Advice/comments needed on brochure design

My intial thoughts were "woah istock took a hammering for this one" - but that's probably because I know stock photography so well. It's fine does its job but I really don't like the shape of the voice-bubbles on p5 and the small pic surrounded by a sea of black on the last page doesn't make much sense to me. Other than that a decent enough brochure but it's nothing original.
 
Why did you design it in photoshop? That's not a brochure design tool, and none of what you've designed needed it. I know you've laid it out in InDesign, but if any of those shapes are photoshop drawn, they wont print properly. It looks ok, a little basic, but ok. The shots massively let it down - they're really not good and if you're looking for a high quality 'corporate' feel, I'd start be replacing all of them with better quality ones. Employ a decent photographer for half a day to get a library of real shots of the company and people.

Couple of technical things - watch the line breaks - you've got a couple of lines with only one word on and it doesn't look good. Don't stretch things - those speech bubble shapes look odd because you've created them then stretched them. Draw them at the right size in InDesign and the radiussed corners will look a lot better. And Don't Do This With All The Headings. It's gramatically incorrect, it looks terrible and it doesn't help readability. Just capitalise the first letter. Double spaces after full stops - don't. Google it.

Back page - is this going out as a pdf? If so, those icons need to be links. If they're not, it makes no sense. Especially the RSS feed. And you don't really need to write 'Facebook' etc next to them. people know what they are and it would look loads tidier.

As a whole, I find the black a bit OTT. The front page looks better where you've used transparency and it looks a bit less stark.
 
Testimonials page needs change, the speech bubbles appear stretched and the map you have used i would swap for regular map not a satellite photograph.
 
Wow some harsh comments! I'm new to graphic design so am far from being an expert. Appreciate all the feedback though!

The back page - I would make those into links, just haven't done them yet as it's the final thing I do.

Would you suggest designing it from scratch in InDesign then?

What do you think of the fonts? I used Corbel, something about Arial that just doesn't look professional when used in InDesign.
 
It's not harsh, it's constructive to help you improve things.

You only use Photoshop to edit your images and put them into the correct colour mode, resolution and ink limits. Absolutely do your design / layout in Indesign.
 
I can't stress how important it is for you to get this done professionally. Your brochure as it stands looks amateur therefore your customers will think your company is amateur it is your shop window and same would go for your website. There are far too many people out there that think design is easy but it isn't it takes years of training and experience to get to a certain level just like any other profession. I wouldn't pick up a toolbox and start messing with my engine on my car because I don't have any training and will probably mess it up and it will end up not work properly and I will end up spending more to get it fixed professionally. If you want your business to look professional set aside a marketing budget and get a professional to do it for you.

You might think that is harsh but that is my personal and professional opinion when it comes to design. If you want it doing professionally get in touch if not then good luck.
 
We are in the process of getting our website redesigned.

I agree totally that it needs to look professional, but I want to get to the stage where my designs look that way.

I don't think I'm a million miles away.
 
Are you a recruiter or a designer?

We just had a new lock fitted to our front door. In the time it would have taken us to find the tools for the job he had fitted the lock and taken the door off and planed it so it doesn't stick any more!

Stick to what you know and do, please.

BTW I agree with all the constructive criticism above - but no point in writing it all out again.
 
I work in Marketing actually, and Recruitment is just one part of our business.

I'll do what I want in life thanks, whether it's learning new skills or whatever else.
 
I'm not trying to get your back up but why ask for feedback / criticism if you're going to get offended?

You may see it as all of us giving you a rough time but we re actually trying to point you in the right direction. Read through some over the other crique threads, people who are professionals and have been doing this for years get a tough time of it. But that is part of this very tough industry.

And just for heads up, there is far more to this design lark than "making things look corporate" or "nice". Have you learnt about bleed, quiet zone, gamut, resolution, colour mode , outlining fonts and that's not even touching on typography rastor / vector etc.?
 
By all means learn new skills that is great but what I am saying is don't try to implement those new skills until you have a grasp of them so you can do yourself justice.

Graphic Design is a skill and not something you can pick up by messing around in Photoshop. I have studied and worked in Graphic Design for 16 years and I'm learning new skills and techniques on a daily basis.

