THINKING ABOUT GETTING YOUR BROCHURE DESIGNED …. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PLANNING!
Planning a new brochure can be daunting task and difficult to know where to begin.
This guide from RLS Print and Design will take you through the best practice steps to get your brochure up and running with the aim to save you time and money along the way!
This is by far the most important stage of your brochure!
If you get it wrong then you could incur considerable expense further down the line. Take time sit down with a single piece of A4 paper and ask some questions to establish what your brochure is going to be used for.
Set an objective for your brochure by answering some typical questions:-
Who is going to receive your brochures – existing or target new customers?
How are they going to receive them – post , exhibition, customer visits, instore?
What is the purpose of the brochure – is it to communicate and engage with your customers, is it to highlight your products and services, is it a technical document with specifications and pricing, is it being made available for download on your website?
When is the brochure needed for – is there a realistic time scale to create your brochure?
What is going to be included in the brochure – and just as important … what is not included in the brochure.
How do you want your brochure to look – look around for samples of brochures that you like… and ones that you don’t!You will soon get a feel in your mind on how you would like your brochure to look.
How long do you want the brochure to last – it may well be that you want the brochure to last a couple of years - if so consider if there is likely to be any updates required such as prices or changes to your services.
If your brochure is for a single one off event, then don’t go overboard with the quality and specification – it could be money wasted!
How many copies do you require – based on who is going to receive the brochure and the length of time you will be using the brochure, work out how many will be required. Add a comfortable additional safety quantity, but try and avoid over ordering. Equally, don’t under order as further reprints can add significant additional costs.
Setting your budget for production and design:
Once you have done some planning and set an objective, before you engage any more time or incur any costs, you should establish a suitable budget to meet your brochure objectives.
Before even starting the design, it is essential at this point that you obtain some production costings and look at the design route you wish to take.
Planning your production budget:
The best tip is to engage with a quality printer that is use to producing brochures to get some costs. Try to avoid looking at costs online - especially discounted promotional ones - they may not be there when you come to print !
Send the printer a specification with the rough amount of pages, size and quantity required. It doesn’t need to be 100% accurate at this stage, but a realistic proposition of the final brochure. They will ask you for any additional information they require.
Also ask for a blank plain mock up, so you can see the quality of the paper, and see how the brochure will feel. Most printers won’t charge for this service.
At RLS Print and Design we offer a free initial brochure planning consultation with one of our experts so you can be sure that objectives and budgeting are suitable for your requirements!
Top tip: Don’t spend hours and certainly don’t incur any cost creating a brochure design that may eventually be unrealistic against your budget– save time and money by getting the planning right at this early stage! Brochure Designers Northampton
Planning for your brochure design:
If you’re happy with the production costs then start looking at the design route.
With many creative design software packages readily available it may seem like a good idea to save some money by creating the design yourself or in house.
If choosing this route, you should could consider if you have the necessary skills in house.
Questions you should be asking:-
Who will be producing the design and what resources are available? Will this be tying key staff up and away from their day to day responsiblities.
How long will the design work take and what impact will it have on productivity? If your going to be spending a couple of weeks designing, is this an effective use of your or your staffs time?
What design software packages are available? You will need professional design software for either PC or MAC. Avoid using Word, Powerpoint or other office related products - they are NOT ideal for creating professional looking brochures that can be used easily for printing.
Will your images be the correct resolution for printing? Just because images look ok on screen - they may not be suitable for printing. Try and enusre images are a minimum of 300dpi and avoid using mobile phone images. Professional photography may be a good idea but stock images might be a more cost effective alternative. Brochure Designers Northampton.
Will the final design be print ready? Your final design will need to be print ready. Check with your printer how they want this supplying and ensure you know all the file specifications they require. It can be very costly to recreate or make your design print ready if it has been set up incorrectly.
What is the deadline? Make sure you plan a schedule and allow sufficient time to create and produce your brochure. If you haven't done a good job at the planning stage then this can really slow you down if your making lots of amendments prior to sign off.
The alternative route for design is to outsource the service to a professional service such as a design agency. Ask them all of the questions above and make sure they have the resources to meet your expectations. Make sure any extra services that you require such as imagery, fonts, photography or copy writing is included.
If they are doing the design and artwork, check also that they won’t charge for letting you have the print ready artwork for you to send to your chosen printer as this can be an unexpected additional cost with some design agencies.
At RLS Print and Design we supply a complete single source proposal including design and artwork costs, together with an outline schedule as well as production costs for you to make an informed decision on how you wish to proceed with your brochure.
Top tip: Complete you’re planning by making sure you have established your brochure objectives, established the production and design route you wish to take, and have a realistic budget and time frame in place to meet your requirements.
Brochure designers Northampton: Call 01604 401796. Email info@rlsprintanddesign.co.uk