Collaterals may or may not be tied to specific advertising campaigns and include a wide range of documents that companies use to promote themselves. They differ from advertising materials in that they are generally more of a soft-sell and often designed to provide on-going PR for a company more than generate immediate sales.
Although they can change over time, brochures and other collaterals don't generally need updating as frequently as regular sales fliers, direct mail pieces, or ads. However, because they are often tied to frequent advertising campaigns they may require periodic updates and can offer an opportunity for repeat business. Once you get your foot in the door by designing the company brochure you may be able to show the client how to expand their promotional efforts into other collaterals.
Brochures take many forms. They can introduce an entire company and its products or services or may focus on a specific product. Companies may have a variety of brochures aimed at different types of customers — prospects, new customers, repeat customers.
Fliers or posters can announce special events.
Product data sheets often outline specific features or they may be assembly and use instruction sheets. These are not created primarily to influence sales but are more like support materials for a product.
Promotional materials can include notepads, calendars, bookmarks, magnets, t-shirts, mousepads, and other "leave-behinds" that are useful to the prospect or customer and provide silent, long-term exposure for the company that imprints their name, logo, and contact information on the items. Specialty businesses can create some of these promotional items but some businesses may engage a designer to create a special design (such as for a t-shirt) and work with the specialty printer.
Certificates can include award certificates for internal use but can also be customer appreciation awards and gift certificates for new or existing customers.
Cards can serve as goodwill collaterals when sent as holiday greetings or to say thank you to customers.
Also see Catalogs, Menus, and Price Lists.
Designing Collaterals
As with any design project collateral materials should make use of the principles of design. In most cases, collateral materials will incorporate various aspects of the organizations corporate identity or branding such as colors, fonts, layout, and use of a logo. For designing specific types of collaterals, see these tutorials:Printing Collaterals
The wide range of materials used as collaterals can involve an even wider range of papers and printing options.Book paper is common for brochures and can be used for certificates (in addition to parchment), posters, and product data sheets. For bookmarks and cards a heavier cover paper is the norm.
Offset lithography can handle most types of collaterals although for special effects or to create memorable special events posters or cards you may find yourself choosing letterpress, screen printing, or even engraving.
Software for Creating Collaterals
Again, the wide range of collateral items means that you have a wide range of software choices. Professional level software such as Adobe InDesign, QuarkXPress, or Serif PagePlus are generally your best bets for software to create everything from brochures to posters to greeting cards. On the free or open source side, consider Scribus. Round out your arsenal with both image editing and vector illustration graphics software.For some promotional items, such as calendars, you may want to use specialized software:
- Calendar Design Software: Mac | Windows
- Greeting Card Design Software: Mac | Windows
- T-Shirt Design (Iron-On Transfer) Software: Mac | Windows
16 Categories of Design Specialization
Designing collaterals incorporates many of the same skills and design principles as most other areas of design specialization. Brochures can be simple or quite elaborate, like annual reports or catalogs. Some types of business forms such as job estimates and invoices act as promotional materials.- Annual Reports & Proposals
- Business Forms
- Catalogs, Menus, & Product Lists
- Collaterals (brochures, etc.) (This Page)
- Crafts & Creative Printing
- Identity Systems (logo, letterhead)
- Marketing Materials (ads, direct mail)
- Packaging
- Periodicals (newsletters, magazines)
- Presentation Graphics
- Publication Art
- The following sections are under revision and will be available by June 2012.
- Publications (books, manuals, booklets, etc.)
- Self-publishing
- Signage
- Web & Electronic Publishing
- Word Processing, Resumes
| Pick Your Path to Desktop Publishing | |
| Get Started: | Basic Guidelines and Requirements for Desktop Publishing |
| Choose Software: | Desktop Publishing and Design Software |
| Tips & Tutorials: | How to Do Desktop Publishing |
| Training, Education, Jobs: | Careers in Desktop Publishing |
| In the Classroom: | Back to School With Desktop Publishing |
| Make Something: | Things to Make Using Desktop Publishing |
| Use Templates: | Templates for Print and Web Publishing |
