Archive for the ‘Case Studies’ Category

The majority of the brochures we are asked to design are for business to business use. This means that while the design will change significantly depending on the industry and purpose of the brochure, the audience are generally similar – business professionals looking for new suppliers and products. However, every so often a project comes along which has a different audience in mind – Young People. While designing for a young audience often lets our graphic designers stretch their creativity, it also presents a unique set of challenges due to the way that Young People engage with, and consume advertising literature.

Here are just some of the key things our graphic designers need to consider when creating brochure graphic design to engage a younger audience.

The exact age of the audience.

When designing for an adult audience, the age-bands for targeting tend to be very wide. Target markets are often defined as 24-30, 30-40, etc. However, with a younger audience the target age needs to be much more precise. What appeals to an 11 year old, is likely to be off-putting to a 16 year old. To create a successful brochure design it is therefore necessary to understand the exact ages you are appealing to.

The media they consume.

Trends and fashions change very quickly, especially amongst the young. What appealed to us as teenagers, is unlikely to be the same as what will engage teenagers today. Even when the same trends circle-round, they often do so with subtle but important twist. It may sound like a cliché, but you have to really ‘get into the shoes’ of the target market to understand the best way to convey your message. One of the best ways of doing this with a younger audience is to look at the media and brands which your specific age group consumes. Whether it is cartoon characters, TV programmes, websites, adverts, mobile phone apps, or clothes, these will all build up a picture which will help develop a design which will appeal.

The layout of the information.

There is a misconception that to appeal to a younger audience means that everything has to be in bright colours, capital letters and tilted off to the side. While breaking the conventions of traditional page layout is important to attract the interest of the audience (you do not want to look like a school textbook), the information still needs to be easy to read and easy to follow. The majority of young people do not make patient readers. A balance is therefore often necessary between creating something which is visually interesting and stimulating, but which makes sense on the page. The secret is not to throw everything at the page. Use bright colours, but not too many different ones. Use different font sizes, but in a logical way to show headings and key points. Move the text around the page, but make sure a logical line can be drawn from one piece of information to the next.

The text.

In terms of text, the right tone is really important. While there might be a tendency to imitate the way young people speak in writing, this often fails. Just as with an adult audience, the way we speak is very different from how we expect text to read. So while slang and txtspeak can be used in certain contexts, it shouldn’t be over used. Instead simple and straightforward language with a friendly tone can be much more effective. Again, looking at your target group’s favourite media will help get the tone right. If in doubt, we ask a member of the target audience to give it a read and cross out anything which sounds like an adult trying to be young.

The call to action.

Brochures and all forms of advertising media should always have ‘a call to action’; the course of action you would like your reader to take once they have finished reading. This is often something like ‘Call Now to talk to an advisor’ or ‘Visit www. to find out more’. The call to action is still an important element for a younger audience, but it must be aligned with the natural way your audience communicates. In an advertising context this might be ‘Text INFO to 88830′, ‘Sign up at www.’, or ‘Find Us on Facebook’. Just as long as you make it clear what you would like your reader to do once they have finished consuming the message.

Brochure Graphic Design – Add Design specialise in design and print for a wide range of industries including young people. Click here to view our brochure graphic design packages and examples of our recent work.

The past few years have been tough for everyone, but lately the finance sector has been very much on the rise once more. As a result, we’ve seen an increase in the number of corporate brochures and other material we are designing for asset management, wealth management and accountancy firms. As these businesses often work with a very select audience of individuals, the design of their brochures becomes hugely important. Their brochure design must reflect the values of the organisation and be distinctive, but more importantly it has to help convince a very discerning audience to trust significant quantities of money with the company in question. Here are some of the key considerations we take into account when designing products for financial firms.

Branding

The design of your corporate brochure needs to reflect the style of the rest of your company as it is one of the key ways of marketing your services and building the brand. By making the brochure a ‘keystone’ within the wider marketing of the company, a unified and trustworthy image will be portrayed. This means it’s important to think carefully about the values your brand represents as well as the audience you are hoping to target. We can work with you to develop your ideas and build your brand into a successful corporate brochure design that inspires people to use your services.

Images

When it comes to the finance sector, it can be difficult to find images that really reflect the services offered. The obvious picture that comes to mind is of money or traditional symbols of wealth, but such overt images suggests a company with a brash approach. Instead, the imagery needs to reflect the key message you are trying to convey. For instance, are you trying to offer security? or trying to maximise the assets of your customers? or giving customers unique access to overseas funds? The particular focus of your business may well provide the answer when it comes to choosing the right images and feel for your brochure.

Trust

Perhaps with the finance sector more than any other, trust is a really important factor as it can make the difference to being successful and not. This is why it is vital to make sure everything about your corporate brochure design inspires trust in your company. From the pictures you choose to the language you use, all of it matters. The layout of your company brochure is important here as well, as a brochure that is well-thought out, well spaced and attractive to read is instinctively going to inspire more trust in the reader than one which looks put together in a rush. One of our key skills in designing for this sector is to carefully structure all the information (pictures, text, headlines, captions, quotes) in a way which reflects the precision, care and attention the company wishes to portray to its customers..

