Taking an inventory of your catalog’s creative aspects can help freshen up your design, according to Mick Walsh, creative services manager for NEBS.
The business-to-business marketer of personalized products and documents – which used to go by the lengthier handle New England Business Service –- has 3.1 million active small business clients.
The company’s old catalog designs – for niches such as retailers and logo products – was all over the board. Different fonts were used for each book, and cover designs, ranging from cartoons to product shots to customer photos, varied from issue to issue.
Considering that much of the company’s product line is forms and documents , making the catalog visually appealing wasn’t an easy task. “Paper on paper. Talk about excitement!” quipped Walsh
One tactic the company embraced was making the product the hero, and playing up its strengths in the catalog. Product photo sizes were increased to better show the personalization options. Testimonials from customers were featured prominently on the cover and jumped inside the book.
Don’t just stop at the cover and product layouts when reviewing your design, he said. Bindings, envelopes and other seemingly small aspects can all make a difference.
Walsh and Ames Parson, creative director for New Pig, presented a session on B-to-B catalog creative at the New England Mail Order Association conference in Cambridge, MA on Thursday.
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