The Rules of Good Leaflet Design

Leaflets are a fantastic means of promotion for businesses of all sizes. You only have to think about how many leaflets you receive a day/week to realise how much they are prized by businesses across the country. There is a problem, though. Given that there are so many leaflets out there, there is a lot of competition for the recipient’s attention. It is important that your leaflet is the one that people notice, amongst the masses of leaflets that they see. There are a few rules of leaflet design that will help you to ensure that your target audience notices, and pays attention to, your leaflet.

1.       The Focal Point: there’s an old saying, ‘the first bite is with the eye’. This means that people take a first impression from what they see. You must ensure that they like what they see, or that it at least captures their attention. The focal point must be eye catching, interesting and forceful. A focal point could be a short headline, or a picture.

2.       The Headline: Once you’ve captured their attention, you need to ensure that you keep it. For most leaflets, your purpose is to gain customers. To gain customers, you have to let them know that you have a product or a service from which they can benefit. Your headline needs to say, in as fewer words as possible, exactly what it is that you can do to help them - and why they should use that product/service.

3.       The Copy: copy simply refers to the content of the text. You need to make sure that everything your write is easy to understand, but also that it uses as few words as possible to say as much as possible. In other words, you need write in a manner that is clear, straightforward and succinct. If you do need to write a lot of text, then you can minimise the impact by breaking it up using strategically features such as bullet points and numbering.

4.       Rep, Rep, Repetition: Avoid repeating yourself when writing the leaflet. You only need to cover a topic once, you don’t have to keep pushing the point. In fact, if you push too hard, it can come across as a hard sell, and this will turn people away from the message that you're trying to convey.

5.       Design: there are a few rules with design. Firstly, you have to make sure that the design has flow – where there needs to be alignment, it must line up straight; avoid any clutter, either visual or textual. Human brains prefer symmetry and order, so if your leaflet does not show these properties, people will turn away.

6.       Keep it interesting: you need to stand out from the crowd, without neglecting the above rules. A great way to do this is to choose an unusual style of leaflet, such as Z card printing. Z card printing is becoming increasingly popular, but at present is still novel enough to stand out. Other ways in which you may be able to stand out is by using fresh and funky designs. The trick here is to think outside the box.

If you would like further help and advice about your leaflet printing, including information about Z card printing, then please visit http://www.alpha-card.co.uk/products

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Leaflet Printing: Understanding Printers Terminology

Most businesses use leaflets as part of their marketing and advertising campaigns. This means that certain members of staff spend a lot of time talking to their printers. However, the language that printers use when talking about leaflets is somewhat esoteric – it’s hard for us every day folk to understand. This can lead to problems with design and print: you think you're asking for a specific feature, but the printer interprets this in a different way (and actually, they will interpret it more accurately). At worst, it can mean that you have to pay for leaflets that you don’t like.

Much of this problem can be dealt with simply by learning a little about what the printer means when referring to certain features. Here, we’re going to consider some of the most common printing terms, and explain what they mean.

Paper Sizes

Paper sizes can be difficult to understand, but there are really only three types of measure:

1.       The As: A7, A6, A5, A4, A3, A2, A1, A0. Most people know these standard sizes. The larger the number, the smaller the size. A0 is the largest, and is the starting point for measurement. A1 is half the size of A0, A2 is half the size of A1 and it moves down the scale as such, so that for example, an A4 sheet fits 16 times in an A0 sheet.

2.       The Bs: B7, B6, B5, B4, B3, B2, B1, B0. These work in exactly the same way as the As, but they are moderately larger. If you were to lay an A0 sheet on top of an B0 sheet, there would be, roughly, a 1.5cm border around the outside of the A0. The B0 is made larger in order to allow for a bleed edge* when printing two impressions on the same piece of paper.

3.       The SR system. SR is placed before the A or B series, for example, SRA3 is the equivalent of A3. The SR is slightly larger and allows for a bleed edge* when printing single copies.

