Designing Custom Folders: Striking a Balance

When given the opportunity to create anything your mind can imagine, it's easy to get carried away. But when it comes to creating custom folders, the ability to reign in the desire to go overboard is essential. There is a fine line between eye-catching and eyesore and the latter is unprofessional and reflects poorly on your organization. Below are three key scales to balance.

1. Focusing too much on functionality or innovative form.

No one wants a bland 9x12 pocket folder with no design elements just because it conveniently organizes documents. It's the innovative designs that get you noticed by potential customers. But sacrificing functionality for creativity will not win long-term points.

For example, a transportation company may consider creating something truck-shaped. See-through "windows" can hold business cards, while the back "container" holds documents. But depending on the particular shape of the truck, this may turn out to be inconvenient to carry with other files or impossible to fit into a file drawer. People will probably end up throwing this out as soon as the novelty wears off.

2. Creating a layout that is too plain or too busy.

The hallmark of good design here is the ability to reflect your company's culture and brand. What you create should be interesting to look at and stand out. But crowding your layout with too many graphics, design elements, or colors is not an effective means for this goal. A design that is too busy can look cramped, unpleasing, or just plain tacky—all negatives you don’t want associated with you. If the folder is too plain, it won’t look minimalist; it will look uninspired or maybe even lazy!

3. Printing too much text or not enough information.

Custom folders are a great medium to tell the world who you are. There are various subtle ways to do that without printing your vision, mission, slogan, and company history on it. In this case, less can be more. Selectively printing key words or a catchy slogan will attract more interest than a cluttered paragraph or two of an "about us" excerpt. If you don’t have enough there, you are missing the opportunity to have a custom creation useful both as an organizational and marketing tool. Learning to balance the elements of both will ensure you get a quality, impactful product.