Hope this makes sense. I'm not trying to shoot you down at all. Keep learning and also have a look at professional agency sites for inspiration and ask yourself does my work stand up along side theirs. It might make you appreciate what we do a bit more.
 
That's fine guys, I do appreciate all the comments/criticism.

I've only heard of bleed from all those :D

I was just frustrated at people telling me to 'stick to what I know' that's all.

I'll have a look round, see what I can learn. Basically I'm currently in the early stages of learning web design, to redesign and develop our company website. I ideally wanted to design all of the new brochures for the website myself so was just having a play around.

I've always had a passion for graphics and certainly appreciate what you do, I got a B at GCSE and kind of wish I'd have carried it on to be honest.
 
By all means learn new skills and follow up things that you enjoy and have an interest in, but until it gets to a certain stage it would still be better for your business to leave it to those more experienced.

Continue to practice and learn about all the various elements of design; maybe one day you'll be able to take over all of that area of your business and get on with it yourself. It's just that until then you would be better off passing it on for the sake of your business, particularly in the corporate area where a design that doesn't look quite as professional will be more of a hindrance than to a tradesman, say.
 
If you really want to do this yourself and its not too bad i have seen worse :) then you must...
start from scratch in InDesign (if your not sure what al the set up guides are ask here or google)
Make sure all you images are tiff and CMYK
Find a font family that gives you a range of bold, regular, light etc... the type is to boring with no hierarchy at the moment
Think about hierarchy, what do you want to pop out first, the title on your front cover is a good starting point and make people want to read the inside text maybe bullet points or spliting the text up into sections etc.
Get rid of the speach bubbles! everyone will know they are quotes you dont need them and they look a bit naff. This would be a good page to play around with colour and create a really eye catching page :) But dont go crazy maybe pick some colours from your logo/pictures and use diffrent shades etc. Make the text more interesting too.
And sort the back page out! why all the black? get a really nice back image maybe a map or make the map lower down and have a main image something up lifting that will end your brochure on a positive note :)

Hope this helps
 
Moominbaby said:
If you really want to do this yourself and its not too bad i have seen worse :) then you must...
start from scratch in InDesign (if your not sure what al the set up guides are ask here or google)
Make sure all you images are tiff and CMYK
Find a font family that gives you a range of bold, regular, light etc... the type is to boring with no hierarchy at the moment
Think about hierarchy, what do you want to pop out first, the title on your front cover is a good starting point and make people want to read the inside text maybe bullet points or spliting the text up into sections etc.
Get rid of the speach bubbles! everyone will know they are quotes you dont need them and they look a bit naff. This would be a good page to play around with colour and create a really eye catching page :) But dont go crazy maybe pick some colours from your logo/pictures and use diffrent shades etc. Make the text more interesting too.
And sort the back page out! why all the black? get a really nice back image maybe a map or make the map lower down and have a main image something up lifting that will end your brochure on a positive note :)

Hope this helps
Click to expand...

A positive post, BOO :icon_biggrin:
 
Moominbaby said:
If you really want to do this yourself and its not too bad i have seen worse :) then you must...
start from scratch in InDesign (if your not sure what al the set up guides are ask here or google)
Make sure all you images are tiff and CMYK
Find a font family that gives you a range of bold, regular, light etc... the type is to boring with no hierarchy at the moment
Think about hierarchy, what do you want to pop out first, the title on your front cover is a good starting point and make people want to read the inside text maybe bullet points or spliting the text up into sections etc.
Get rid of the speach bubbles! everyone will know they are quotes you dont need them and they look a bit naff. This would be a good page to play around with colour and create a really eye catching page :) But dont go crazy maybe pick some colours from your logo/pictures and use diffrent shades etc. Make the text more interesting too.
And sort the back page out! why all the black? get a really nice back image maybe a map or make the map lower down and have a main image something up lifting that will end your brochure on a positive note :)

Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Many thanks! I tried a new design before reading this, for the other half of our business. It's still work in progress, please ignore the logo placement/colours and the last page at the moment, they're work in progress. The last page will also be moved in the order. See what you think?

I'll take your comments into account and try a few different things.

http://www.nova-design.co.uk/Untitled-1.pdf

Does it look corporate at all to the neutral eye?
 
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