How Many Pages Should A Brochure Template Have

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Comprehensive guide to brochure design

2020-12-21

By: Jarom McDonald

So you're wondering how to how to design a brochure that will impress. Dealing in the medium of brochures is a tricky thing, because they're all just ane pace abroad from the garbage. But don't worry, this post will testify you how to make a great-looking brochure that's non destined for the recycling bin. Yous'll learn how to master the 2 most of import components of brochure design: the copy and the photos.

For a brochure to be a success, your re-create and images should be an integral part of the blueprint, not merely an improver. The finished product should also be consistent with your brand. Let's jump in.

Related: How to brand a travel brochure that looks stunning

Brochures are a powerful sales tool and have been around for decades. Today, anyone can make their ain. But what is a brochure, really? Let'southward review standard layouts, sizes, folding options, and suggested brochure content.

What is a brochure?

A brochure is a folded document that presents information in a segmented, easy-to-digest fashion. Brochures are similar to other printed documents, but with key differences. Like pamphlets, they are advisory, simply brochures are designed to annunciate a item brand, production or service. Unlike flyers and posters, brochures are folded into sections, and so they can retain their size but present more information.

In previous decades, making a brochure was far more complicated, requiring long pb fourth dimension and cross-departmental cooperation to bring together photography, paw-drawn elements, and typography. A design would go through several concrete drafts before the concluding version was painstakingly created. Changes weren't like shooting fish in a barrel to implement, either. Today, one person can create a brochure from scratch using modernistic blueprint software, and the brochure can easily be tweaked and edited to perfection.

When to use a brochure

It's not uncommon to wonder when it's appropriate to utilize a brochure rather than another format, like a flyer. The answer lies in the **buyer's journey**. Flyers are keen for attracting attention, building sensation, and sharing a brusque bulletin. Just brochures are far more than effective down the road, when a prospect is gathering the data needed to make a wise purchasing decision. Brochures provide more than data about a company, its products and its services, at a deeper level than a flyer can. For that reason, they've remained an essential marketing tool for many companies and organizations. Here are 12 first-class examples of when to employ a brochure. At that place are many, many more than, but these will requite y'all an idea of the possibilities. +

Directly marketing — Brochures can hands exist included in a marketing campaign like direct mail service.

Fiscal — Banks can provide brochures in the lobby to explain their business relationship options, loans, and other coin-related services.

Food service — Restaurants can create catering and to-go brochures that patrons save for later. The best ones will include a full or simplified menu, along with contact information.

Healthcare — Doctors and hospitals can introduce themselves to a new community with a brochure explaining their services. Brochures are besides handy for patient teaching on a variety of illnesses and other health concerns.

Marketing — Marketers tin hand out brochures to interested visitors at merchandise shows and expos.

Offices — Offices with heavy foot traffic can provide brochures almost their services in the waiting room. Visitors can read them while they're waiting, and the staff won't have to spend every bit much time explaining their services to each person.

Personal care — Spas and salons tin use brochures to listing all of the unlike services they provide, as well every bit their prices.

Politics — Politicians can utilize brochures to inform voters most their platforms and stances on of import community issues.

PR — Public relations managers tin can include brochures in printing releases and media kits, so the news media tin craft better, more accurate stories about a company.

Retail — Stores with heavy foot traffic can provide brochures at the forepart of the store. A brochure of popular product highlights is far less expensive to produce than an unabridged printed itemize.

Sales — Salespeople can manus out brochures to business associates, partners, and potential clients later on a demo or presentation.

Travel — Airlines and travel agencies can employ brochures to advertise exotic destinations and affordable vacation packages.

Standard brochure sizes

5.5" x eight.5" Often called a one-half-fold, bi-fold, or statement. This layout is created by folding an 11" by 17" sheet neatly in half, so that it opens and closes like a book. Commonly used for menus and event programs. If you lot fold it in one-half again, you lot tin create a quarter fold brochure with viii miniature panels.

8.5" x 11" You've probable seen many brochures of this size, since businesses oft use them as sales and marketing pieces. This is the most popular size because information technology can exist folded into several useful configurations that fit easily in an envelope. A tri-fold creates 6 long panels, and we'll talk over the dissimilar tri-fold layouts in the next section.

