5 Things To Consider When It Comes To Good Design
In our previous post, we mentioned that it’s important to have a professional image when it comes to marketing materials. In this post, we’re going to go into a little more detail of what makes a good design – or at least what you need to consider when creating new materials.
There are a lot of things worth thinking about – but as we’ve previously mentioned, good design and a great brand image can be beneficial to your company. So it’s worth putting some time into any materials which will be used for marketing – whether that be a leaflet, new brochure, branded materials or even your online profiles.
But what do you need to consider when designing new materials? Here’s 5 things worth thinking about.
Colours.
What colours are you going to use in your marketing materials? You want to make sure the colours go together, and there are a suitable number of them – for example, some businesses could use rainbow or bright colours, whereas another company might work with black and white or pastel shades.
Each colour probably needs to match the others too. Sometimes, clashing colours can work, but it might be better to stay away from this unless you’re sure. Your leaflet can’t use lurid colours which don’t suit it, putting off potential customers from going on your website or visiting your store.
Another way to think about this is by looking at your logo – using the colours in this across your marketing materials can create a stronger brand. This could lead to potential customers being more likely to use your company instead of another one.
Text.
What do you want to say? What’s the best way to say it? It’s not using massive paragraphs that no-one wants to read – remember, you’re trying to get their attention and keep it. A lot of text in a big chunk won’t help with this.
As well as having the text in manageable chunks, it’s worthwhile not using too much jargon in your words. Unless you’re at something like a trade show and it’s industry-specific language most of the people you’re talking to also speak. But if not, there’s no point using complicated language or too many abbreviations if your audience don’t understand them. They’re not going to keep reading or stay interested if they can’t understand. People will know a fair bit – but not industry-specific terms that they need to look up.
This can also link back to the previous point – the text needs to be a colour which suits the rest of your advertisement, but has to be readable. There’s no point even having text if no-one can see it.
Another thing to mention is the use of fonts. It’s already in the previous post, but just to recap: don’t use too many fonts as a couple at most will look at lot better than a different font for each piece of text. The fonts also need to suit your brand, and be readable. There’s more about this in the previous post though.
Finally, when it comes to text, make sure to proofread it. We did mention this in the previous post, but things which aren’t proofread and have spelling or grammar mistakes don’t look professional – so they don’t appeal to potential customers in the same way.
Images.
Are they large? Small? Square? In a space behind other elements? There are a lot of different things which can be done with images – these are just some of them. As well as this, the images need to be relevant, and preferably unique to your brand. If it’s a brochure you’re designing for example, there needs to be elements of your products and business in there.
Another key point of this is that images need to be high quality. Sometimes small images don’t need to be as high resolution, but larger ones definitely do. It doesn’t matter what size the image is, it can’t be blurry – which means if you’ve got a big image on a poster or show stand, it needs to be high quality to make sure it looks good when it’s made larger.
Another key thing here is the background – an overly patterned background might detract from the elements you want people to look at like text and images. Another point is that a patterned background would also need to be a high resolution.
The background needs to be the right colour – and suit the rest of what you’re trying to say. If you’re trying to do a black and white theme in the text and other elements, a bright blue background might not work so well. Alternatively, using colours out of your logo – as we mentioned earlier – in the background might look good.
Simplicity.
Overall, one of the things to think about is the simplicity of the design. Sometimes less is more. There’s no point having a brochure and cramming it full of everything there is to know about your business. People can look that stuff up – but not if they’re bored by all of the information in your brochure. They need to be intrigued to look at more.
Any marketing materials can’t be too basic – but space isn’t always a bad thing. It’s about finding that balance between too much and too little – and there is a balance. Just avoid chunks of text, as mentioned earlier, and stick to a couple of images rather than putting them everywhere – unless that’s the point of course.
It’s all a matter of opinion – but if you’re struggling to fit all of the elements into a leaflet, maybe lose a couple of things from it. It’ll look better in the long run if it’s not overfilled.
Call To Action.
One final tip is to always include a call to action in any marketing materials – unless it’s at something like a show where you’ve got a stand and other things like brochures. But if people are taking an advertisement for your business – like a flyer, for instance – away with them, you need to include something. Like a link to your website or social profiles. Because when they walk away from you, a call to action can help them look for your business. Making potential customers trawl through search results isn’t the best idea – they might find one of your competitors first and go to them instead. Or they might just not bother searching at all because you’re not so easy to find. It could happen.
A call to action can also help tempt people to find you – whereas without one they may not bother. So it’s worth putting one on there. Or at least some contact details where people can see them – like on the back of a brochure, for example.
There are a few things which can help with design – and these are only some of them. But there are benefits to having well designed materials – and these can then help your overall business. People are more likely to take notice and purchase from a company that looks good as opposed to one which doesn’t seem so great.
All in all, some elements of design are subjective – what one person thinks looks good another one might not. It can depend on the business too – as some companies might want to appear a certain way, whereas others wouldn’t. It depends on the image of the business and its audience. These are just some tips to help you make your designs a little better.
Spending a little more time ensuring things are designed well can help in the long run – boosting revenue or just making your business that little bit more memorable. It depends on whether you’d rather spend more time or money to get a better return on investment in the long run.
Would you like professional marketing materials designed for your business?
If so, Teknet Marketing’s Design Services can help! We design a variety of materials for you – from flyers and leaflets to show stands and branded business gifts. There’s much more too – for information, see our Design Services page! Alternatively, to make an enquiry, fill out the form on our Contact page, email hello@teknetmarketing.co.uk or phone 0800 488 0400!