Over the last 16 years we have produced well over 1000 catalogues, working with our clients to make sure that their projects come in on time and on budget. Producing a catalogue is a complex yet fluid process, but with all things, planning is key. We have broken down the production of a catalogue into 7 simple steps, detailing the main tasks required to put a catalogue together.
Step 1 – Product Review
Product content drives the catalogue structure and our team will work with you to select the best products to feature in your new catalogue.
By knowing how many products you would like to feature in the catalogue we can easily determine how many pages your catalogue could include. A simple way to determine how big a catalogue needs to be is to divide the the number of products by the number of products you are putting on a page. For example 200 products at 6 products per page gives a catalogue pagination of 33. This would ultimately be a 32 or 36 page catalogue.
This information is vital and can be tweaked to allow you to get the most out of your production and print budget.
Step 2 – The Flatplan
For a catalogue to exist a flatplan must first be created, it is the ‘Holy Grail’ of catalogue production and is based on the products that you have selected to feature in the catalogue.
By mapping out the structure of the catalogue, you can ensure that the flow is correct and that all of your selected products are included.
While several versions of the flatplan maybe created, in its simplest form a flatplan is a list of products broken down into page order.
Step 3 – Photography
It’s a good idea to plan photography well in advance of starting page production.
The flatplan can be used to map out your photography requirements, e.g. how many new photographs you will need to have taken, what existing shots you have that you can use etc. We will work with you to create an accurate short list.
We work with a number of brilliant product photographers and we can assist you with this process as an additional service.
Step 4 – Copy
Good copy is essential, it must lead with products benefits ahead of features and ideally it should target the reader emotionally.
It also has to have a ‘voice’ appropriate to the catalogue audience that you are targeting.
Our team has years of experience with writing compelling catalogue copy which we offer as an additional service.
Step 5 – Design and Layout
With the flatplan finalised and the copy and images collated the design phase can begin. Our team has years of experience at creating compelling and well designed catalogues, using the latest theory and techniques to get your products selling off the page!
Step 6 – Press Preparation
Once the design and layout has been signed off your files will be expertly prepared for print.
In todays digital workflow all catalogue pages are pre-checked for errors and then written to high resolution PDF.
Want to find out more?
We would love to discuss your project with you. Simply call us on 0845 2300 258 to talk to a catalogue specialist.
Alternatively, you can view our portfolio, check our our case studies or even get a FREE catalogue critique!