Established Minimalist Practices: White Space and Breaking the Design

White Space – Also called negative space, white space is basically an empty space in the printed material that has no print on it. White space plays a vital role in established minimalist design practices.

This Sic company brochure makes great use of white space.

Proper use of negative space would enable a designer to bring a particular design element such as a slogan or tagline into prominence. A contained infographic carrying the main message a brochure fold contains would do well being surrounded by white space highlighting its importance. Of course, how the designs of all folds work together should also be factored in.

Breaking the Design – Sounds counter-intuitive? It’s actually a sound minimalist practice. Breaking the design means starting off with a full design idea then subtracting elements until the design breaks or fails. You eliminate all the elements until the design doesn’t relay its message anymore to see which are indeed necessary and which are superfluous. When the design breaks, just bring back the elements that were taken out last and work with what you have left.

Subtracting what would otherwise be normal and expected facial features made it evident that apparently, the only key facial features you need to depict Adolf Hitler are his iconic mustache and neatly parted hair.

Minimalism in All Aspects of Design: Colors and Text

Minimal Colors – Minimalism advocates the use of fewer colors in the spirit of its ideal, but in retrospect, there’s more to using fewer colors than just to minimize that particular element.

An ad campaign by Jeep uses only two colors and intertwining images to make the unmistakable outline of a Jeep appear. The two colors used are not even worth mentioning on their own, but their role in the entire design is quintessential.

Colors are powerful visual tools that can elicit both explicit and sublime reactions from audiences. For two-color designs, the contrast and match-up of the two colors used should be poignant yet subtle. For multiple color designs, how they blend or work together shouldn’t distract the audience from decoding the message relayed therewith. In simpler terms:

• Color match-ups shouldn’t be striking on their own, unless otherwise necessary. They only serve to support the main impact of the entire design.
• Swathes and palette choices should reflect minimalist ideals of subtlety to invoke a greater effect. In the process they should not break away from how the entire design achieves that end goal.

Minimal Text – Don’t take this literally. Don’t be terse, but embrace brevity. Your minimalist design encompasses both graphic elements as well as text. So say as much as you can with as little as possible.

A minimalist poster concept for popular TV title Sex and the City needed only those four words (except for words used in the credits) and a few shapes and colors.

Consider:

• Using infographics. Infographics use relatively less text than an actual article.
• Getting straight to the point. You may find designing an entertaining exercise and may end up beating around the bush just because. Don’t make your readers think too much (unless that‘s your actual goal). Remember, your design concept is minimalism: get to the point fast.

1. Remember Your Audience
Know for whom you are creating your brochure before you even begin the design process. Make sure that every design choice you make will appeal to this audience. For instance, pastel colors work well for a brochure advertising a baby boutique, while muted colors work well for a corporate audience.

2. Keep Content Short
Do not overwhelm readers with panels full of text. Instead, limit each panel to one or two subheadings and a few bullet points underneath each. Reserve an entire panel for your contact information. On your cover, include only a heading and a statement that leads readers to open up the panel.

3. Use Sections
Break content and images into chunks of information. This allows for more white space, which is more appealing to the eye, but it also helps to divide information into small sections that readers can easily digest.

4. Place People in Pictures
Make sure that the majority of your images include people since they make images much more appealing. Your photos should show how your product or services are improving people’s lives.

5. Use the Right Paper
A heavy weighted paper feels much more professional than a lighter weight; however, also keep in mind that it needs to be light enough for folding. A 10-14pt cover paper is ideal, but 80-100# text paper works nicely as well. Use a gloss coating to make colors and images pop.

Keep in mind that one of the best ways to know what looks professional is to see it firsthand. Browse through inspirational brochure collections online to get a better idea of professionalism. Then be sure to use the secrets above to help you create the ideal brochure design that successfully reflects the quality of your brand.

Family

Thanksgiving dinner is a common theme for marketing during this time of year, but rather than using a photograph of a family at the dinner table with a large turkey in the center, try a different approach. For a funny tone, use a picture of Uncle Ed snoring on the sofa with his mouth wide open. Or for advertising for a restaurant, use a picture of Mom dropping the turkey on the kitchen floor with a subtitle mentioning your delicious turkey dinner available for just such an emergency.

Pilgrims

Incorporate the Pilgrim story and legends into your promotional materials for touching on the heart of the holiday. You may want to include the first Thanksgiving story into your brochures or catalogs to entice readers to open the cover. Or you may want to use images from this historical account. Play on the message of the Pilgrim theme such as giving, sharing, and thanksgiving with free gifts or discounts.

Cornucopia

The cornucopia can also be called the “horn of plenty,” which can be spun into nearly any marketing message. Plus, a cornucopia gives many color options, from the orange of pumpkins to the purple and green of grapes. The harvest theme can also include autumn leaves, which give another array of color – greens, golds, reds, browns, and oranges are all options for a Thanksgiving graphic design.

Whatever theme you decide to use for your brochures, postcards, flyers, or catalogs this year, be unique but don’t stray too far from tradition. Thanksgiving gives plenty of options for creating a one-of-a-kind marketing campaign that still connects with the holiday spirit and with your customers.

