Publication Design is any print or digital multi-page document (white papers, annual reports, booklets, catalogs, ebooks, interactive fiction, etc.). Because of their size and being spread across many pages, publications require more planning, custom image creation, and shuffling of elements than about any other design projects. Their complexity also of production, publication design should be left to experienced professionals like Company Man Design.
Print Publication
White Papers
As Google puts it, a white paper is an “authoritative report giving information or proposals on an issue.” It is a multi-page document that is too often thought of as dry and direct, but white papers present your organization opportunities to influence readers, whether current or prospective customers.
Annual Reports
Due to their complexity and volume of content, annual reports rival website design in their magnitude. As such, they tend to fall into two categories: poorly designed, usually because the client organization relies on a cheap designer or a design firm that has bid so low that the work falls in priority; or well-designed but ultra-expensive because the client organization has gone with the biggest national design firms. Let Company Man Design produce a report that maintains and grows shareholder confidence.
Catalogs
In addition to the shared considerations of publication design, catalogs present additional unique design challenges: managing large amounts of data; coordinating quality, consistent product and/or portrait photography; and developing multiple templates for all common page types. Let Company Man Design produce a well-designed catalog that targets your customer demographic.
Digital Publications
ebooks
The technical learning curve of designing and producing an ebook can be daunting, even for and experienced designer. The challenge is multiplied for authors with zero design experience.
Company Man Design is the perfect fit for your ebook design. Our primary, Thomas McAuley, has years of writing experience and had designed and produced multiple ebooks. So not only can we layout your words themselves, as a marketing-focused design company, we can approach the design of your ebook in artful and sales-minded manner so you’re not writing just for the love of it.
Interactive Works
Provide us with a story map or a finished IF work in any common software program and we’ll collaborate with you to produce your interactive fiction work. We will work with your photographers and illustrators or coordinate work with those in our professional network. Our founder is a writer and writer advocate so you know your work is in good hands.
In this digital world, one might expect printed anything to be passé at best, if not outright obsolete. But printed stationery design is still a not only a thing: it’s a necessity. Digital stationery isn’t a replacement but an addition to an individual’s or a company’s list of corporate identity needs. I have branded and rebranded 50+ large and small organizations nationwide, including full print and digital stationery.
Brochures and hand-outs share many aspects with other effective marketing design pieces. They’re similar to flyers in that they are left behind to catch viewers’ eyes. They’re like sales sheets in their capacity to convey a lot of detailed information and a clear call-to-action. They can act like hand-held posters or oversized business cards in their eye-catching simplicity. Since they’re sturdy and cheap to produce, they should be part of any smart marketer’s tool kit.
Brochures
Beyond the obvious production considerations, brochures require unique design planning when it comes to where and how they will be displayed. If handled correctly, brochures can be a very power vehicle for your offerings and for awareness of your company.
Handouts
The main differentiator between handouts and flyers is that handouts are frequently handed directly to a prospective customer. However, in cases when they aren’t, they still need to stand on their own.
Let CMD design your brochures and handouts so they can do the job they were intended to do: to convert customers from “prospective” to “paying”.
Postcards and flyers differ from other types of advertisement in that they often will be viewed “cold”, meaning they won’t be handed directly to a prospective client—besides band promotion and protests —but be viewed without introduction or context. So these special designed pieces can be more of a marketing challenge than most other types of advertisement. The designer must communicate a clear, engaging message that resonates with its targeted demographic before the viewer instinctively flicks it into the trash.
Postcards
Yes, postcards are still useful, effective marketing pieces. Admittedly, it’s a numbers game, but it’s an arguably good investment because you know that your advertisement will be in the literal hands of your prospective customer. And since postcards are cheap to produce and mail, they start to look like a very attractive marketing option.
Flyers
Like postcards, flyers are a numbers game. They can be sent but are more commonly placed strategically where the highest number of eyes from your target demographic are ensured. However, marketing using flyers presents two additional challenges postcards don’t present:
You’re competing against any other flyers in the area rather than against the other pieces of mail as postcards do. So there are potentially more competitors; and,
Since you’re competing for viewer’s eyes, you’re design for viewer attention. But this must be achieved tastefully. The temptation may be to go bold and garish, but doing always compromises corporate identity. It’s like wrapping the organization in a skimpy club dress: it’s not the type of attention they need. Use of white space and simple messaging does a better job, if only by standing out from the other bad designs near it.
Event/Holiday Card Design
Cards are similar to brochures and flyers, but the feelings around them are usually friendlier. They’re less “marketing”—at least at first glance. It’s important not to get lulled into thinking card design is a complete design reprieve. Though it may seem like it in this case, there’s always a marketing angle to any design, and cards are no exception. The only meaningful difference between brochures, flyers, and other print advertising and cards is that the former are overt and are intended to build sales, while the latter are subtle and intended to build good feelings…which, like it or not, is aimed ultimately at building sales, even if only in part. At the very least, cards are a method of communication that touches the soft underbelly of business. If only out of sensitivity to this vulnerable position, the tone and message of a card design should be taken as seriously as any other design project.
Let Company Man Design protect your corporate identity and deliver your message.
Graphical elements are usually graphics that are functional, utilitarian, or supportive in nature. That is not to say they are unimportant. They are the backup singers, the hidden heroes, of the design world and should be given the credit (attention) they deserve.
As the hidden heroes of graphic design, icons, icon sets, graphs, charts, decorative touches, and data visualizations bring clarity and interest to whatever environment they’re placed, whether for web or print.
Header text is fine, but how much time can be saved by distinguishing text blocks of similar subject matter with carefully crafted or selected icons? How much clearer is data presented in a chart or graph? How much easier is it to communicate a potentially complex process with a detailed illustration or infographic?
If your content is running on or you’re detecting a lag in user/viewer interest, or if you’re having a difficult time simplifying your product, process, or concept to a client, maybe it’s time to consider value-added graphics. Maybe it’s time to consider Company Man Design.
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