A Catalogue is a piece of paper including the names –and usually the prices- of the products offered by a certain company. They are an excellent sale-oriented tool through which clients can gain knowledge about the products a company deals in. Catalogues come in different sizes and formats, and usually are made up of a minimum of 8 pages.

The fact that they are made of so many pages makes their printing quite expensive. However, they are such a good marketing tool that the investment is worthy. Some companies base their sales on Catalogues, as is the case of some make-up and lingerie companies. This type of brochure is very convenient for most companies, and especially for those that do not have a physical location where people can see what is for sale.

When designing a Catalogue it is important that you do research and ask yourself several questions. You have to plan and design the overall look of the Catalogue bearing in mind its audience, its objective and the information it will display. Since Catalogues are one of the most expensive types of brochures, it is paramount that the research you do is extensive, in order not to reduce the margin of error and avoid having to print the Catalogue several times. Take notice that a Catalogue is like a storefront; it is your client’s entrance door. If it has a good design it will attract clients, while if the design is poor it will put buyers off.

Apart from the name and description of a company’s products, it is convenient to include pictures. Although it is not possible and worthy to include a picture of every product available, companies may choose some of the best products and include an illustration or photograph of them. That way the audience will be able to visualize the products offered and see if these please them. Try not to include too many items in one photograph because none of the products will stand out and the picture will lose effectiveness.

A very useful way of attracting the attention of the audience is to include a strong design element in the upper right corner of each page, since that is the place where our eye is first drawn when we read a Catalogue. Since there are so many names and numbers included in Catalogues, it is paramount that there are also images and pictures that make its reading more comfortable to the eye. Therefore, the design must include a product that is visually compelling in that location to catch the reader's attention.

Typefaces play a very important role in this type of brochure. Avoid using different typefaces, and try to limit the number of typefaces to one simple type –we recommend a maximum of 2 or 3 types. If you want to make some word or phrase stand out from the rest, you may write it in bold letters or in a bigger size, but try not to use a different type. Text must be legible, so you must avoid the use of small types and light colors.

Most Catalogues are constantly updated. In order to maintain brand recognition, your company must use the same type of design in each Catalogue it produces. This way people will become familiar with the typefaces, colors and type of pictures your Catalogues include. This is very important because your company needs to have identity and be easily recognized from the rest. If your Catalogue is similar to other companies´ you may lose potential and real clients.

Full-color Catalogues are more efficient than one- or two-color Catalogues. Catalogues that are designed with a lot of colors attract a lot of attention and generate more sales than designs with few colors.