Bleed Edge

If your printer asks you if you want a bleed edge, he is asking you if you want the print/ink to run to the edge of the paper. That is to say, that there is no white left on the edges of the paper (unless you’ve placed white in your design, of course). If you don’t have a bleed edge, then there will be a white border around your print. This is because the paper is fed through the printer (a digital printer) on rollers. Where the rollers touch the paper, there is no ink application.

The exception is lithographic printing. With lithographic printing, there is no bleed edge because it is done as a press, and not as a roller.

Folds

There are a number of different folds, the most common are:

·         Z fold cards and leaflets: with z fold cards and leaflets there are two folds, so the leaflet has three sections on each side. If you look at the letter Z then imagine a piece of paper folded that way, that’s exactly what it means.

·         U-fold: again, there are two creases and three panels. If you look a U-fold leaflet, it folds like this U – except that the bottom is flat, and not rounded.

If you would like further help and advice about leaflet printing, including information about z fold cards, then please visit http://www.alpha-card.co.uk/products

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Considerations When Creating a Leaflet

Leaflets are a convenient way to market your business. They can offer a cheap alternative to mailings and emarketing when money is tight. However, there is a process involved and if you want to make a success of your leaflet campaign, then you must ensure that you follow due process. Below, we are going to talk you through the various aspects of successful leaflet design and print. By following our guidelines, you will help to ensure that you create a leaflet that gives you a reasonable ROI.

Who is Your Audience?

Before you can start to design the leaflet, before you set the budget, you need to make sure that you have defined your target audience. Who is it that you want to reach?

It is only by asking this question that you will know how to create the best leaflet. Different demographics will be captivated in different ways. For example, z pocket media work very well with people who are young and professional, such as marketing and advertising executives, but if you’re trying to reach out to retired pensioners, then a more traditional form of leaflet, as opposed to z pocket media, will be much more likely to draw their attention.

You know who your target audience is, and you know what they expect, but you have to define the group carefully if you want to create an attractive leaflet.

Succinct Headlines

Your headline is going to be the first thing that people read. You need to hook them straight from the off. In your headline, you need to tell them what you are offering and how it can help them. For instance, if you’re selling whey protein, you could say: ‘The Best Whey to Get a Buff Body’. In that short sentence you’ve told them that you’re selling whey products and those whey products will benefit them by giving them that muscly body. You've also targeted to the right group – older people won’t know what ‘buff body’ means, but younger people will pick it up straight away. This is just a silly example, but it illustrates the point well.

Keep their Attention with the Right Pictures

You’ve got their attention with the headline, but now you need to keep it. Visual images are the best way to do this. You may have heard of the expression ‘A picture tells a thousand words’. It is much easier to convey large amounts of information visually, than it is linguistically, through words. It’s just the way that humans are made: we process visual information much faster than we process language.

No Mistakes

A mistake on a leaflet is enough to cost you a fair amount of sales. If you spell a word wrong, people will notice, and it will create the impression, in their minds, that you’re lacking in expertise. When you write copy for your leaflets, make sure they you proofread, and give it to other people to proofread, too, as you can often overlook mistakes if you’re read the same information over and over again.

If you would like further help and advice about leaflet design, including information about z pocket media, then please visit http://www.alpha-card.co.uk/products

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What Makes A Great Leaflet Campaign?

As a means of promoting your business, leaflets are fantastic. However, it is important that they be done correctly. A great leaflet is likely to be rewarded with increased custom, but a bad leaflet can mean a loss of business. Here, we have provided you with a brief guide to creating and delivering the perfect leaflet. It’s not fool proof, but if you follow our guideline, you can be sure of creating a leaflet that will stand out from the crowd.

The Message

The key point in leaflet design is getting your message across. You need to ensure that the person reading the leaflet is engaged. There are two steps to this process:

1.       The first bite is with the eye. You need to hook people’s attention with great design. You do this by choosing an unusual style of leaflet, such as pocket media cards; or, you do it by using bright, attractive colours and designs. Preferably, you would combine the two; for example, pocket media cards in bright, eye-catching, colours.

