Brochures are one of the most traditional forms of advertisement. Despite the digital world, having a well-designed brochure can go a long way in helping firms pass important messages, about offering a product or a service, within the shortest time with such precision.
A widely used type of brochure is the tri-fold brochure. Using this format is compact which makes it easy to develop and organize. It is suitable for companies who want to give the customer a brief view of their brands.
In this ultimate guide, you will understand everything about designing your tri-fold brochures or the basics and printing tips, format specifications, and so on. Let’s get started!
Basics of Brochure Designing
When designing a brochure, especially a tri-fold brochure, it’s essential to keep the end goal in mind: a way of presenting information that is easy to understand especially as your audience perceives it. Here are some fundamentals to consider:
Know Your Audience:
Identifying your audience will assist in deciding what kind of materials to incorporate and the appearance of the brochure.
Define Your Purpose:
While flipping through the pages of the brochure, the major question is: Is this brochure meant to create awareness, to sell a product, or as a tool for informative advertisement? Understanding this will help define how you structure your content.
Focus on a Simple Layout:
A tri-fold brochure design has minimal folding space. Ensure your layout is not cluttered because a crowded layout will make your content difficult to read.
Choose High-Quality Images:
Crisp and professional images bring more value and improve the quality of your tri-fold brochure in the viewer’s eyes.
Use Consistent Branding:
To maintain brand consistency, colors, fonts, and imagery used on your web page should have to be standard.
Related Article: How To Make a Brochure: Design Tips for Beginners
Key Elements of Tri-Fold Brochure Design
Designing a good tri-fold brochure is not as simple as just throwing in some text and images.
Here are some key elements to consider for a polished and professional design:
Front Cover:
It is the first point that a consumer will come across, so it must be convincing. The cover should have an attractive picture by sticking to a catchy title.
Back Cover:
The back cover is surely less noticeable, and an ideal place to put your contact details, social media links, or CTA like ‘Visit our website’ or ‘Call us now!’
Inside Panels:
The beauty of a tri-fold brochure design lies in its three-panel layout. These sections should be used as a roadmap to ensure the readers follow the message laid down coherently. One panel could be used for ‘About Us’ information, another for ‘Products and Services’, and the last ‘Our Clients testimonials and Special Offers from us’.
White Space:
Never underestimate the power of white space. Too text on the other hand turns off readers and makes the brochure less attractive while a lot of white space makes reading easier.
Font Choice:
Always use only one or two font families to maintain consistency. It is also important to ensure that the font is relatively large because smaller font types are difficult to read when placed in a compact tri-fold brochure.
Tips for Effective Tri-Fold Brochure Printing
Once your design is ready, printing is the next important step. This means that poor print quality can eliminate all the efforts that you may have put into the designing of the tri-fold brochures.
Here’s how to get it right:
Choose the Right Paper Stock:
Weight and finish quality count! Glossy papers make your brochure seem thick, making it look more professional while matt ones for a more traditional feel. Text paper that is used for making its common paperweights for brochures should be 100 text lb. or 80 text lb.
Set Bleed and Margin Specifications:
To avoid any design elements getting cut off during printing, use a 0.125-inch bleed around the edges and ensure no important content is within 0.25 inches of the fold lines.
Color Quality:
When designing, use CMYK color mode, as it is the standard for printing. RGB colors might look great on your computer screen but won’t translate well in print.
Double-Check Alignment:
When submitting your project to be printed, there should be no design that gets chopped off, use a 0.125-inch bleed to the edge, and do not place any content within 0.25 inches of the fold line.
Color Quality:
When designing, it will be recommended to use CMYK colour mode because this is the mode for printing purposes. Whereas RGB is perfect for computer screens, the print version will not look good.
Standard Tri Fold Brochure Format Specifications
This is where you should know the correct size for the easy tri-fold brochure printing. The standard tri-fold brochure size in the U.S. means the brochure is created from an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and has three rectangular panels: approx. 3.63 x 8.5.
Here’s a quick rundown of popular format sizes:
8.5 x 11:
Standard and widely used for most tri-fold brochures, the width of each panel is approximately 3.63 inches.
8.5 x 14:
A larger option that gives more room for text and images. Overall, each panel is approximately 4.63 inches wide.
11x 17:
Ideal for large-sized brochures, this size provides more space for visuals and detailed information. Each panel ends up approximately 5.67 wide.
When designing your tri-fold brochure, keep in mind that the outer panels will fold into each other. This makes alignment and layout important to ensure each section looks good when folded.
Ideal Sizes and Formats for Tri Fold Brochures
However, the above-mentioned standard tri-fold format sizes are common size measurements that would suit most companies, businesses, and organizations. The right size of the tri-fold brochure depends on the purpose of the publication as well as on the target audience.
- To mail the brochure, you may shrink it to a smaller size like 5.5×8.5 inches if the amount that will be spent on postage will be a major concern.
- Altogether, these formats: 8.5 x 11 – are best for representing companies and their services.
- Large size is right for brochures that are displayed in stores or during conferences for detailed information.
As always, it is good to consult your printing provider on relative sizes or sizes recommended for printing for the best print quality.
Practical Recommendations for Achieving Excellent Tri-Fold Brochure Designing
To ensure your tri-fold brochure designing truly stands out, follow these actionable tips:
Create a Visual Hierarchy:
The reader will be captivated by the strategic placement of headlines, images, and text blocks. By using larger fonts and bold colors for section headings reader can prioritize the most important information first.
Use Contrasting Colors:
Adding colour to the background adds freshness, and at the same time, the contrasting colour of the background makes the text more visible. Make sure the font colour is opposite to the background colour so nobody burdens their eyes while reading.
Include a Call-to-Action (CTA):
There is usually an important call-to-action message at the bottom of every well-designed tri-fold brochure that pushes people to take the next step, whether it’s learning more about the product, getting in touch, or even placing an order for a product.
Keep It On-Brand:
From colour selection to the fonts used, it should all be in line with the brand’s image. Consistency enhances the brand image.
Be Mindful of Folds:
Keep in mind that folding can also change the look of the design in the process. Separate images and text so the text doesn’t flow over a fold if the design isn’t intended to stretch across two panels.
Add Interactive Elements:
The feature of QR codes makes them suitable to close the gap between print and digital. They enable readers to quickly browse and read even videos, web links, or downloadable content with a single click as on digital business cards. Here, you can learn more about What is a Digital Business Card, how they work, and why you need one.
Design Effortless Brochure with Maxobiz to Boost Your Brand
Our graphic design company Maxobiz makes it easy to get eye-catching, professional trifold brochures that show off your business in the best way. We take care of everything from design and layout to ensuring your brand looks great, so you don’t have to worry about any details.
Our tri-fold brochure design grabs attention, and they’re going to help you engage your readers, no matter if you’re advertising an event, providing information, or selling services.
Let us do the creative work so you can focus on what you do best while our brochures help boost your brand and make you stand out.
Conclusion: Don’t Wait Any Longer, Change Your Brochure Design Now
A tri-fold brochure is something that you need for your brand; it may be very useful for the customers, tangible, informative, and appealing. Regardless of the type of piece – whether it is as basic as a product pamphlet or as extended as an information flyer, the best info piece considers design, printing, format types, etc.
Need not to have the time for this on your own? Check out the best customized professional brochure design service that we offer and let you leave a remarkable impression.
Previous Article: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing the Perfect Poster for Your Event
