Five tips for designing marketing materials

Marketers are spoilt for choice when it comes to communication channels. Traditional channels have now been supplemented by digital options. Smartphone use has also radically increased, changing the user experience.

Whatever your chosen channel, good design principles remain unchanged.

The old adage ‘less is more’ is a cliché but in many respects it applies to good design. An over designed piece of collateral often distracts your audience from your message. There is little value in impressing with your design skills if your call to action goes unnoticed.

Design should complement content rather than competing with it.

Good design does help to tell a story about your brand and what it stands for. It should reflect the message that you are trying to convey and help explain the value of your service or product. Some good design principles to keep in mind include:

• consider content flow – images should draw the eye around the page in a logical manner

• use easy to read fonts

• in web marketing avoid excessively large banners and images as they hog screen real estate and risk diluting your message

• avoid reverse text or placing text over images

• each image should reinforce copy. Don’t drown your messaging in unnecessary images, videos and banners.

As people increasingly view electronic communications on mobile devices busy designs can become a distraction. It’s vital to make sure that all the elements reproduce clearly regardless of the platform they are received on.

Start with your message. Get it right. Then work on the most effective design. Think simple. Consider multiple screen formats. Do this and you’ll avoid falling into the trap of form over function. Good design clearly explains your proposition and provokes action.