Brochures are a promotional tool for companies, organizations, and institutions to disseminate information to the public and call on the public to participate in certain activities. Brochures are most suitable for disseminating and explaining information to the general public or a specific group of people. This guide will teach you the design, layout, and production of a tri-fold brochure.

Decide the Content

Start by identifying the main message you want to convey. The most effective brochures are usually designed around an idea, a goal, or a problem; too much information will only confuse your audience.

Write a brief introduction to your business or organization.

Choose a slogan. The brochure should encourage people to do one thing, and how to do it should be summarized in the most concise language.

• For example, you may be the person in charge of a charity organization, so you can solicit donations from people through Twitter, Weibo, or email. Your fundraising slogan should also be concise and powerful.
• Slogans are usually placed on the inside pages of brochures.

Jargon should not appear in the text. Unless you’re pitching to people in the industry, the terminology can be confusing to outsiders. In addition, jargon and clichés are best avoided.

Add contact details. The first page of the brochure is the most suitable place to place website information, while the last page is suitable for placing addresses and maps.

• You can save an online map of your company or organization and place it on the back cover of your brochure.

Split text with pictures. Divide the text into several small paragraphs, separate them with pictures, and then distribute them on 6 pages.

Typesetting

Find a piece of printer paper to draft. First, you can outline the approximate location of various information on printed paper, or you can ask everyone on the team to make a sample, then communicate with each other, share ideas, and finally finalize the content.

Put the company or organization’s logo on the first and last pages. It’s okay to place it on the inside page, as long as it’s eye-catching enough.

Place a large title on the home page or inside pages. Generally speaking, the text in the largest font size is also the first thing to attract the reader’s attention.

Adjust text font and layout. The following are some practical suggestions in this regard:

• The font should not be smaller than size 12, otherwise it will be difficult to read.
• Important text can be emphasized in bold or italics.
• Use no more than two fonts. The selected fonts should be easy to read. You can first print out samples in size 12 to see if each font is suitable.

Use bullet points to organize information. Of course, numbers can also be used.

Choose a background color that suits your printer. If you have access to a professional printer, you can use a lighter background color, but be aware that if your layout is crowded and the background is bright, it will be difficult for readers to focus on the text.

Design Layout

Collect pictures. Save an electronic version of the image so you can use it anytime when creating a brochure. Here are a few ways to get images:

• Hire a professional photographer to take photos of your office space, employees, and events. The salary of a professional photographer ranges from 300 to 3,000 yuan per hour. Please choose according to your own financial strength. Remember, beautiful images definitely enhance your brochure.
• Search or buy clip art. Use Google or Bing image search to find suitable clipart. Of course, some cost money to buy, but some high-quality clipart can be purchased for less than 30 yuan.
• Purchase image rights from Flickr or a local photographer. If you just want to get beautiful images for a brochure, buying the right to use a photo library is also a good option. Before purchasing, carefully compare prices and repeatedly negotiate various restrictions.

Choose a brochure creation tool. The tools for creating brochures are also diverse.

• There are templates for various publications in Microsoft Word. You can click “File” – “New from Template” in a newer version of Word, and then select “Brochure” from the publications panel.
• Apple Pages has become a popular tool among amateur designers due to its high-quality templates and ease of use. To use, click Brochures in the Page Layout tab. Pages are priced at US$9.99 (approximately RMB 60) on MAC and iPad.
• Ask a graphic designer to use Adobe InDesign or Illustrator and design a complete brochure based on your draft. You can hire designers from within the agency or contact them online. Most designers have their own portfolios and you can judge their level by their past work.

Insert picture. Pages allow users to drag pictures directly onto the template; Word can insert or adjust pictures by right-clicking the picture section on the template or inserting them through the Insert menu.

• Don’t forget to insert your logo in multiple places.

Paste the text into the template. If there is no ready-made text on your computer, you can also enter it manually.

• Be careful when copying text from Word to Pages. It is best to save the text in a rich text editor such as Notepad or TextEdit first so that the formatting can be removed when copying.
• Don’t forget to include contact information.
• Adjust text format through the formatting toolbar of Word or Pages. The two software are very similar at this point. They can be set through the top menu or the pop-up toolbar. You can then click on different fonts to see the effect.

If using Word or Pages, start inserting information on the second side. The first side is the cover, one of the inside pages, and the back cover; the second side is the other three inside pages.

Have someone else proofread the brochure. It is not enough for a publication to simply have no typos or spelling errors. When asking others to proofread, ask them to pay special attention to errors in writing and information expression.

• When asking someone to proofread, you can print out the sample on your computer first, or you can send an electronic version to the other party. Many errors can often be found after printing.

Print brochures. You can use your own double-sided printer to print the final product. Of course, you can also send the file to a local print shop and ask them to print it. You can also contact an online print shop or a local printing factory.

• If it is a brochure for a business or professional organization, it is best to print it with a professional printer. Only brochures printed on coated paper with higher definition are likely to be retained by people.
• If printing from a professional manufacturer, you’ll also need to decide on paper type, size, turnaround time, and proofreading standards.

Distribute brochures. The value of the brochure depends on whether you can distribute it to the target audience. You can ask someone to distribute it for you, or you can contact relevant institutions or companies to distribute it for you.