Quality

Finally, it’s important to consider the quality of your brochure. We often find that the financial firms we work with are targeting their products to high net worth individuals and so quality is vital both in terms of brochure design and the way that it is printed, finished and presented to clients. We generally recommend that you use high quality printing materials that make your corporate brochure feel substantial as this will give your brochure a more luxurious feel and signal to your clients that you really care about quality. When image matters so much, it’s amazing the difference that the right choice of paper and finish can make to your final brochure and at Add Design we are always happy to advise clients on the best ways to show this quality.

Corporate Brochure Design – Add Design specialise in design and print for a wide range of industries including the financial sector. Click here to view our corporate brochure design packages and examples of our recent work.

Good looking images can make a world of difference to your leaflet design, and need not cost a fortune to create. Following on from Part 1, here are some more photography tips to help you capture the best possible images for your business leaflets, flyers, brochures, postcards or other printed promotions.

Bring in Your Friends

Including people in your photography can make a world of difference to the feel you create, and should always be a consideration when advertising anything where customer service is key. Asking friends or willing employees is great, but don’t rush the photograph taking. It can take a while for someone to become comfortable with being photographed. A glass of wine might also help.

When taking shots with people, always take a few of the same shot to catch the best expressions and to ensure that the perfect set-up is not ruined by the subjects’ eyes being closed.

Take Lots of Photographs

One of the great advantages of digital is that you don’t waste film. Rather than taking a single shot, take a few different ones of the same subject so that you or your designer can pick the best. Try adjusting the lighting, or posing the subject differently for each. You want to create as many options as possible, and even if you don’t use the photograph this time it may be useful next time.

Check the results properly.

It might look great on the small camera screen, but you really need to see the photographs on a larger screen to spot the problems. We have had customers who have submitted reams of product shots – all just a touch out of focus which can’t be used when producing a professional leaflet, brochure or catalogue. Check your photographs carefully while you still have the opportunity to reshoot. Alternatively take a few initial test shots and check them on a laptop before commencing with the complete product catalogue.

Don’t assume that PhotoShop can take care of it.

PhotoShop is a useful tool for leaflet graphic designers, but it is not a miracle maker. Often we get submitted two completely different shots and are asked to seamlessly splice them into a single fantastic photo. This is not always possible, and is often hugely time consuming if it is.

Our graphic designers have also spent countless hours removing background objects, straightening ties, and adding in forgotten details. Amendments which would have only taken a second at the time of the photograph.

Know when to call in a professional.

Lastly, you need to know when to call in the professional photographer. Regardless of how good your amateur shots are, a good professional photographer can really make the difference when it comes to promoting your business. If you are creating leaflets, brochures or catalogues to promote expensive products or high-end services, then the quality needs to shine through. For that, you might need a professional.

How can we help? For any design, our professional leaflet designers can advise you which images we need and how best to achieve them. You can also trust us to be honest, and if we feel that an image is letting your promotion down – we will let you know.

Leaflet Design – Add Design specialise in leaflet design and offer a wide range of excellent value, fixed price leaflet design packages. Our service includes bespoke leaflet graphic design, high quality colour printing and UK wide delivery. We also work with international clients and can provide postage to most European and international destinations for a small additional charge. Please contact us for prices.

If you, like me, prefer the adverts to most of the TV shows in between then you will understand the importance of variety in promotion. Rarely does a company run and run the same advert. They may use the same characters, or the same message, but the visuals are constantly changing and developing to keep the concept fresh and continually engage with new customers.

This exact same logic should be applied to all areas of marketing – especially flyer design. Flyers, like TV adverts, are designed primarily to be the first point of engagement with a new customer. They are designed for impact and to get one key message over quickly and clearly. However, always presenting this message in the same way will only get you so far – even if it did make the impact first time, it is less likely to do so the second and third time.

If you have been using the same flyer for years, delivering the same message to the same people, then it is time for a rethink. Freshening the design and the message will reengage existing customers and increase the chances of getting new ones. Better yet, creating a series of flyers which concentrate on different benefits or appeal to different market segments will make your on-going promotion that much more successful – regardless of the type of business you are.

To prove the point, here are a series of flyers we designed for a Business Sales Agency. In each the message is consistent – If you sell your business, you can do the things you always wanted to do. However, the visuals are designed to keep this message fresh and to engage with different audiences. Yes, if you sold your business you could spend your time playing golf in exotic locations – but not everybody wants to play golf!

The flyers are sent out on a rolling basis to different segments of the mailing list. Each time a potential customer receives one, they are reengaged by the message and the chances of them remembering the brand and the company is increased. Every flyer has a return section to request a free valuation of the business. Each return section has a code, so the effectiveness of each design in getting a response can be measured over time and this information can feed into the creation of the next flyer.

If you use direct mail to promote your business, think about your current mailer. Could the campaign be working harder? If so, perhaps adding a bit of variety would make the difference.

How can we help? We don’t just design flyers. We design entire campaigns. By blending marketing experience with graphic design skills we can help you create the impact you need. Simply call us to discuss your requirements.

Flyer Design – Add Design offer an excellent range of flyer design packages for small, medium and large businesses. The price includes professional graphic design, high quality print and free UK delivery. Click here to view our range of flyers.