How do you go about creating your company's flyers and brochures?

Making them in-house using Word and Excel.
Asking the production company you always work with.
Writing them by hand because it's quicker that way.

There are all sorts of production methods.

Design quality may vary somewhat, but whichever method you use, you want to create flyers and brochures that get seen by the people you want to see them and whose message reaches the people you want to reach, right?

Design tends to get all the attention with flyers and brochures, but what matters even more is conveying the message you want to get across. In this article, we introduce three points to watch out for when creating flyers and brochures—points that will dramatically boost your response rate whether you produce them on a computer, by hand, or through a production company.

If you're about to create a flyer or brochure, or hand the job to a production company, please use this as a reference.

[Three points to watch out for when creating flyers and brochures
No. 1: Think about the page that will be seen first]

Flyers reach readers in all kinds of ways: as newspaper inserts, through postal drops, or sent out as direct mail.
If, for example, you made a flyer in B4—the size most commonly used for newspaper inserts—and used it as a newspaper insert, the first side the reader sees would be the entire front of the flyer.

However, if you delivered that same flyer by postal drop, B4 would be too big to fit in a mailbox. Since it's too big, you'd fold it in half, and then the first thing the reader sees would be one of the two folded halves.

And if you turned it into direct mail, depending on the size of the envelope, it might be folded in three or some other way, giving it a different size again from a newspaper insert or postal-drop flyer—and changing which side is visible.

From the very first side they see, readers instantly judge whether it's relevant to them, whether it's worth reading, and whether they're interested. If that first side fails to draw them in, then no matter how great the content is on the parts they can't see, it will end up in the trash unread.

The same thinking applies to brochures, but unlike flyers, brochures have a front and back cover, so the first side a reader sees is generally the front cover.
Still, brochures may be mailed, or placed in a rack or beside the register, so they reach readers in many different ways. As far as possible, you should predict how it will first catch the eye and design accordingly.

[Three points to watch out for when creating flyers and brochures
No. 2: Consider the age of your readers]

What age group is the flyer or brochure you're about to create aimed at?

Unlike a website, once a flyer or brochure has been printed you can't easily make changes.
Before you start, it's important to clearly decide which age group you're targeting and then create a layout, typeface and font size that are easy for those people to read.

The clearest example is the font size used when creating flyers and brochures for elderly readers.
Generally, text in printed materials such as flyers and brochures is considered readable at a minimum size of 8 pt (magazines, newspapers, business cards and other text-heavy items sometimes use smaller sizes), but if your target audience is elderly, 8 pt may look hard to read, and there's a chance they won't read it at all.

This also depends on the layout and content, so there's no single "right answer," but personally I feel that for flyers and brochures aimed at older readers, using a font size of at least 12 pt makes them much easier to read. I use 12 pt for body copy and other areas with a fair amount of text, and headings of around 17–20 pt to match.

For flyers and brochures aimed at children, likewise use a fairly large font size, and depending on their age write in hiragana, or add furigana even when using simple kanji. Just as with older readers, you need to see things from your target's point of view.

Making changes after the fact is a hassle, so when creating a flyer or brochure, start by thinking about the age of your target audience.

[Three points to watch out for when creating flyers and brochures
No. 3: Imagine the situation in which it will be viewed]

Flyers and brochures come in all sorts of sizes and shapes.
From small ones you can carry in one hand to large ones like newspaper inserts.
As for brochures, there's the commonly used bi-fold, plus tri-fold, Z-fold, accordion fold and more—combine those with the various sizes and there are countless ways to make one.

Deciding on that size and shape becomes much easier once you imagine the situation in which your target will be looking at it.

For example, if it's a brochure you want people to pick up casually at your store, slip into a bag and take home, then something compact like an A4 tri-fold would be a good choice.
If you want to show photos large, or you have a lot of information to convey, you'll want a larger brochure (or one with more pages), but that makes taking it home a bit of a burden. Cutting content to avoid that means you can't fully convey what you want to say, so a little ingenuity is needed—such as providing plastic bags for carrying the brochure home.
Conversely, if it's a brochure only meant to be shown on the spot, a large size shouldn't be a problem.

Just as with No. 2, "Consider the age of your readers," also consider the situation in which your target will be viewing the flyer or brochure.

Keep these points in mind and create flyers and brochures that lead more directly to sales and new customers.