Catalog Design
Design and Production of a Catalogue in Eight Stages
If you are embarking on the production of a catalogue for the first time and are unsure where to begin, or if you’ve done it before but found the experience to be a “headache,” this list is for you.
The secret to designing and producing a catalogue is… you guessed it: proper planning. As with everything, the end result is determined by careful consideration at the outset. After designing and producing a significant number of catalogues of various kinds, it is time to organise the accumulated knowledge for your benefit. So here is the “recipe” that can make the process smooth and enjoyable, while also saving you time and money. All stages (except Stage 1) are accompanied by the designer.
Stage 1: “Content is King”
In the initial stage, it is essential to ensure that the content of the catalogue is ready, written, edited, and has undergone several rounds of proofreading by all those who need to approve it. In most catalogues, photographs or other illustrations are of great importance, depending on the nature of the products. Do you have high-quality photographs that are also in a resolution suitable for print? If not, it is necessary to approach a professional photographer – it is advisable to do this after you have chosen the designer and discussed how it would be best to photograph the items.
Stage 2: Page Layout Planning
At this stage, the content exists, is typed in a Word document, and we have a rough idea of the catalogue’s volume. We do not yet know exactly how many pages will be in the final booklet, but we have an estimate. For example, when planning a catalogue of 24 pages: take 6 sheets of paper from the printer, fold them together, and staple them in the middle – we have created a “dummy booklet” of 24 pages, and then we can write with a pencil on each page what content will appear. This is also the time to plan the placement of any images, graphs, tables, etc. If necessary, pages can be added or removed and the layout adjusted until we reach the desired format. If there is a large number of pages, a similar method can be used with sketches: on one or more A4 sheets, draw pairs of pages and write the page number in small on each pair. This allows for planning and writing in each square what content will appear on that page.
Stage 3: Briefing
The difference between a Word document and a designed booklet lies in the way we present the products, and here the question arises: how do we want to present the products? To answer this question effectively, we must ask what the purpose of the catalogue is? Who is the target audience? What do we want the catalogue to “convey” beyond the contents? What will it “broadcast”? From these questions, answers will emerge to address all the queries that will arise in the next stage. For example, what size will the catalogue be? Will it be a standard size or a custom size? Well, that depends on the purpose. The same goes for the choice of paper, type of printing, binding, etc.
Stage 4: Format
Making decisions regarding the format of the catalogue: what its size will be when closed, what kind of paper it will be printed on, in how many colours, what type of binding, and more. How do we decide? This stage requires the expertise of a graphic designer with experience in print design. Together with them, you can make decisions that are suitable for your original purpose.
Stage 5: Designing the Interior Page Grid
Once the brief is written and clear to all parties involved, we can proceed to design the grid for the interior pages of the booklet. At this stage, I allow myself approximately seven to seventeen working days in the studio to design the grid – the structure of the page, the placement of the products, margins, font types, categorisation, number of pages, etc.
Stage 6: Design of the Entire Catalogue, Revisions, and Adjustments
After choosing the appropriate grid for the catalogue, we can begin designing the entire booklet. This is also the stage where the complete booklet is passed to the client for review and proofreading, and then returned to the designer for corrections and adjustments. How many rounds of revisions will there be? This entirely depends on Stage 1 – how ready and processed the content was before it reached the design stage.
Stage 7: Cover Design
Since the cover “tells us” about the catalogue both in terms of content and language, it is advisable to leave its design until the end when we can already see and feel the catalogue in its almost-final form – this is the time. There is a good chance that during the work on the earlier stages, ideas for the cover have emerged, and by the end, these ideas will be well-formed.
Stage 8: To Print
Once the catalogue is approved by all relevant parties and is ready for printing – files are finalised, sent to print, a proof copy is produced, and an iris print is created for the client’s final approval. We then patiently await the final result.