Design tips by Susana Ortiz:

When designing an image take advantage of the Adobe Photoshop’s Eye Dropper Tool, as seen above. Below are the step-by-step instructions.

1. Select the Eye Dropper Tool
2. Change Sample Size to “31 by 31 Average” (or higher, depending on the size of image)
3. Sample different areas and create new swatches to use for text or design elements in your artwork.

No Memorable Image – Some companies make the mistake of creating a logo without a memorable image.  Make sure that the image in your logo is something that is uniquely yours and is appropriate for your company. Think of the Nike logo – the swoosh image  is not only one-of-a-kind but also appealing to their target audience. The swoosh looks athletic.

Inconsistency - In every single item that is associated with your company, whether color posters or packaging materials, consistently use the same core branding aspects. The same logo, company name, tagline will reinforce your brand over and over to the public. For the same reason, you will need to give employees the same business card design for further branding consistency.

No Focus – What do you do best? What do you want to be known for? Whether it is one-on-one personalized service or the newest technology, constantly reinforce this unique offer. Also, know who your company appeals to. Know your target market so that you don’t waste your branding efforts on an audience that doesn’t have a need for your services. Knowing your target audience will further help you fine tune your company image to fit your customers’ needs and lifestyle.

Unbelievable Message – Your tagline and core message should be believable to customers. If you advertise like Verizon Wireless that “we never stop working for you,” you’d better follow through and never stop working for a customer when they come to you with a complaint about your service or product.

Poorly Constructed Message – In order for your customers to both remember and believe your message and tagline, they need to be able to understand what it is you are offering. If your message is jumbled with too many technical terms, your customers will get frustrated and give up trying to understand you. Be clear with your words and phrases so that customers know exactly what you offer and also what sets you apart from your competitors.

Poor Maintenance – Ever heard the phrase “keep on keeping on?” Don’t just stop with one marketing campaign, one run of color posters, one printing of brochures. Your marketing campaigns should be ongoing and constantly putting your brand in front of your target market. This concept is at the heart of successful branding. Most brands are successful simply because they become recognizable because they are always in the public eye.

Poor Customer Service – Train employees on your mission and goals. If your employees don’t know the image your company wants to portray, how can you expect them to portray this image to your customers? Employees should know the reason for your tagline; they need to be excited about making your brand known to customers.

Old Marketing Materials – Keep your look fresh by re-designing your marketing materials, including flyers, brochures and postcards every so often. While it does save money to order larger quantities, don’t order too much or you’ll bore your target audience with the same materials year after year. Just remember to keep your key branding items the same.

No Word of Mouth Advertising – One of the most common reasons for customers to switch companies is through referrals from their friends and family. Give existing customers referral postcards with a 10% discount for new customers, and give your existing customers the same for every postcard with their name on it that gets used. When you get positive feedback from customers, ask if you can use it in your brochures or place it on your website. Referrals help to reinforce the integrity of your brand.

No Plan for Testing – Your business needs to keep track of marketing efforts so that you know what works for getting your brand name to your target market. Track the return on investment (ROI) of your direct mail campaigns, research the best locations to hang your color posters, ask new customers how they heard of your business. Testing your marketing efforts will help you to build a tried and true campaign that will work for you year after year.

1. Create a Web site or blog. You should already have a Web site, but just in case you don’t, make one. Or, if your Web site host is charging you hundreds of dollars per year to keep your site up, try finding another host. You can get a free site through Mysite.com or Freewebs.com. You’ll have to allow the Web host to run ads on your site, but you can also get low-cost hosting services for as little as $20 per month.

If you don’t have a blog, I’d suggest starting one of those too. (In fact, a lot of companies create blogs that function as their Web site. That’s not a great option, as you can’t create Tabs and nice graphic design like you can with a Web site host, but in tough times, you can make it work.) Either way, you should have a blog so that you have some way of communicating with your customers and prospects. A blog is a great way to get your personal side out there for your customers to see, and it’s also a great way to establish yourself as an expert – by giving advice on your products and industry.

2. Post on forums and article sites. Staying online, you should also post expert answers on forums, or at least join in a conversation about something going on in your industry. You can include a link to your Web site on these forum posts, which will drive more traffic your way, and increase therefore business. There are plenty of article databases that you can post free articles to, but make sure that your articles are informative and give the reader something of value. People want to buy from a business owner who is seen as expert; no one wants to buy from a business owner who has nothing to offer.

3. Hang some printed flyers. Yep, getting back to basics is not a bad way to drum up some business in hard times. People still have to go the grocery store and the bank, so hang up your printed flyers there. And in hard times, more people will be getting to the store by bus, so hang some flyers at the bus stops as well. Be sure to either design your flyer so that you have some tear-offs with your contact info at the bottom, or make a pocket on the flyer (simple as attaching an envelope) that has your full color brochures or custom business cards in it.

4. Word-of-mouth marketing. Simply ask current customers to spread the word. People believe their friends and family over marketing materials anyway, so use that to your advantage. You can sweeten the deal for current customers by creating some referral cards that current customers can give to new customers. The incentive? A discount on the current customer’s next purchase. This is a proven way to get new business and at the same time, show your current customers that you care about them, too.