(Collaborative) Brochure

One problem with producing a brochure in WH 203 is the printer, which does not handle color; most brochures do feature at least some color. If you cannot gain access to a color printer, do not worry; simply use the one we have available. If you can print your brochure on a color printer, then do so. You need not worry about spending money on special paper or coatings, however. Two print on two sides of a sheet of paper, simply print out several copies of one side of the brochure, put the paper back in the printer so that the second side will show up where you want it, and print out the second page.

Besides color, another feature of most brochures is a selection of visuals. Visuals should not dominate a brochure or else the text gets squeezed, and most brochures are highly informative. For your brochure's visuals you can use the clip art and word art in Word or you can grab images from the World Wide Web and place them in your document. I do not advise cutting out pictures and manually pasting them in your brochure; you must use a color copier, and the results are often less than outstanding.

To grab an image off the web, I suggest using Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Right click on the image and select Copy. The image is then posted to your "clipboard." Position your cursor in your Word document about where you want the image, open the Edit menu, and select Paste. The image will be pasted into the Word document. The image can be sized and moved around by left clicking on it and by using the handles that appear at its edges. The image can be positioned with respect to your text by right clicking on it. Select Format Picture.

Here is an overview of the brochure in terms of SCAMP:

• Style: Brochures are often fairly formal; slang and contractions are usually avoided because brochures represent businesses, organizations, and programs that want to be put in the best light. As the writers of a brochure, keep the organization's image in mind; ask yourselves, does this brochure reflect well on the organization? Some brochures, however, depending on the organization, can be produced with a more causual, informal tone if that is what is wanted. Brochures rarely use first-person I or we.

• Chunking: You should produce a tri-fold brochure that is not self-mailing. That means that you will need to create content for six panels--three columns running vertically across the 11-inch page on both sides (again, the printer in 203 can produce front-and-back brochures if you simply run the paper through it twice). The six panels have somewhat different functions (pay attention here):

  • the right-most panel of the first page (C) becomes the cover of the brochure and needs to catch the eye with a visual and large print.
  • the center panel of the first page (B) becomes the back panel and usually lists contact information: people's names, addresses, phone numbers, web sites, and so on. If the brochure is a mailer, this is the panel that takes the return address.
  • the left panel (A) of the first page contains the most inessential information because as the brochure is opened up, it gets turned away from the reader and when the brochure is folded it also is covered up.
  • the three panels of the second page (D, E, F) present the essential information about the subject.

  Brochures vary in the amount of text, but chunks of text should be kept relatively small, and sections should be marked with clear heads. Visuals are not mandatory, but relevant visuals can be pleasing to the eye and make reading easy. Put visuals in the middle of paragraphs or in between sections. Do not place visuals at the bottom of panels, and do not start out the left inside panel with a visual. Use bullet lists, horizontal white space, and a consistent style (not size) of type. Headings are often colored to stand out; text can be colored by clicking on the Font option in the Format menu.

  Mechanics
  As you begin the brochure, you will need to enter the Page Setup option in the File menu and set the paper for landscape orientation (look in the Paper Size folder). Then--this is important!--set the left and right margins at .4 inch. These margins will make the brochure fold as it should when you are finished. Next, set up three columns by clicking on the Column button on the formatting toolbar or by selecting the Columns option in the Format menu. You may start typing the brochure in any panel on either page, but be careful that you're typing the right information in the right place. Once again, keep in mind the set-up of a six-panel brochure:

  • "inside" panels D, E, F (one landscape page in three columns):

    left (brochure's essential information starts here)
    center (some more essential information)
    right (even more essential information)

  • "outside" panels (another landscape page in three columns):

    left (non-essential information)
    center (contact information on back panel)
    right (front/cover panel)

• Audience: The reader of a brochure is usually someone who could be considered a potential customer, consumer, member, client, etc. The person who picks up a brochure is interested in something or needs to know something, and it is your job as a writer to stimulate the interest and/or meet the informational needs of your reader. You need to achieve a balance between just providing information and selling the topic to the reader, explaining its usefulness and making it appear attractive, exciting, and so on.

• Message: Brochures contain more or less text in paragraph form, but most brochures do feature a fair amount of information. It may appear in lists, charts, steps--any form that is easy to comprehend. Above all else, you want to make your subject easy for the reader to understand: explain why the reader needs to know about the subject, how the subject relates to the reader's life, what the reader needs to do, how the reader can learn more, and so on. Keep in mind that your brochure is supposed to be functioning to achieve a certain purpose for you and your reader.

• Purpose: The purpose of your brochure is informational, persuasive, or a little of both. You can just explain a process or procedure or series of steps, or you can try to get the audience to engage in something--to join, to contribute, to volunteer. If you have a persuasive purpose, you might need to include text that touches readers' feelings, such as sympathy, desire to belong, desire to succeed, fear, and so on.