This week’s readings and PowerPoint materials provided us with very valuable insight on making brochures, pamphlets, and flyers. This was especially beneficial for our group, because our project consists of designing four brochures for the local D.A.R.E. program to distribute to parents. I never would have realized before how important the pictures, captions, and other details are to the effectiveness of the brochure itself. Not only are we writing and educational piece of literature, we are designing an optional reading material that must catch the eye of the parent so that they will actually take the time to read it. Because it is being written for an audience, we cannot construct our brochures just like plain essays. There must be attention-grabbing elements on the cover and within the brochure to ensure that it is ever even opened. This piece of advice seems so obvious and miniscule, but it is something that I feel can be easily overlooked and forgotten. When a writer’s focus is solely writing, they can miss the true value of a great design.

Although your brochure may contain great visual elements, once the parent opens the brochure, there must be even more great material to maintain their interest! Provide interesting facts or surprising statistics to educate the reader and hold their attention. Also, make sure to include everything you think the reader should know about the topic. Hopefully the information provided will help them feel educated enough to talk with their children about the D.A.R.E. program, and also spark their interest enough to further research the topic.

While there are lots of expectations and pressure for making a great brochure, the readings and presentations from this week provided enough information to make the process a whole lot easier!