How should I design my catalog?
There are several ideas you can included in
your design, which will grab the reader's attention, such as colors,
graphics, and content.
When designing your catalog,
communication should be your primary goal. There are several ideas you
can included in your design, which will grab the reader's attention,
such as colors, graphics, and content. To help you along, ask yourself
these questions, how you answer them should point you in the right
direction of how to design your catalog.
- What size and how many pages? If
your catalog is only going to contain a few pages, then you may not
have enough space to print the content and graphics you desire.
- Gray scale or full color that is the
question. It is a fact that we are more attracted to colors,
therefore if your want your catalog to be seen and stick out among
all the other, then color would be your best option. However, if you
are planning to only mail out your catalog to those customers who
request it, then you can save some money by printing in black and
white.
- What type of paper will you use? The
majority of printed items look better if printed on plain glossy
paper, which is coated.
- How often will you distribute your
catalog? If the information and products are going to change
and be up dated on a regular basis then you may want to create
templates so that vital information can be plugged in for each
volume.
- Will you have graphics? Many
printers have graphics already loaded on them that you may be able
to use.
- Will you include ordering
information within your catalog? You can request to have a separate
brochure or flyer printed along with your catalog. By including this
information, you increase your sales, in some cases up to 20%.
Some other ideas that you should consider
to give your custom printed catalog design a more dramatic feel and
cleaner look are alignment and parallelism. Unknowingly, most
individuals prefer symmetry. Therefore, by making sure that your
graphics, images, and text are aligned, they will attract and direct the
attention of the reader.
Parallelism is repetition, balance, and agreement, which are achieved by
keeping the same atmosphere, and tone by maintaining the same or similar
colors, fonts, and style of graphics or images through out your catalog.
This is important for two reasons; first, it gives your catalog a
professional look. The second reason is that by maintaining a constant
theme through out, you do not create a distraction or break. The reader
is more apt to read your catalog from cover to cover.
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