Top 10 Product Brochure Principles

In my 10 years of working for products companies, these are some of things that I have learned in designing a great product brochure:

§ Less is More: show more white spaces, be it text or images, less is always more

§ Goal: Users absorb 3 or 4 major points once they read brochure. Even if they read the brochure alone on their desk with plenty of time

§ Images: Big images, infographics, and images of products being used by people or in applications is what people want to see

§ Show Humans: A brochure, irrespective of the product/ service should have a people’s pictures and expressions showing

§ Think Global: Your brochure should always be for global audience. Even if your market is 30 mile radius of silicon valley and NYC, your brochure should be global. Think of all the people in that radius who may be judging/ analyzing/ reviewing your products through the brochure.

§ Sports Theme: don’t use a specific sports theme on brochure such as NFL, baseball, Soccer, cricket, F1, or rugby. Apart from being illegal, it’s not global.

§ Design Rule: When you are designing the brochure from the scratch, always design the framework with blank spaces first, and fill the content later

§ Starting: If you have no clue as to how to start a brochure, look at your competition or similar products. Get ‘inspired’ about the framework, start drafting the content, and improvise.

§ Stone: Brochures are not written on stone. It should be dynamic and changing. Don’t create red-tape processes around brochures.

§ Length: Not less than 2 pages and not more than 4 pages. Ideal is 4 pages. First page for product brand and picture. Last page for features & benefits with contact info on next steps. 2nd page is for product introduction and break-up components, or exhibiting the product leadership. 3rd page is to answer the sales-resistance questions.