by Anna Cruz

Created on: May 13, 2009

A cluttered catalog is a stressful catalog. Most consumers will not take the time to look through your catalog if they are not easily led through the layout and the text. If browsing through a printed catalog takes too much effort, most of your customers will not make a purchase, or even worse, begin throwing each issue away before opening the cover. Avoid stressing out your customers by using the catalog design tips below.

1. Limited Fonts
Too many different typefaces and fonts overwhelm the reader visually. For catalog printing, choose only 2 or 3 typefaces and fonts (size, color, formats) and use each consistently. Use the same font for your headlines, for example. To further increase readability, choose typefaces that don't have too many curls or other fancy effects.

2. Limited Colors
As with fonts, lots of colors will make your readers' heads spin. Avoid confusing your customers by choosing a two, three, or four color scheme. Make sure that your background color contrasts well with the text color, and be careful to choose a text color that is easy to see. Keep in mind that certain shades, such as green and yellow, can be very difficult to read, especially if any of your customers are color blind.

3. Lots of White Space
Use even margins around the outside edges of each spread and in the gutter. Don't place too many products on a single spread. Lots of white (blank) space gives your catalog a clean and organized look, enhancing the appeal of your products. Too many products on one spread will confuse customers as to where to look first. The amount of products you should include on each page depends on the size of your catalog and images, but the basic idea is to leave enough space around each item to keep the look simple.

4. Interesting Headlines and Subheadings
Headlines should let readers know what the product is and how it will benefit them, but make it short. Save the description for the body text, since the purpose of a headline is only to get readers interested in finding out more about the product. Subheadings are necessary for those full-page featured products. Customers are intimidated by long blocks of text, so breaking it up with subheadings will ensure that they at least skim the main points.

5. Short Sentences and Paragraphs
Avoid too many unnecessary words. Nothing will stress your readers out more than wading through irrelevant information before reaching the information they want. Keep your product descriptions to between 50 and 150 words.

6. A Simple, Organized Layout
Place the most appealing product in the upper right hand corner of each spread, since this is where viewers look first when flipping through a catalog. The other corners should contain your other popular items with less popular items in between. Organize your like items into sections so that customers can easily flip to the section that interests them the most.

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