Square Brochure Printing: How a Retail Solution Pops with Print
Hannah Sandberg is an art director known for her visual storytelling. Over the years, she’s used her discerning eye for clients like Warby Parker, Color Wines and Workshop CA, designing everything from windows to websites. And now you can add a stand-out square brochure to that list.
Tri Fold Brochure Layout
Retail ala Cart
Workshop CA is in the business of crafting mobile retail solutions. When they were ready to launch their new cargo-bike pop-up retail concept, they tapped Hannah to help.
“They were headed to a trade show for mall kiosks and they needed something that they could hand out that wasn’t just a business card that could get lost,” she explained. “But they also needed something that could introduce the brand since it was such a new idea and people here in the U.S. hadn’t seen or experienced anything like it yet.”
“After some back and forth, it came down to three things,” she said. “They wanted it to have a wow factor, it clearly had to say new and different and had to be designed in such a way that made it easy to process and remember.”
Pedaling the Concept
“I remember the project being pretty rushed. Luckily they’d just finished all of their product shots and had their website up and running so, the look was established and the content was ready,” Hannah recalled.
“When it came to the brochure, I knew I wanted to create something that functioned as well as the bike pop-up itself and reflected its attributes – its modernity, its sleekness, its inventiveness. I didn’t need a bunch of bright colors or a big poster or something like that to call attention to it.” But getting there took some doing.
Working with an online printer like Smartpress kept the process on track. Designing custom brochures is easy with an array of folds, coated and uncoated papers stocks, different weights and coatings to finish the job.
Ready to Roll
“I knew from the beginning that it needed to communicate as simply as possible that this is not just a bike. It’s not just a trailer. This is for retail. This is for you. And this is how easy it works,” said Hannah.
“That said, finding the right balance of text to design was tricky,” Hannah continued. “The images gave us the wow factor but we didn’t want the purpose of the brochure – explaining to people what this product was and how it worked – to get lost.”
Unique 8×8 Square Brochure Format
Step by Step
With Smartpress’ online printing services as her disposal, the brochure printing process came swift. “Once I settled on the 8″ x 8″ tri-fold, everything seemed to come together,” Hannah said. “The step-by-step process of unfolding it was like unwrapping a gift. It gave me the step one, step two, step three framework I needed to make the piece work. It was like the best moment ever.”
Branding Squared
“I couldn’t wait to get the piece in my hands,” she admitted. “I knew making it square was the secret to making it stand out. I also knew by using the tri-fold it would work more like a step-by-step guide as it unfolded, giving people a reason to stick with it and learn how really cool the product was and could be for their business.”
“And I was right,” Hannah said. “Spending the money on the square shape rather than the paper weight was the right call. The 100 lb. coated matte stock I picked looked sharp and felt substantial. The piece definitely got attention at the trade show. People responded well to the new product line and our piece and I think that was because they were both so unexpected.”
Hint: You’ve seen how to succeed with a square brochure. Check out these other formats:
