Maybe you are considering a leaflet or flyer advertising campaign to promote your business. If so, there are several key Leaflet design issues that you should be very mindful of before you decide to get anything printed and distributed. The first is to appreciate that your leaflet or flyer will only have a similar ‘lifespan’ to that of a typical newspaper, which is approx 9 hours. After that time, it’s likely the kids have got marmalade on it; the dog has chewed it, or it’s been ‘tidied’ up and thrown in the trash. Even if your leaflet or flyer is going to be distributed to commercial prospects only, this ‘lifespan’ issue is still critical, albeit for varying circumstances. It is absolutely vital therefore that your leaflet design has instant impact, credibility, and a killer headline.

Once you have decided upon your headline, you now need to think about using images in your leaflet design. Now we need to be aware of how our headline affects the rest of the design. This revolves around the concept of ’straight’ and ‘bent’ headlines, and ’straight’ and ‘bent’ images.

So, what is a straight headline? Or a bent one?

This is an example of a ’straight’ headline for an Air Conditioning company
“High quality Air Conditioning”
This is a ‘bent’ one for the same business.
“Cool Air – Hot Prices”

Here is another example, this time for a Limousine Hire company
“Limousine Hire”
Or
“Size does matter!”

It is fairly apparent what the difference is.
But being able to pull it off when using a bent headline is something else altogether.
The big mistake that inexperienced copy writers make is to fail to reinforce the headline with solid product facts. They fall into the trap of keeping the tone off beat, and feel they have to keep amusing the reader with more joke laden copy.
Don’t.
If you use a bent headline, keep your body copy clean, concise, and full of benefits.

The images you use in your leaflet design can also be straight or bent.
But this where it can get complicated. Generally, you should use a straight image if you use a bent headline. And vice versa.
It takes a talented designer to use both a bent headline and image.

There is much more to this, but I am only outlining basics in this article.
Let us now move on to the Typeface, or Font that you employ in your leaflet design.

First and foremost, and the absolute cardinal rule when deciding which font to use is readability.
Readability, when all is said and done, is what it’s all about.
So, before you commit one word of copy to your masterpiece, ask yourself some simple questions.
- Who will my likely reader be?
- What purpose am I trying to achieve with my leaflet?
- Where will it be read, in what context?

I would strongly advocate sticking to the tried and tested faces such as Arial, Times, Helvetica and Gill.
Having said that, if you want to purchase a non standard font, one which will work superbly in almost any situation, take a look at ‘Frutiger Ultra Bold’ (Frutiger has many variations, Ultra Bold is one which looks great in print and is very versatile)

Once you have picked your typeface….stick to it. Don’t be tempted to use various other fonts to spice up the copy. Frutiger Ultra Bold for your headline and Frutiger Bold for all your sub copy will be just fine. Try it for yourself and see. You are aiming for simplicity, clarity and impact.

Ok, so now you have a killer headline.
You have chosen a great typeface.
What next?

Well, now we need to look at concepts like ‘benefits and features’ and the often subtle difference between the two. Use of space; too much and too little. Calls to action and other important facets of what makes a great leaflet design.
Get them all right in one advertisement and you have a winning proposition on your hands.

These will be the subjects of my next article.

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