Having leaflets designed - catalogues are the biggest design challenge.

Within the area of leaflet design, there is a huge difference between having leaflets designed and catalogues and they require a very different focus and set of skills. With brochure design the information is very important, but just as important is the design and making sure that it is eye-catching and displays the company in the best way possible. With catalogue design, the information becomes much more important and often the design has to work really hard to present this in the most effective and straight-forward way possible. The design, therefore, has to walk this fine line between being attractive and eye-catching, but also not overpowering the information and the products, or making the information difficult to read or illogically laid out. People have a very short patience for a catalogue which doesn't allow them to find the information they need as quickly and simply as possible. This is very different from having leaflets designed. The answer with catalogue design, then, is to think of yourself as not creating so much of a design, but a framework in which the products and information will sit. By doing this, you put the correct emphasis on the products, but also appreciate how important the design is in 'gluing' all of this information together. Unlike a having leaflets designed which will tend to be inflexible and force you to change the size/shape of the information, your framework should be able to bend and flex to hold the information and keep the presentation strong and consistant.