Marketing Materials (Catalog) - Brittanygervin.com

My final project in The Visual in Technical Communication was to demonstrate my understanding of basic design concepts. I earned an A for designing print marketing materials for my aunt’s business. Among the five items I created, I was most proud of the catalog. My aunt was so impressed she created an expanded scrapbook version of it.

Overview

The catalog summarizes the jewelry and crafts my aunt makes for her business, “Anointed Handmade Treasures by Linda Ann.” I intended it to be something she could show to clients during consultations.

Catalog's title page with the business name and phone number — Catalog title Page

Part 1 of the catalog's Table of Contents — Table of Contents

Part 2 of the catalog's Table of Contents — Table of Contents (cont.)

Part 1 of the Bracelets section showing an assortment of bracelet types and colors — Jewelry Section (cont.): Bracelets

Part 2 of the Bracelets section showing clasp choices and special requests — Jewelry Section (cont.): More Bracelets

The Earrings and Necklace page showing a variety of earrings and a pearl-like necklace — Jewelry Section (cont.): Earrings and Necklaces

Two-Piece Sets page showing an assortment of bracelet/earring sets and a necklace/earrings set — Jewelry Section (cont.): 2-Piece Sets

Complete Sets page showing a 3-piece set and an ultimate set with a necklace, 3 sets of earrings, and 2 bracelets — Jewelry Section (cont.): Complete Sets

Two-strand Pieces page showing a two-strand bracelet and a necklace set with earrings — Jewelry Section (cont.): 2-Strand Pieces

Part 1 of the Birthday Parties section showing the front and side views of a cardboard wishing well — Birthday Parties Section: Wishing Wells

Part 2 of the Birthday Parties section showing a decorated podium, two flower arrangements, and a table arrangement — Birthday Parties Section (cont.): General Decorations and Table Settings

Part 1 of the Weddings section showing and describing a bridal bouquets and a flower girl basket — Weddings Section: Bouquets and Accessories

Part 2 of the Weddings section showing wedding favors like candy spoons, bubble vials, and a wedding broom — Weddings Section (cont.): Wedding Favors and Broom

Part 1 of the Diaper cakes section featuring a front and back view of a Minnie Mouse diaper cake — Diaper Cakes Section: Themes

Part 2 of the Diaper Cake section showing the front and back views of a small diaper cake and a plastic-wrapped cake — Diaper Cakes Section (cont.): Sizes and Wrapping

Part 1 of the Miscellany section featuring 3 pages from a wedding scrapbook — Miscellany Section: Scrapbooks

Part 2 of the Miscellany section featuring a foam picture frame, a construction paper Mother's Day card, and three name keychains — Miscellany Section (cont.): Children’s Crafts and Keychains

Part 3 of the Miscellany section showing a closeup and full view of a green holiday wreath — Miscellany Section (cont.): Holidays

The catalog's credits and copyright page — The credits and copyright page

The catalog's backpack with a short thank you message — The back of the catalog

Download the catalog (PDF)

I printed one sample catalog through Office Depot’s print center. The final version was an 8.5” x 11” spiral-bound book on “Glossy Elite 100lb” paper. It had a clear front cover and a black spine.

A screenshot of Office Depot’s print preview website

Planning and Design

I was inspired by the little-bit-of-everything showcase JC Penney uses in its 2014 Annual Report, which I critiqued in a separate assignment for the same class. This was the most practical approach given my lack of photos and funds. I couldn’t create the typical in-depth, 100-page catalog.

I designed the catalog in Microsoft Publisher. Sixteen of its 22 pages feature merchandise and descriptions. I organized the merchandise into three major categories—Jewelry, Celebrations, and Miscellany—with three subcategories for each. Each section has at least two pages, with the more important Jewelry and Miscellany sections receiving six and three pages respectively. Later I added a table of contents and copyright page.

A sketch of the catalog’s page layout

I placed vertical price boxes to the left of each photo using the picture caption feature built into Publisher. I liked how they show the price without obscuring or overshadowing the merchandise. I customized the color and the appearance of the text inside.

Lastly, the assignment required detailed stylesheets for the colors, typography, and printing specifications I used.

The stylesheet for the colors used in the catalog

The color scheme consists of three blue hues: dark blue for H1, light blue for H2, and turquoise for H3. The blues represent the ocean, whose waters change colors depending on the depth. The ocean in turn represents my aunt’s skills. We know most of what she can make (lighter blues = the ocean’s surface). Yet, her creativity constantly surprises us (darker blue = the ocean’s mysterious floor).

For fonts, I used Arial Rounded MT Bold for headings and Cambria Math for basal text. Arial Rounded MT Bold is a large sans serif font, which is easy to read and works well as a heading. Cambria Math, a compact serif, contrasts well with Arial Rounded MT Bold. Had I known about font licensing then, however, I would have used a different combo.

Challenges

My biggest challenge while designing the catalog was working with photos. When I started the project, my aunt had all the merchandise photos with her…in another city. Consequently, I worked without knowing what kind of photos I would have at first.

I solved the photo shortage by creating “placeholder” photos from the jewelry and crafts my aunt had given me over the years. My mom suggested pinning the jewelry with stick pins to paper-covered squares of Styrofoam.

Original placeholder photo for the “Bracelet” section

This worked out so well that I wanted to keep the placeholders in the catalog. When my aunt sent her photos (via Facebook Messenger), however, I had to rewrap my Styrofoam squares in black fabric so my photos would match her black velvet displays.

Photo quality was another problem. I had to replace many of the lower resolution phone photos with placeholders I took with my digital camera. In the cases of certain pieces of jewelry and the Wedding and Diaper Cakes sections, I could only edit what I had. Some of my photos weren’t perfect either. The catalog’s cover photo, for example, was originally a blurry reject. I applied Paint.net’s “Ink Sketch” artistic effect to create a usable image.

Resources

“Choose the Right Paper For Your Catalog” (Print Place)
“Creating a Successful Catalog Design” and “Image Resolution For Printing” (PrintingForLess.com)
“What are the Different Types of Printer Paper?” (eBay)
“How to Make a Product Catalog” (Wikihow)
“The Complete Guide to Card Stock and Paper Weight.” (Marsha Jones, BusinessCards.org)
“Print Your Publications Professionally” (Amir Mehrabian, Office Blogs)
Document Design: A Guide For Technical Communication (Kimball and Hawkins)
Technical Editing Fifth Edition (Rude and Eaton)