Design Tips
Design guidance for business and charities.
We all get flyers in the post and delivered as part of a newspaper or magazine. So much of the mailings get thrown away, without a second look. However, as printers we regularly get customers who find using flyer as a very effective communications medium, so how does that work? Part of the solution is to put yourself in the shoes of the recipient. How do you respond to a flyer?
Some organisations want to portray their green credentials, recycled stock is available but always costs more than standard paper. Ironically, the best recycled stock looks almost identical to a non-recycled paper. The rough speckled appearance might be a better ‘green' choice.
Firstly, decide how the flyer will be used.
Type one is the information flyer that the customer asks for. They pay you a visit and want something to take a way with a summary of your services. This should reflect the status of the business. To portray a quality service, a gloss heavy weight, full colour brochure should do the trick. To avoid giving the impression of an expensive service, though, a one colour brochure might be more appropriate.
Type two has to make a fast impact, for example, when delivered as part of a mail drop through the letterbox. In this case bullet point some items that will quickly interest the reader, and just as importantly keep us interested from the start to the finish. Not including your business name at the top here, this isn't the priority. Always include an action point nearer the bottom, with a statement such as ‘phone now on….'. In most cases, customers aren't particularly interested in the details of your business, so, relate your services to how you can help solve our problems. To help you measure the effectiveness of the leaflet add some code that allows the reader to get a discount, when replying. Cut out shapes will give you the extra advantage over others trying to gain peoples' attention.
Type three falls in between and would probably be included as an advert in a directory. There will be more time to interest the reader, raising awareness of your company or charity can be a higher priority. As always, images are guaranteed to add impact and help us remember you.
In conclusion, we have a variety of skills involved in this process. Firstly, yourself, with the product knowledge. Secondly, the graphic artist with the ability to add style and impact to the design. Thirdly, someone with the experience of designing a flyer that meets the need and gets most ‘bangs for your bucks.