8.5" 10 xiv" Slightly larger than its predecessor, this size also makes for great tri-fold brochures. More space ways more folding options, such as double gate or parallel folds. In fact, a double parallel fold creates a slender brochure that has get a staple in tourist information racks.

11" x 17" Larger brochure sizes are most helpful as visual aids. This size is often used for amusement parks or other tourist attractions, considering at that place's enough room for a map. It'southward a cracking size for showcasing travel destinations equally well.

11" ten 25.5" The largest standard brochure size. What it lacks in portability, it makes up for with visual impact. Brands who depend on gorgeous, detailed photography benefit from the extra space. For case, real estate agents tin can show off their backdrop with full-color photos of a house and its rooms.

Custom If you're hoping to make something unique, you can always talk to your printing partner most custom sizes. Only be prepared to discuss pricing, because custom printing volition be more expensive than sticking to the standard. For some creative inspiration, bank check out this Pinterest board of unique brochure designs.

Popular brochure layouts

Bi-fold

The simplest brochure layout is a bi-fold, where a single canvass of paper is folded in half. This results in four consecutive panels that can be read from left to right like a magazine. The vertical layout is more popular, but a bi-fold can exist oriented horizontally, as well.

Tri-fold

The near popular layout is the tri-fold, a single sheet of paper folded into thirds. Tri-folds are versatile, giving you multiple folding options. Fifty-fifty though they each comprise 6 panels, how yous fold the paper will determine which panels cease upwardly where.

C-fold — A C-fold resembles the letter C when open. When closed, one tertiary of the paper is nested betwixt the others, like a spiral.
Z-fold — A Z-fold resembles the letter Z, opening and endmost similar an squeeze box.

French fold

A French fold is created past folding a canvass of paper vertically and then horizontally. This separates the paper into quarters, resulting in eight panels overall. With a French fold, your brochure is small and portable, merely it expands to the size of a flyer or poster. If y'all want to present a large design beyond multiple panels, this fold tin can be very effective.

Gate fold

Sometimes called a window fold. Though this is technically a tri-fold, information technology does non result in 6 equal-sized panels. Instead, the correct and left sides of the paper fold in to meet in the middle. This makes the center panel twice as large, creating more than infinite for visual blueprint inside the brochure.

Double gate fold

To make a double gate fold, follow the steps above to create a gate fold brochure. Then fold it in half again, vertically. This creates a central fold down the middle console, resulting in a slender brochure that can fit more hands into envelopes and other narrow spaces.

Double parallel fold

A double parallel fold requires two vertical folds. Take a sheet of paper and fold it in half, then fold it in half once again. That way, half of the sheet is nested within the other. In the terminate, you'll accept 8 panels. Depending on the size of the newspaper, the resulting brochure might be narrower than a typical tri-fold, or it could be roughly similar in size simply with the improver of 2 panels.

Spiral fold

Lastly, our standard set up concludes with the screw fold. Information technology's like to a C-fold, but with more than panels—typically eight in total. The spiral effect is accomplished by folding each console inward so that they nest inside one some other. Because of this, the inner panels should be slightly smaller than the outer panels, so that the brochure lays flat when folded.

Designing for your fold

If y'all've chosen a layout merely are unsure how to design it, try folding a bare sheet of newspaper and numbering each console. That volition make it easier for you to keep rails of where each console goes while y'all're designing onscreen. It's a handy reference tool!

Templates

Templates are the brochure maker'due south best-kept underground. Information technology doesn't make sense to kickoff from scratch every time you need to create a new brochure, especially when many software tools provide complimentary brochure templates designed past professionals. If you accept no idea what you want your brochure to look like, templates can provide inspiration and samples to work with. If y'all already have a vision, the correct template can save yous loads of time. For examples, have a look at our gallery of free brochure templates.

Essential brochure elements

Because brochures are most ofttimes used in advertising, it's important to consider what your brochure should inspire the audition to practice. Like many marketing materials, a good brochure will be visually interesting, tell an engaging story, and prompt the reader to take a certain action—like purchasing a holiday packet, for case.

When y'all layout your brochure, make sure the post-obit elements are well represented.

