Compelling Booklet Cover Design 101
Creating an attractive and effective booklet cover design doesn’t have to be complicated. See below for 5 steps to help get you started:
Step 1: Choose the size of your booklet
Step 2: Decide between hard and soft covers
Step 3: Choose your colour scheme
Step 4: Create the perfect design
Step 5: Choose your printer
To find out more about the whole step-by-step process, continue reading below. Or, contact the design & printing experts at JH French to learn about getting your perfect booklet cover now.
Booklet Cover Design: 5 Simple Steps To Get Started
Step 1: Choose Your Booklet Size
Before you start the design process, the very first thing you will want to do is choose your booklet size. Many booklets are 210 x 297 mm (also known as the A4 paper size).
However, when creating a custom booklet, you can chat with your printer to decide if a different booklet size may be a better fit for your project.
When thinking about the size of your booklet, here are a few questions you may want to ask to help you find the right fit:
What is the purpose of my booklet? For example, if you are mailing them or distributing them in certain ways, you may need to stick to the standard size.
Do you plan to publish your booklet? Some publishers or distributors require booklets to be a certain size.
Who is your target audience? There may be certain target audiences that prefer a specific sizing or format.
If you aren’t sure what booklet size is right for you, consider reaching out to a local printer who can help you choose the right format for your needs and budget.
Step 2: Decide Between a Hard Or Soft Cover
Just like with a book, you can choose a hard or soft cover for a booklet. Many booklets have a soft cover, but that doesn’t mean you can’t choose hard if that is your preference.
Booklet cover design: Many business booklets will be printed with a soft cover
It is important to choose between the two options before you start designing your cover, as your design may be impacted by the texture and style of your book’s physical cover.
Let’s take a look at some pros and cons of each option to help you choose.
Soft Covers - Pros & Cons
Typically the more cost-effective option
Lightweight and easy to distribute
Flexible and can bend slightly without damage
Not as visually attractive
It May be seen as a “cheap” option depending on the booklet’s purpose
Hard Covers - Pros & Cons
A more visually attractive option
More design options (e.g. textures, indents, etc)
Durable and strong
The more expensive option
It May be more difficult to distribute to others (e.g. if for a business event)
If you are creating a booklet for a business event, for example, soft covers are flexible and easy to distribute to large groups of people.
However, if you are creating a booklet for a special event, such as a 50-year celebration, a memory booklet, or other special purposes, a hard cover may be a great choice.
Once again, if you are unsure, make sure you talk to a professional. They can help you determine what the right choice is for your booklet.
Step 3: Choose Your Colour Scheme
Colours can have a bigger impact than you may think! And while the old saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover,” most people do. First impressions matter, and choosing the right colours can help your booklet stand out!
If you are creating a business booklet, your colour scheme should probably match your company’s branding colours. Staying on-brand can help make sure that everyone knows the booklet is something to do with your company.
If you have a bit more freedom to choose your booklet’s colours, here are some tips to help you pick the right ones:
Stay away from too many different colours: Simple is best, especially if you don’t have professional design experience. Choose 2-3 colours and stick with them.
Consider font colour: The colour of your font counts as a cover colour too! You want to ensure the booklet title and any other information on the cover is easy to read.
Choose complementary colours: Some colours simply look better together than others. Take a look at Adobe’s Color Wheel and find a few that you like.
If you find this all a bit overwhelming, you may want to consult with a professional graphic designer who can help turn your ideas into a reality.
Step 4: Create The Perfect Design
All your planning and prepping have finally led you here - it’s time to actually design your booklet cover! Whether you are creating a simple business booklet, a training manual, or finally printing out your own creative project, your cover is important.
There are many different design directions you can go in, all of them have benefits and may be right for your specific situation.
Take a look at some of the examples and descriptions below to help you get an idea of what you could do with your booklet cover.
Sample #1: Simple, Solid Colour
This booklet cover design is sleek, simple, and gets right to the point. Something like this is a great idea if you are creating a booklet for a business project, overview, or annual report. You don’t need a lot of design experience to create something that looks good if you only use 1-2 solid colours, a simple geometric design, and a simple title + subtitle.
Sample #2 - Bold & Bright
This example booklet cover design shows that you can have fun with colours and with text placement. Choosing to place your title in an unusual or creative way may be a great way to grab attention, as long as it’s designed well! Even though this booklet has brighter colours and a bolder design, you can see that it is actually still a fairly simple design that doesn’t go overboard with font faces or colours.
Sample #3 - Business Professional
This final booklet cover design example shows a more traditional business professional design. You can see that the colours on the cover match the logo’s colour, keeping the branding consistent. This cover includes all important information such as the business name, what the booklet is about, and the date.
Step 5: Choose Your Printer
Once you have your booklet cover designed, you will need to get it (and the rest of your booklet) printed! Designing a book cover is one thing, but typesetting is another.
Typesetting is a complex process, as there can be a lot of things to consider when formatting the inside of your booklet.
If you haven’t already typeset your booklet, consider choosing a full-service printing company. A full-service company can help you with your cover design if you need it, and they will also be able to help you format the inside of your book (typesetting).
Working with a full-service printing company makes the booklet design, creation, and printing process a lot easier since you will only be working with one business instead of 2-3 before you get the final copy of your booklets!
Choose JH French For Your Booklet Printing
At JH French, you can rely on our 120 years of printing experience to help you get the best-printed products for your business - whether you are printing a unique, creative booklet for a special project or have an annual report ready to go.
If you need to print booklets, business cards, flyers, posters, stationery, forms, or any other documents or projects, we have you covered.
When you choose to work with JH French, you will be working with a full-service printing company that has over 120 years of experience. Get in touch now!