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Guide For Crafting Best Catalog Designs (15 Expert Tips)

· Graphic Designing

The moment you decide you are going to buy something really essential such us a house, jewelry, car or even some exquisite furniture, for that matter – what you first demand for, from the seller or retailer is a catalog. Same like brochure design it is an important thing for learning about something, comparing or evaluating your choices.

A catalog can be regarded as the face of any business organization or entity that wants to present its client's details about their products. It is, in fact, a very crucial element to attract customers and give them an appropriate idea as to what is one selling or what are the products they have on sale. Thus, it is very important to put forth a well-designed and well-laded catalog which doesn’t only look attractive but also serves the purpose specifically. It should present different products in a clear and appealing manner by organizing things which catches the eye instantly by strategically using effective images and texts to make customers understand.

Catalog in one way or other is instrumental in catching potential buyers and bringing in profits eventually. The role of a catalog is to lure customers, compel them to make up their mind and arrive at a positive decision, in favor of the seller or brand. This is the reason why you need the assistance of expert catalog designers.

Product Catalog Design

Now let’s move on to how to come up with an interesting and catchy catalog that will surely win over customers!

  • Design &Color: Add life to your catalog by bringing in befitting design elements and choosing the right color palette. Design an apt cover that gives a gist of what lies inside, in an effective and innovative manner. Use attractive yet relevant images of the things featured on the catalog cover design. Even the tone of the design matters here. If it is a sports store then use bright colors, if girls fashion then go in for pink hues and so on. It is a good idea to number the pages but the downside is that people are likely to land directly on their choice of the page rather than glancing through each and every page.
  • Choose typefaces wisely: Don’t go overboard in creativity while using typefaces while catalog designing. The best option is to use only two to three fonts maximum. You can create variations between headlines and body text by using bold or italics options.
  • Quality images: It is advisable to take professional help from any of the reputed photo retouching company to enhance the images of the products or services before including pictures within your catalog design. Use high resolution and clear-cut images. Good quality images will help to project your products in the best possible way.
  • Highlight essential elements: Things like discounts, seasonal offers, latest arrivals and so on should be given importance. This can be achieved by throwing in some interesting design elements like pop-ups or dialogue bubbles or whatever that catches the eye.
  • The brand factor: In order to establish a rapport with customers, it is essential to maintain consistency within your design elements like retaining same color pattern, symbols or layouts. This will create a brand identity and your products will be able to relate with its customers.
  • Bring relief: One of most important catalog design tips is to avoid being repetitious and droning. Do away with monotony through a special page or make use of the centerfold to give a full-length picture in relevance to your brand, product or services.
  • White Spacing: Break away the clutter by infusing some white spaces here and there. It is fine if you generously apply them instead of irritating the clients by using too many images, colorful contents and cramping in a lot of different products – all in one page.
  • Choose appropriate cover: Not only the cover should carry right design but must also be made up of apt material. It depends whether you want the cover to be made up of paper stuff or sturdy, card-type. The former will be easy for circulation while the latter will have shelf life.
  • Give a thought to summary: The art of convincing customers lies in the product descriptions. Include all the vital information and details regarding the products in an accurate and effective manner. Seek help from any of the professional content writers out there to fill in the product catalog design with appropriate wordings.
  • Keep a check on the length: Too many pages can shun away the customers. To keep their interest intact, maintain the number of pages to minimum and according to the purpose. It is advisable to follow the multiples of four while adding pages to the catalog.
  • A platform for experiment: Since there are wide ranges of customers, one can freely experiment in terms of choosing bright colors, striking images, creative artworks and colorful backdrops and so on.
  • Flat design option: These days it is in vogue for designers to use flat designs effectively within catalogs. By infusing texture or using color gradients within plain backgrounds, you get an elegant design option. Even photographs follow similar formula and it really works well.
  • An innovative combination: Another trend is to blend in graphic elements with photography, for example, adding illustrations within photos or layout. You would have come across catalogs that have fonts, fun symbols or characters woven creatively within subtle design layouts.
  • A personalized feel: Adding artistic touch by infusing hand-written type fonts or hand-drawn pictures is also a fad now. But take care not to overuse it. If there are many pages involved, blend in these personalized elements to give a special feel as well as to bring respite.
  • Paper matters: Effective catalog designs are not only based on layout, images, colors, content…. But you should give equal importance to the kind of paper to be used for the catalog. The quality of the paper as well the size matters a lot while influencing the customers. Choose the paper according to the company’s market status, how it will be bound, whether it will be laminated or will have matte finish, inks to be used and so on…

At the end, don’t ignore your creative facet while sticking to guidelines. What is important is to maintain fun element while crafting a catalog - give it a feel and most importantly, it should meet the objective or match the reason it has been made for in the first place. The main idea is to showcase one’s brand in a distinct and well-defined manner so as to promote and sell the products.