1. An attracting cover

This is the start (or simply!) gamble your brochure has to give a stiff impression, and so make it count. The cover is a hope, and so it should reflect what's inside. A high quality, relevant epitome combined with a brief, easily legible headline will provide your reader with a strong understanding of what your brochure is most.

two. A compelling offering

Details aside, what you're actually providing with a brochure is opportunity. It shows the reader a whole new world of possibilities to improve their life. No matter what your product or service is, whether it's catering plans for a wedding or security alarm systems for an office building, your brochure needs to offer but enough to make readers want to know more.

3. Valuable data

Brochures offer limited space to communicate your message, so prioritizing which information to include is critical. Dedicate space to the features and (more importantly) benefits of your offering, and consider other details like prices, dates and times, if applicable. The best rules of copywriting apply hither: be articulate, be concise, and tell a skillful story that makes your reader the hero.

4. A strong telephone call to action

You lot tin build a beautiful, disarming brochure that makes your audience feel exactly the way you want to... but it's useless if you don't provide the side by side step. A strong call to activity will prompt the reader to call, visit, or connect with you in some manner, then that the relationship tin can proceed further. Sometimes this means making a purchase, but non always, so think nearly what you want your audience to exercise after reading your brochure—and direct them accordingly.

5. Detailed contact information

Goes hand-in-hand with your call to activeness. Not everyone will make a move right away. In fact, many people hold onto brochures to reference subsequently, when the time is right. Don't make them search for means to get in touch with yous. Make it easy by putting your name, phone number, email/web address, and physical location on the back. Some companies fifty-fifty put a simplified map to help people detect them. That might be a footling old-fashioned in the age of GPS, so yous could include an interactive QR lawmaking or other helpful tidbit instead.

Other ideas to consider

The 5 elements listed up there? Those are the basics. If you actually want to knock it out of the park, here are some tried-and-true brochure sections that you might not have considered before.

Answers to FAQ

It'south likely that your readers share similar concerns, resulting in frequently asked questions. Save time and overcome objections early by including a FAQ department in your brochure. Don't dive too deep; a brochure should be brief and nowadays your brand in its all-time light. But for concerns that can be apace and hands resolved, a helpful FAQ section is worth its weight in gold.

How-to guides

Knowledge is power, which is why information is valuable. Sharing helpful information with your audience builds trust, and a how-to guide is a swell instance. Empower readers to spot or solve a problem on their own past breaking down the procedure, footstep by stride. It could be instructions on how to exam your product, but it doesn't have to be.

For example, if you're a pest control visitor, you could offer tips on how to identify the presence of sure insects or rodents. If you lot're a lensman, you lot could include tips on how to wearing apparel for an outdoor photo session. Take a few moments to brainstorm most your brand, and an thought will likely nowadays itself.

Testimonials

No one tin speak to how your make improves lives the mode your customers tin can. They know because they've experienced information technology firsthand in a way you cannot. That's why nosotros, as consumers, trust friends, family, and online reviews more than than any slick sales proposal. Including testimonials in your brochure adds a layer of humanity and credibility that can reassure your readers that they're making the right choice.

How to make a brochure

Here are the bones steps involved in creating a brochure. If you're ready to larn more, we have a longer, detailed commodity that covers each step in depth. Visit our guide on how to make a brochure to learn more.

Consider your layout / size. Earlier you tin can start designing, you accept to decide how big or small you want your brochure to be, as well every bit how it should exist folded.
Write compelling copy. Brochures don't offer a lot of space, then each word should be purposeful. Brand your message consequent, piece of cake to read and easy to understand.
Provide visual involvement. Illustrate your message with visual elements, including loftier quality photos, that brand your brochure more than interesting to the reader.
Choose your colors. Colour is closely tied to emotion. Using colors finer in your brochure will raise your bulletin and emphasize specific points.
Test-run the print version. Before y'all impress (or lodge) hundreds of copies, information technology'south disquisitional to test-run it commencement. Verify that the finished product meets your expectations.

Want to design beautiful brochures online? Lucidpress makes it like shooting fish in a barrel. With our intuitive elevate-and-drop online brochure maker, you tin can select a template and customize it with fonts, colors, shapes, images and more. It simply takes minutes to create a high quality brochure that y'all'll be proud to print and share.

