Your leaflet must look professional and reflect your brand’s personality. It must also convey a clear message to its intended audience. This is a challenging task. Define your target audience and decide what you want to accomplish. Choose the best-folded leaflet format, determine a content layout, and create your design.
There are so many factors to consider during the design process that it is easy to create a confusing, cluttered design that does not serve its purpose. This post will help you navigate the entire process, from start to finish, and create a folded leaflet with a positive ROI.
Step 1 – Determine Who You Are Targeting
First, you need to identify who your folded leaflet is intended for. This will allow you to create a more personal message that resonates with the recipient. You will need to create a “persona profile”, which describes the intended recipient.
Ask questions like:
- Is it predominantly male or female?
- What is their age?
- Are they potential or existing customers?
- Which pain point(s) will your folded leaflet be touching?
- What are their common objections to your service/product?
Any questions can be added or removed. It’s essential that you can build a picture of the person you want to target with your leaflet. This will help you in the next step (i.e., Your message. This will help you determine the type of design most appealing to your target audience.
Suppose you discover that your target audience is young, sophisticated art lovers (25-30) who, despite their love of art, have difficulty finding art exhibitions that suit their tastes. In that case, consider designing something similar.
Both are great designs, but each style is very different and is suited to completely different demographics.
Step 2 – Writing Your Message
It will be easier to write your message once you have an idea of who you are targeting with your folded leaflet. Writing only some words on your folded leaflet is the best way to craft your message. Instead, you should decide what message you want to convey to the leaflet recipient.
The next step is to continue with the questions from step 1.
- What is my product or service that solves this person’s problem? How can I convey it in a folded leaflet
- What can I do to overcome the objections of this person (described in step 1)?
- What images and design styles are most likely to appeal to this audience? (E.g. energetic, minimalist, etc.)
- What is the incentive this person might need to be a customer? If they are already customers, take another action.
Remember that your folded flyer is the core of everything. The questions you answered above will help you figure out how to get there.
Example
Let’s say you are a charity that aims to stop young people (18-25) from using drugs. You would likely need a robust and impactful design with a compelling headline to resonate with this demographic. If you want to persuade them to do something, you will likely need to give them some hard facts (e.g., To not use drugs. Also, you’d need to address their pain point. This could be as simple as not being educated on the subject.
With this in mind, you might end up with a folded leaflet such as the one below:
You have a lot to work with folded leaflets. However, you can still overload them with information. It is vital to keep your message to the essentials.
Step 3 – Select a Fold Style
Now that you know who you are targeting, you clearly know what message you want to convey and how to do it. Next, choose a folding style for your leaflet.
There are four types of folds. Here is a quick overview of each one:
Single-Fold
One folded leaflet is the most popular choice in leaflet design. The example above shows that they open the same way as a book. Therefore, they are simple, effective, and easy to use. They don’t confuse people by “fancy” folding. These leaflets often have many pages. They are a great choice if your goal is to organize your information chronologically and systematically.
Everybody is familiar with reading books in this manner, so no matter who your target audience is, they will be able to handle this type of leaflet.
Letter Fold
A letter-folded leaflet can be presented similarly to an envelope letter. The booklet is divided into three sections and has two folders. Letter-folded brochures can provide visual content like maps, graphics, etc. They fold up neatly and are small enough that all information is visible when opened fully. Many people know how these leaflets work, similar to the single-fold booklet but smaller. Using this option, you can ensure that you don’t alienate or confuse your audience.
Concertina Fold
Concertina-fold leaflets are usually very similar to letter-fold leaflets in size and fold structure. They typically have two folds, although they can have as many as desired. However, unlike letter-fold brochures with multiple folds, concertina foldings require the recipient to open the leaflet fully to view the contents. They are an excellent option for visually rich content spread across many folds. These leaflets are also great if you need large visual content. A concertina leaflet can quickly flip from one side to the other.
Gatefold
The gate-fold leaflets can be referred to as “gate-fold” because they are folded so that the recipient feels like opening a gate. This type of fold can be used in a variety of exciting ways.
Both hands will part ways when the recipient opens the leaflet to reveal the contents. This is an excellent way for your audience to feel appreciated and stand out, mainly if they are used to dull brochures daily.
Step 4 – Select the Layout for your Design + Content
The hardest part of the process is choosing the layout and designing the leaflet. This is because it requires creativity. This is where you’ll need your creativity to shine. You decide to present your message to your audience in the best way possible. But you need to remember a few basic principles.
These are:
- Add a headline that grabs the attention
- Keep sentences brief and to the point (you don’t want people’s brains to be overwhelmed).
- High-quality imagery should be prominent (remember that you want people to see your leaflets even from afar).
- The color scheme should be simple and consistent with your branding.
- Your typography should be simple. No more than two to three fonts are allowed.
- Include a call to action.
The above cancer awareness leaflet looks fantastic and does nearly everything mentioned above. It has a catchy headline, consistent typography, and short sentences. One thing is missing: a call to action.
Here’s a great example of a call-to-action for leaflets (hint: The phrase “turn the pages to see how” is the CTA).
Note While the fold type you choose for your leaflet will impact how you present your content, You must ensure that all elements are included.
Step #5: Set up your design in Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign
The final stage is to set up your project using your preferred application. Next, you will need to begin designing your folded leaflet. This will incorporate everything that you have learned above.
You must ensure that you have the right setup for your application.
- Uses the CMYK color mode (not RGB).
- A DPI of 300 (double check this with the printing company you choose)
- Allows for bleed and trimming areas (generally around 3mm at each edge – double check with your printer company).
Because of the placement of different folds, the actual setup can be pretty complicated. It is best to download the pre-created templates from your preferred printing company.
There are templates for Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. If you are using another application, there are also JPG and PDF templates.
All you have to do to set up everything in Illustrator or Photoshop is to download the template file. You should get something similar when you do.
The template will already have the proper resolution, color mode, and dimensions. You can start by reducing the opacity of the guide layer to make it easier to incorporate your elements.
This is the result:
You should not place any of the essential parts of your folded leaflet within the bleed areas. These should be removed after printing. You will most likely lose any items you place in these areas. Once you have completed your design, you can simply delete the guide layer so that your plan is all that remains.
Conclusion
That’s everything! Now you can send your design to the chosen printing company to start the printing process. You should note that mistakes can still happen if you follow the instructions above. It is worth letting the printing company review your design before it goes to print. Before you publish, double-check the configuration for spelling errors, inconsistencies, and other issues. You might consider asking for feedback from family, friends, or colleagues. A fresh set of eyes can make a design look better.
We’d love to hear from you if we still need to include anything in this guide.
