performed on customized paper.  If you can afford it, the extra cost it could add the “oomph” you need to get your brochure noticed.