2.       The content of the message needs to be relevant. If you’re selling a product, then your aim is to convince potential customers to buy that product. You do this by using emotive language.

So, first you hook them visually, and then you take their hearts – that sounds a little macabre, but it isn’t, you’re simply telling people what a great product you have and how much they can benefit from buying/using the product/service.

Always frame your product or service in a manner that shows how it can benefit your prospective customer. For example, if you’re selling mailing services, then you should tell your customers that mail is opened 92% of the time, in contrast to email, that is opened 55% of the time, meaning that their product gets greater exposure through mailing work.

Blurb

Many people get carried away when creating their leaflets. They’re trying to convey too much information in too little space. Remember, that people only like to be presented with one or two salient points at a time. If you present them with too much information, they switch off. Keep things short, succinct and to the point, if you want to keep their attention.

Key Information

People usually understand that too much blurb is bad, and this then leads them to cut too much information from the leaflet. You must remember to include salient information. A leaflet that sells a product, for instance, should include the following:

·         An explanation of the product

·         An explanation of the benefit for them of the product

·         How they can get the product (e.g. your contact details).

That’s all you need to explain. Remember to include all of the above.

Delivering the Leaflet

You have a number of different options, and your choice should depend on the product/service and the target audience. Common delivery methods include:

·         Email

·         Post – with supplied database

·         Door drop – to a specific area

·         Street-level distribution – someone literally stands on the street and hands the leaflets out.

Your choice of delivery is important, and you should research each in turn to establish which is best for your business.

If you would like further information about leaflet design and print, including pocket media cards, then please visit http://www.alpha-card.co.uk/products
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Considerations to Make When Approaching a Printer for Leaflet Printing

Anyone in business will tell you the value of leaflet printing, and you only have to look around for yourself to see how true this is – they’re everywhere, and they would only be everywhere in business if they actually worked. OK, so we know that they work, but it’s important that you get it right. A great leaflet will stand out, people will pay attention, and therefore you're more likely to make a sale. A bad leaflet, though, will be ignored, but at worst, will promote a negative impression of your business. Here, we are going to discuss the various factors that you need to be aware of when approaching a printing service for your new leaflets.

Budget

Clearly, unless you happen to have an extremely profitable business, your first consideration needs to concern your budget. You need to ensure that you get the most for your money, without skimping on quality. Once you have looked at the following steps, you will understand more about the type of leaflet that you want, as well as the volumes. Once you have cleared this information in your mind, you can then approach a number of different printers in order to get quotes. Choose the company that offers the highest quality service for the least amount of money.

Leaflet Design

The next thing that you need to think about is design. There are a number of considerations here:

1.       Will you design the leaflet yourself, or ask a designer to do it for you? It will cost you much less to design the leaflet yourself, however, you may require specialist software to create a design that you like. Using a designer takes the hassle out of the design, but it will cost you. Designers charge between £30 and £150 an hour, so make sure you get the quote before you start the work.

2.       What shape will the leaflet be? This may sound odd, but there are a number of different shapes that you can use. There are u cards and z cards that fold into three sections. There are bi-folds that fold in two. There are accordion fold. In short, there are a number of different folds. To find out which is best for you, do a little research online. For example, research z cards, and find out how other businesses use them, and whether they are appropriate for your particular requirements.

3.       Think about the type of paper that you want to use. People print leaflets on card and paper, with a variety of finishes, including silk, matt, satin and gloss. Each has various benefits. For instance, gloss paper stands out more, but satin paper looks more professional. Again, do your research in order to determine whether a particular paperweight or finish is appropriate given your particular scenario.

Printing

Finally, you need to think about how you will have your leaflets printed. In general, for volumes of 2000+ A5 leaflets people will use a lithographic printer because they offer greater value. In volumes of <2000 A5, digital printing works best.

If you would like further information about leaflet printing, including Z cards, then please visit http://www.alpha-card.co.uk