What Information To Include In Your Tri-Fold Brochure Layout To Provide Maximum Impact

Brochures can be any size, style, and layout, but tri-fold brochures are considered the gold standard. They provide excellent readability and are easy to tuck into books and envelopes. However, for the brochure writer, the most difficult part of creating a tri-fold brochure is deciding what kinds of information to include on each panel. Second, it's how to lay out that information for maximum impact. After all, you want your brochure opened and read.

So What Should Be Included In Each Panel?

Tri-fold brochures are usually folded from the landscape orientation, sides to the middle. The right side is usually folded in first, then the left side provides the front cover. This provides readers with six panels of information, front and back. The information that you include in your brochure should reflect what the reader will need to get enough information about the event. The most important information will go on the inside of the brochure, the least important information on the back.

Panel 1: This is the front of the brochure, the first page you see before opening it. Information on this front panel is usually sparse, containing the business, event, or organizational logo, web site, and event name. Its most important information, however, is its "headline." It should be short and concise, leading readers to want to open your brochure to read the information inside. This headline could be the event name and the event date. The date usually falls underneath the event name.

Example: The 8th Annual Fall Festival Activity Guide, August 18-August 21, 2017

Note that the front of the brochure is actually part of the back of it when it is printed. Brochure printing services will print one side, then the other side. They don't print each panel separately.

Panels 2, 3, and 4: When you open the brochure, you will see the inside front cover, the center of the inside of the brochure, and the right inside section of the brochure. Of these three panels, the left inside section is the most important since you are reading left to right. This panel should include the major event information. There are two ways to present this information. The first is to print the brochure using all three inside sections like it is one continuous image. Layout is key as you have to make sure that no words bleed into the folds. The second would be to treat each section independently, with pictures and text totally enclosed within each panel.

Panel 5: This is the back middle, of the brochure. It will usually contain information about the sponsors, phone numbers, and extra information, such as parking or maps.

Panel 6: Sometimes this section will be a tear-away section, with coupons. When you fold the brochure, this section will show under the front page. You want solid event information on this page, such as a history of the event, if you don't use it as a tear-away section. When you open your brochure, you will see this panel before flipping to the inside.

If you aren't comfortable with providing a camera-ready brochure to your printer, you can enlist them to help you design your brochure so that it is pleasing textually and visually.

Lastly: Brochure Aesthetics

For maximum impact, keep your brochure simple. Don't crowd your photos or information together. Leave enough white space so that it is easy to read. White space is simply space without anything in it. If you include photos, make sure that they are high-resolution photos. Poorer quality photos can become grainy when printed. Finally, use colors wisely. For example, if your brochure is about your local fall festival--muted oranges, blues, purples, and reds make a memorable backdrop to the information.


Share