Marketing
Catalogue design: how a product catalogue gets made, and when to hire an agency
Michele Caddeo ·
A product catalogue presents every product with its own page, the facts always in the same order, so a buyer finds what they need in seconds. Write the copy first and lay it out after. A template is fine for a short brochure; a catalogue with dozens of data sheets needs proper layout software and someone who uses it every day, which is when a catalogue design agency or a designer pays off.
A buyer leafs through a catalogue in a hurry, at a trade fair or between two meetings. They go straight to the product they need. Everything in the design serves that: finding the page, and finding the facts on it.
Brochure or catalogue: which do you need?
It depends on what goes in it.
Two printed pieces
One makes the case, the other answers the question
Brochure
Presents you
The company, or one product line, for people deciding whether to call.
- Sì: A few pages or a folded sheet
- No: Every product with its data sheet
- No: An index to find a product fast
Catalogue
Answers
Every product, for people who already know what they’re looking for.
- Sì: Dozens of pages, bound
- Sì: Every product with its data sheet
- Sì: An index to find a product fast
Where does a catalogue start?
With the copy. The design comes after, because every text changed once the pages are laid out is another round with the designer. In order:
- Who receives it and where you’ll hand it over: trade fairs, sales visits, the post. This decides the format and the number of copies.
- The running order, page by page, with finished copy and chosen photos.
- The page count and the format, counted on the running order.
- The layout, on a template or by a designer.
- The print file and a proof, then the print run and a light PDF.
What goes on each page?
What the buyer needs to choose you, and to know who to call.
Page by page
Six parts of a catalogue that sells
Cover
Your logo, one photo and a line in the buyer’s words: “heating systems for homes and blocks of flats”.
About
Who you are in a few lines, numbers in digits (years trading, countries you sell in), certifications by name.
One page per product
The facts always in the same order, so the buyer knows where to look. Photos of the product in use, as well as on white.
Proof
Customers who let you name them, guarantees, numbers the reader can check.
Back cover
A person’s name with phone and email, the address, the website, and one clear next step, such as asking for a sample.
QR codes
From a product page to its video or its page on your website.
Write what changes for the buyer, with a fact: “fits without removing the old frame” convinces more than any adjective about the company. And keep the numbers identical to your website: the catalogue is what your salesperson leaves on the customer’s desk.
How many pages should a catalogue have?
Count what you have to say first. One page per product, plus cover, about and back cover: that’s your starting number.
Then fit it to the binding. With saddle stitching, staples on the fold, pages must be a multiple of four, because each folded sheet makes four. Eleven products give you 14 pages, so you print 16: the two spare pages become the index and a page of references. Beyond what staples can hold, printers move to perfect binding, with a glued spine, or to wire binding, which lies flat on a desk: handy for a technical price list.
Template or catalogue design agency?
A short brochure with finished copy and good photos you can make yourself from a template: Canva, Adobe Express and Word all have brochure templates.
A template stops being enough when the catalogue has dozens of data sheets that must stay identical, technical tables, products to cut out from their background, or when it has to match your website and the rest of your material. Then you need layout software, where one master page keeps every sheet the same, and someone who uses it every day.
How do you prepare the file for the printer?
Ask for the printer’s specifications before layout starts. Most publish them on the product page, with a template to download. They usually cover:
- a PDF at 1:1 scale, without a password;
- colours in CMYK, with the colour profile they name;
- images at 300 dpi;
- the bleed, the margin trimmed off after printing, and the safe zone for text away from the edge and the fold;
- fonts embedded in the PDF.
Before the full run, ask for a proof, to check where everything falls and how the colours come out.
The print PDF is heavy. For email and the website, export a lighter one: personal Gmail accounts accept attachments up to 25 MB (Gmail Help).
When is it not worth printing?
- When there’s nobody to hand it to. If you don’t go to trade fairs and your salespeople don’t visit customers, the PDF on your website is enough.
- When prices change every few months. Print the catalogue without prices and put them on a separate sheet you can reprint.
Who makes it for you?
If you’d rather not do it yourself, I design catalogues, brochures and trade fair material as part of graphic design. With the subscription you have one technical and creative partner for site, video, design and communication: the catalogue and the trade fair material are included in the fee, with your brand used the same way everywhere. It costs €4,500 a month for the first three months, then €4,000, no VAT added, and you can cancel whenever you like.