The re-create

Words. We throw them around every solar day, merely how often exercise yous carefully consider what you're saying? When information technology comes to brochures, word selection is paramount. Recollect that your objective is to entertain, persuade, and inform. Here's how yous do it:

1. Check your grammar and spelling

Read your work twice, then take someone else look it over. A misspelling or grammatical mistake can slay your professionalism and doom your brochure to the open jaws of the trash tin.

ii. Make evergreen content

Yous don't want to create a quality brochure but to brand a new one next year considering the content is out of date. In copywriting, a principal objective is to make sure your content is evergreen. This ways that your content will (theoretically) always be relevant. And so, you might want to avert including references to upcoming holidays or this twelvemonth'southward Super Bowl winners.

3. Exist international

Your re-create will potentially exist read by people from many countries and cultures. Every civilisation has idioms and colloquial expressions that may not transfer well. For case, if you talk about killing two birds with i stone to someone who speaks English equally a second language, they might telephone call the brute cruelty hotline.

Of form, using colloquial or idiomatic language tin humanize your brand and keep things lighthearted. It becomes a trouble when you use then much culture-specific language that your writing is unintelligible to someone who has a different background. Knowing your audience will help you strike the right tone.

4. Know your brand and stick to it

Every line you write should align with the larger make feel of your arrangement. This creates a consistent experience for your customers—and helps potential customers know what to expect. Just like nosotros speak differently in unlike social settings, the copy in your brochure should adjust to your brand.

Yelp's Eat24, an online food delivery service, has settled nicely into a make that really works for them. The tone is playful and lighthearted; for an example, check out this messaging from the Eat24 website:

This copy is clever and it also matches the overall feel of Eat24's site. The humorous, slightly sarcastic branding of Eat24 could work for your brand, only you also might need to take a different approach. Imagine if you saw an ad from your bank that said, "We'll spotter your coin for you. Probably." Customers would be dislocated and concerned, then once more, know what's acceptable to your audience.

For more examples of standout copy, check out this post from Hubspot'due south marketing blog.

The photos

Just like your copy, the photographs in your brochure send a bulletin. You lot'll want to make sure that message is professional person and interesting. Earlier nosotros get any further, I think I need to make i affair very clear:

Beware of stock photography.

Millions of Americans struggle with stock photography every yr. You know it when you come across it—models with unnatural facial expressions, dressed in stereotypical clothing, all bathed in lighting that even a moth wouldn't fly toward.

Just thinking about it makes me shutter (become it?), and I don't want yous to feel the same hurting. Luckily, there are alternatives. What follows is a listing of my favorite sites for free images that aren't atrocious (in no particular order).

ane. Unsplash

I find myself visiting this site well-nigh often. I recollect the images are gorgeous, and they're ever very high quality. All the images are free, and no attribution is necessary. It's a pretty bang-up deal, and you lot likewise don't have to sign up for anything to download the epitome.

2. Pixabay

Pixabay has a ton of images on their site, and, like Unsplash, there is no attribution required. There is a pretty diverse range of photos on Pixabay, though the quality does vary. You can find some swell stuff though!

three. Stocksnap.io

Again, no attribution required here, and there'due south a dandy option of high-quality images. Many of the images are comparable to Unsplash, and sometimes the two overlap a fleck. Stocksnap.io has definitely come up in handy for me.

4. Flickr

Flickr has a lot of groovy stuff, yous just accept to be aware that not all of it is free for commercial use. You tin filter your searches to only include photos that are open up to commercial use and modifications, and you'll ordinarily have to credit the image to the original creator and link back to the source, but as I did on the photo higher up.

At that place are a few more options out at that place, but those are a expert place to offset. Fantastic photos will describe your brochure readers in and stay their trash-tossing mitt.

Set up to go started? Choose one of our free brochure templates and dive in!

Jarom McDonald

Jarom McDonald works as a content specialist on Lucidpress's marketing team. Outside of work, Jarom loves watching movies, occasionally watching birds, eating pizza, and driving a Prius (a vehicle he will defend passionately). Follow him on Twitter: @jarom2011.