Brochure design: 10 top creative tips

Source: http://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design-tips/how-to-design-a-brochure-123267

01. Know your purpose before you start

 

When you're thinking about how to design a brochure, start by asking clients why they think that they need a brochure. Then, they need to define their objectives. Sometimes they just want one because their last brochure didn't work. If they've come up with a brief for you, take a step back from that and look at exactly what it is they're trying to achieve.

02. Limit your fonts

You don't need many fonts when you're thinking of how to design a brochure - just a heading, subheading and body copy font. But we see it all the time in student portfolios - people think they need to find a headline font nobody has ever used before. Clients will usually take the lead on fonts as they'll often have a corporate identity in place.

03. Take stock of your paper stock

Talk about paper stock before you put pen to notepad, let alone go as far as switching on your computer. If you're working for a client, ask if it has to be the standard A4. Find out if they've considered using uncoated paper, for example. there a great post here on making a paper choice.

04. Get your copy right

 

Great copy is often the most undervalued element in brochure design. A lot of people don't understand that copy needs to be considered as part of the overall design concept.
At the early stage of any brochure design project, experiment with the copy to see if it needs reworking. Headlines aren't something to just drop in later. Here's a great copy writing guide.

05. Put readers first

When thinking of how to design a brochure, keep the end purpose in mind. Is this a brochure that's going to be posted out in response to requests made on a website? Is it a giveaway at an exhibition, or a leave-behind brochure? When someone opens it, what will it say to them? Design for that person, not for yourself.

06. Think of simple statements

 

You want to know how to make a brochure that stands out, right? Sometimes the simple ideas are the best. If a client has decided they want lots of cliched images to get a particular point across, it's probably better to scrap them. The solution might be to use a typographic cover instead, and make a very literal statement about what they want to say.

07. Set pen to paper

Break out the layout pads and try drawing and sketching ideas to start with. We brainstorm everything among everybody - Toast projects start life on layout pads with pencils and pens. What we don't do is take a brief, go away for two weeks and then present three concepts to see which one the client hates the least.

08. Keep what works

Don't try to be wacky or different just for the sake of it when you're thinking of how to design a brochure that gets noticed. For example, most designers use the same 10 to 20 fonts across a lot of the projects they work on. There are sound design reasons why Helvetica is used a lot, and why Rockwell is a good headline font.

09. Make a good first impression

 

Brochure designs need to fit in with what the client does as a business. Charities don't want luxury brochures that'll make people think they've spent a lot of money on them, whereas a new product might need a brochure that looks amazing on an exhibition stand beside it.

10. Shoot sharp

To make a product brochure pleasurable to flick through, you need good photos. If you're using stock imagery - budgets don't always stretch to a photoshoot - try to find pictures that don't look like they're stock images. Never cut corners with images.

7 ways to save money on your brochure printing

Source: Creativebloq

There’s no reason why you can’t create a brochure that is both cost-effective and beautiful.

Whether you need 10 or 10,000 copies, brochure printing can be an expensive business. So how do you know that it's money well spent? And what can you do to save some cash without skimping on design or print quality? Here are some key factors to take into consideration.

01. Size and page count

When you're trying to be economical, it's tempting to just try and fit as much content and as many images as possible onto fewer pages. This is rarely a good idea, and can easily look cramped, cluttered and unprofessional, yet brochures don't always need to be heavy or large to have the desired effect and create a strong impact. Clear and concise copywriting will ensure that you only include the information that is necessary, and where design is concerned, less is very often more.

45 Beautiful Letterhead Designs for Inspiration

Source :  youthedesigner

A letterhead is the heading at the top of a sheet of letter paper. Having a professional letterhead design is very important for your business.  That heading usually consists of a name and an address, and a logo or corporate design, and sometimes a background pattern.

In this collection we have compiled 45 beautifully creative letterhead design to inspire you to create your own. If you have any of your own letterhead design, we’d love to see them in the comments. Just share a link to your own website below!

Valens Energy Drink – Identity

United States Postal Service Re-Branding

Inspirational Transparent Business Card Designs

Source : graphicsbeam

Having a cool and attractive business card is always an advantage for an individual or company as they can always solidify a first impression. It usually bears the information about your business and company or individual. Getting a transparent business card is the latest and modern trend in the industry. The transparent business card is becoming the latest trends in advertising.
In this collection, you can see some best examples of transparent business cards that look stunning and impressive. Most of these cards are made from PVC plastic. Check this out if you would like to be creative in designing your own business card. So, feel free to browse through this collection and get inspired. Be amazed!

1. Transparent Plastic Business Cards

2. Translucent Photographer Business Card

Fantastic Transparent Business cards

Source : http://designm.ag/freelance/30-fantastic-transparent-business-cards/


Corporate business card


Transparent Business Card

Trends In Producing Your Own Marketing Brochures

Sourec : http://www.articleonlinedirectory.com/757661/printing-trends-in-producing-your-own-marketing-brochures.html

Businesses want to always offer the best to their customers, whether it is products, services, or marketing materials. This is their only way to get loyal patrons who will be willing to invest their hard-earned money on the business. Some will try to be as creative as they can be just to capture peoples attention while others will offer extremely low prices. Creativity or low prices, gaining peoples interest and loyalty will basically depend much on how you market your business. People will often base their decisions on how effective you are in convincing them to invest their money on you.

This will require you to establish a tight marketing program that will let you get in touch with your target customers successfully. With todays technology, it should be easy for you to produce marketing materials that will suit your business. But sometimes, you dont have to look any further in order to find the perfect material to invest in. Some of the proven and tested old marketing materials are still effective today as they were in the past. Take the brochures as an example.

Beyond the Boring Rectangle: Fantastic Die-Cut Business Cards

Source - Callum Chapman

Many people completely overlook business cards when starting up their new company, mainly due to the capabilities of social networking on the world wide web. However, traditional networking is still a very valuable source when looking for new customers and clients, and the best way to network in the “real world” is by word of mouth. In most cases family members, friends and other members of the public forget about new start-up companies (which is unfortunate), therefore they need something to remember you by. You guessed it: a business card.
If you want potential customers/clients to hold on to your business card, it needs to stand out from the crowd; it needs to be something special. This amazing compilation showcases some of the freshest die-cutting trends used in business cards – so get your thinking cap on and start designing your business card now. After all, it is likely the most powerful piece of card your company will ever see.

Square-Cornered Cards

These business cards are the same size and shape of common, standard-sized business cards but with a slight twist. The die-cutting process has been used to cut shapes out of the business cards, making them much more interesting and appealing.

Lisa Walker