5 Failures in the catalog design

I am asked to critique catalogs regularly. Evaluating catalog design is important and I believe “we can always do better”. I usually point out small deficiencies that on their own don’t make a big difference, but together can affect the results.

However, there are some things that I think MAY sink your results, so I’m going to share the top five catalog design flaws.

FAILURE #1:

Not working your COVERS hard enough. Seriously, your front and back covers are hands down your most important pages. They are the front doors of your business. If your covers don’t grab attention quickly, quickly say who you are and get the reader in, then they’ve failed.

Also, remember that the back covers are just as important as the front. In fact, I consider them more important because the products and messages you place in this coveted space have the opportunity to trigger a need, want, or curiosity.

Sadly, covers are often an afterthought.

FAULT #2

Do not create a sense of EXCLUSIVITY for your unique merchandise concept. This is important because, according to research by the ACMA, the #1 reason people browse catalogs is because they are looking for something unique. Wow.

What do you do to express your unique variety of products? Does it include visuals, text or headlines that point to exclusivity or how you’ve edited your merchandise assortment?

Few catalogs do. Major fault.

FAILURE #3

Lack of ENGAGING differentials. Once upon a time, throwing a bunch of products into a catalog seemed to work for a lot of brands. All you needed was an image, a paragraph, and a price point. For most brands this no longer works.

We have become a society that demands entertainment. In fact, according to a study by Statistic Brain, our attention span has decreased from 12 seconds (in 2000) to 8.25 seconds (in 2015)… that’s less than a goldfish clocking in at 9 seconds!

Consumers want eye candy. For catalogues, this means offering visually interesting spreads that grab attention and engage the consumer. This can be achieved by creating relevant and engaging themes or stories for each print run, or because catalogs are a visual medium that use interesting product or lifestyle images.

FAILURE #4

Lack of BALANCE with images, text and density. This is a close cousin of Bug #3.

Creating a balance in your catalog helps with engagement, which comes with heat map research. If everything is the same (same size images, same distribution density, same repeated design), consumers spend less time with your catalog. Period.

Large catalogs are designed as a whole, creating a rhythm with a variety of layouts.

Sometimes this requires risking valuable real estate for a product or two (or what we like to call “hero products”). And yes, real estate that features aspirational or inspirational photography that isn’t always about selling a specific product appeals to the reader. .

It also requires a bold copy edition. We are no longer a nation of readers, as research suggests: 79% of consumers scan and read. You don’t have to tell them everything, just enough to pique their interest and lay out important facts.

FAILURE #5

Give little thought to important CALLS TO ACTION. This is a hobby of mine. The catalog is intended to BOOST the activity. It’s not enough to just put your phone number and URL at the bottom of the page. And through heatmaps, we’ve learned that creating an icon that invites web traffic isn’t enough either (see blog post).

Carefully crafted calls to action that invite the customer to see more, learn more, or participate online are an important feature of the catalog. The invitation to copy must be relevant or provide a benefit to the reader, or else space will be wasted.

Try this. Get your catalog team together and do an honest assessment of your latest catalog. Forget the small stuff and use the five mistakes as your litmus test!