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Industrial brochure development considerations

Brochure development

After the brochure planning stage, a number of key design and development considerations must be addressed. Industrial marketing brochures - image These key considerations include:

Graphic design
Art ownership and selection
Physical characteristics
Layout and development
Use of space
Photography
Advertising coordination

Graphic design

Many manufacturers have existing brochures or previous artwork that they have used for advertising or other uses. It is always tempting to use artwork you already own. That may or may not be in your best interest. Tell the professionals you have hired what you want, and let them do their creative work.

Make sure you address these items:

We will use existing artwork?
Does that artwork look dated or do elements in the artwork date it?
Is the artwork actually physically dated?
Do you currently have a corporate theme/logo/corporate image?
Do you want to consider changing or updating logo or corporate identity?

Remember, often you are selling industrial services or component parts. Don't make a glamour piece, since your target market is not looking for that

Art ownership and selection

You have decided what artwork you can use from what you already have and what you need to create. Make sure the ownership of any new artwork you create is yours! We often hear horror stories from our manufacturing clients about not owning the artwork to prior brochures or advertisements. They simply assumed they would own the rights and did not ask. Specify on the P.O. you generate or any contract you sign that all "artwork, film, color separations, etc," become your property once you have paid for them. Keep possession of your own artwork.

The simple fact that you own your artwork allows you to shop for printing the next time rather than be tied to your current printer if they do not perform well. Loyalty is very important, but don't be an artwork prisoner!

Regardless of ownership, you'll still need to address these concerns:

Do you want to use photos, graphics, illustrations or some combination?
Do you have all the artwork you need?
Do you need to examine and access stock photography?
Will you need studio and on-site photo shoots?

Physical characteristics

As you design the brochure, you need to take into consideration a number of potential physical characteristics. These are:

Size
Consider the number of pages, weight, mailing considerations, etc. It should be 9" x 12" maximum to fit inside a 10" x 13" envelope and a normal letter size file and filing cabinet.
Material/paper
Determine paper size, weight, brand, color, finish, and brightness. Graphic design vendor should assist with this. A good heavy weight paper/cover stock should be selected to convey your manufacturing message.
Unique features
Will your brochure require any unusual foldouts, fold covers, and die cuts for business cards, inserts, or other unique features?
Weight
Determine what the cost to mail a single brochure with envelope and 1 page cover letter. ($.80 vs. $.97 vs. $1.14). It is really tough to find you just missed the cutoff. Work with your vendor to ensure you hit your mail cost per piece if distribution by mail will be a major way the brochure is delivered into potential customer's possession.
Use of color
Ensure colors selected for brochure are generally recognized "manufacturing" colors. Darker colors are often considered stronger colors and are typically associated with manufacturing. Don't use light and airy pastel tones! They convey a subliminal message that the products you offer are lightweight and subject to damage or won't last long to an industrial audience. Don't laugh; we've seen this happen to industrial clients who have experienced serious problems do to their color choice.

Layout and development

Based on your determination of how the brochure will most often be used, you can decide on the fundamental layout. Most likely, a manufacturer will produce a 4 or 6- page brochure, a two or three-fold piece that is printed on both sides.

Two-fold layout
Most two-fold brochures have a cover and a backside, which often contains contact information and/or customer testimonials. The two inside pages typically will carry information about the company's products or services and should include the end-user benefits. Keep the design neat and clean and easy to read.
Three-fold layout
If you have a little more information to deliver, a three-fold layout may work best. Often the three-fold includes the cover page, information about the company, its products and services, benefits to the end users, and contact information including your company name, address, phone, toll free, and fax numbers, and your web site URL. The backside cover is often the location for the contact information and end-user testimonials.

Just because you have 6 pages, don't jam in lots of information. Keep it easy to read. Use bullets to get attention.

Following are ideas to consider in your brochure design:

Front cover	Keep it clean and simple. It should contain your concept, artwork, and tag line.
Text and inside content	This is your major area for text development. This is where you answer key questions like: Who are you? What do you do? How can you benefit end users of your products and services?
	Use white space and bulleted lists.
	Communicate your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) — what it is that you do better than others in your business.
	Use action tense verbiage. Include a call for action!
Back cover	Make this space sell for you. Use it for advertising by including testimonials from satisfied customers. Don't just make it a back cover with a photo of the plant or employees.
	Make sure your contact information is clearly legible and easy to read. Include toll-free numbers. You want customers to call! Don't make it hard to figure out how to contact you.
	Finally, develop a code to indicate when it was last updated or printed, but don't use a date. Then everyone knows how old your brochure is. Also, make sure the photos, quotes, or references aren't dated either.

Use of space

Some of the most effective brochures we have seen are very "open". They contain a lot of white space and make it easy for the reader to receive your message.

Photography

If you need to get custom photography shot, keep in mind some key ideas. Make sure the people shooting your photos, whether in-plant or in-studio, are professionals.

Look at other photography they have shot. Talk to some of their customers. Did they need to re-shoot because of poor quality, lighting, or dissatisfaction?

Good photography is a key to good brochures. If you look bad on the cover, or your product photos are poor, users of your products or services may make a direct correlation to your quality and abilities. Good text doesn't overcome poor images.

If they are not shoooting digital, use uniform size transparencies. Keep all the photography one size if possible, 35mm, 2" x 2", or 4" x 5". Keeping the transparencies one uniform size translates into savings during the color separation process. This also applies to the size or types of files shot using digital.

Remember, the bigger the transparency, the higher quality the output should be. This also applies to digital files. The more megapixels, assuming the same size pixels, contain more detail.

Advertising coordination

Just because you are developing a brochure and it takes some time and effort, make sure you consider how it will tie in to other advertising or promotional activities you will engage in. Can you use the artwork for ads in The Thomas Register or trade magazines? Can you tie your concepts into your web site — developed or not developed.

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