Great Catalog Design for the Design Impaired

Can you tell good design from bad? Most people would say “yes.” But for most people it doesn’t really matter, because their jobs don’t depend on being able to tell the difference anyway.

But for you it does matter — a lot. Great design is part of that subtle calculus that can boost or depress your catalog’s sales.

And the reality is, most people can’t tell good design from bad, at least not if we define good design as that which appeals to the most, and offends the fewest, people in a catalog audience.

So if you’re one of the design-impaired, how can you maximize your catalog’s sales using great design?

Simplify, Simplify (Not)

A large agency designed a catalog for a universally known food brand. The catalog was drop-dead gorgeous, printed on paper to die for and in beautiful color. In fact, everything was perfect, right up to the moment where the phones at the contact center were supposed to ring.

They didn’t.

I was called in to advise, but they really didn’t need an expert. Most of the pages were filled with white space, huge washes of gorgeous color or fantastic (non-product) images — everything but products for sale.

Such designs can work well in a manufacturer’s line book, but not in consumer sales. The solution would’ve been simple: more product density.

Unfortunately, the angry client just dropped the catalog.

If given a catalog-page layout and asked to improve it, most people instinctively start removing elements from the page. “Too crowded,” they’ll say. Blame it on one of the great artistic movements of the 20th century: simplicity, a rebound from the fussiness of earlier eras.

Unfortunately, barren catalog pages are much like bare store shelves — they may feel peaceful, but they don’t maximize sales.

Whatever great design may be for cataloging, it begins with what may seem like a fairly high level of crowding. So whatever else you do, resist the temptation to over-simplify your catalog pages.

Square and Balanced

“This design is … interesting,” I said.

“We all like it,” said the cataloger, a graduate of an Ivy League business school and well known for his “whim of iron.”

“Did you use your catalog designer?” I asked tentatively.

“Nah. We tried that, didn’t like it.”

“So who did the design?”

“My secretary,” he replied. “I just told her what I wanted, and she did it in Word.”

If given a catalog-page layout and asked to improve it, most people will line up everything on the page — square and the same size. That’s what happened in the event noted above. But it’s wrong, and you won’t like it when it gets into print.

One of the greatest secrets of appealing design is “balanced asymmetry,” which simply means that things are almost balanced, but not quite. This underlies the great “rule of thirds” of photography: Mentally divide the frame into thirds both horizontally and vertically, and position things along those lines, not dead center in the frame. The result will feel balanced, but not quite.

Occasionally you’ll see a perfectly square and equal layout, and occasionally you’ll see one that’s randomly scattered. But mostly you’ll see pages that are balanced, but not quite.

Send in the Grid

The photos were attractive, the colors good, and all fonts were appropriate. But somehow each of the catalog pages just felt “off.” The cataloger was a $100-plus million housewares firm.

“You went through a complete redesign a few years ago, right?” I asked.

“You bet,” said the cataloger. “Great stuff.”

“And the redesign included a design template you were going to follow?”

“Yes, and we’re following it.”

“So are you using the 12-by-12 grid that was part of that template?” I asked.

He looked puzzled. “What’s a grid?”

Take a transparent piece of plastic, draw a grid of lines on it (like a checkerboard), place it over a catalog spread, and you’ll discover that most of the images and copy margins line up perfectly (or almost perfectly) with one or another of the lines.

An accident? Absolutely not. Designing over an invisible grid is a tactic that even the best designers rely on to create layouts that just feel right.

Why does it work? No one knows. But it does. Nor does it matter exactly what the size of the grid is. They all work. When in doubt, get out the grid.

Purple Panic

The cataloger sold accessories, and as I flipped through his layouts, what I saw was color: blinding, overwhelming color. One spread was purple: purple keylines, purple photo backgrounds, purple tints, purple type.

The next spread was red … everywhere.

“Notice the color coordination?” he asked, beaming like a new dad.

Many catalog pages are designed with no attention whatsoever to color coordination. And the result can be a pleasant hodge-podge, like wild poppies on a hillside. But even a good-looking page will look better if some attention is paid to color coordination.

Does that mean making everything the same color? No, because that usually feels overwhelming. Good color coordination is better when done subtly. Just color coordinating a few elements on the page will do the trick. And don’t make them all the same color; rather, use different shades and screens of a common base color.

Do your pages resist color coordination because they’re a polyglot of new and old images shot at different times with different colors? No problem. Just color coordinate some of the other elements on the page.

Remember, color coordination is subtle: A little goes a long way.

It Isn’t Great If It Doesn’t Sell

The cataloger was a manufacturer of industrial furniture, and its catalog was a masterpiece of intricate design. Product density was high, yet each page was clear. The photos showed function as well as beauty. Copy was readable. At first glance, and even second and third glance, the book should’ve been doing well.

But it wasn’t. I puzzled for hours over the pages, trying to figure out why this cataloger’s customers weren’t buying as they should. The products themselves were highly technical.

As I was studying the pages for the 100th time, out of boredom I began actually trying to order something.

And I couldn’t.

The products looked simple, but as I got into the ordering process, I realized there were several small but vital decisions I had to make, but couldn’t with the information provided.

I tried once more, this time with another product — stymied again.

Ultimately, the solution required going through the entire catalog, attempting to order each product, and clearing up literally hundreds of obscure confusions and omissions.

Many catalogers think of designers as they think of medical specialists: “They’re the experts; let them do their jobs.” Unfortunately, however much a designer may know about design, most designers know very little about selling.

To get great design for your catalog, personally be sure you’re covering all the selling bases. Start by answering the following questions:

* Is it clear what’s for sale and which copy blocks go with which images?

* Is it readable? That is, can I find and read all important copy?

* Does it sell? Are special features identified? Are items shown with images and not just line-listed?

* Is it easy? Does the eye go to the right places?

These are questions designers typically overlook. Don’t do the same.

Susan J. McIntyre is president of McIntyre Direct, a full-service catalog agency and consulting firm based in Portland, Ore. She can be reached at (503) 286-1400.