We all receive tons of advertising in our mail. We glance at it, and most of the time we throw it away, either because we do not require the service offered or because we can’t be bothered to try to figure out what the advertiser is trying to sell us.
Discarded advertising is a loss for everyone: it is wasted money for the business who put out the flyer, it is wasted time for the reader, and it costs to society in garbage collection and recycling.
In the screencast found on my site (www.design-maestro.ca), I show you some of the flyers I have received, contrast two of them in terms of design and efficiency. I also take on redesigning a third flyer to show how we can easily improve our brand and increase our changes of being read.
The first flyer came from a heating company. The owner, literally put everything about his business on one piece of green paper. The text goes on and on, is in a small font, with little contrast, resulting in a piece that is difficult to read, is unattractive, and ultimately, cost this business money that will not translate into customers.
At the other end of the spectrum is a two-sided, glossy flyer from a junk removal company. The paper is white with minimal text, aided by two simple graphics. The front side says: 1 junk truck + 1 team = removal made easy. On the other, in big letters is Save $10. These two easy to read elements made me read further for details, and even those details were well laid out and easy to access.
We have all heard the saying less is more. When trying to get potential clients to read your material, this holds true. Put the essential and toss the rest. Put that extra info on your website, in an other brochure, or tell them when you talk. But even then, no one wants to read or hear a doctoral dissertation.
I could go on, but I have said what I needed to say.
Design Maestro 