Eleanor—Jayne Browne | Professional Practice Notes | Publishing Handouts 1

A handout is something given or distributed free. It can refer to materials handed out for presentation purposes or printed sheets of paper containing information or advertising. Also known as pamphlets, leaflets, booklets, circulars, flyers, fact sheets handbills or bulletins, the purpose of printed handouts are to inform.

Publishing Handouts

T H E P R I N T E D WO R D

The printed word has a high degree of acceptance and credibility. Printed matter is unique in that it can be passed from person to person without distortion and lengthy material can be condensed. It allows for the use of photographs and graphic illustrations. It is permanent— the message will not change unless it is physically altered. Printed handouts can be distributed and read, or viewed by a large, wide—spread (target) audience; and mostimportantly, can be re—read and passed on or re—distributed.

Printed handouts fall into threecategories— persuasive, directiveand informative. The purpose of a persuasive handout is to induce the reader to do something such asdonate money or visit a speech orthe zoo, and persuasive or emotional language is used to coax readers.A directive handout is material which calls for direct action such asattending a political rally or demonstration. The informative handout is factual— it presents true information to the audience, and in some cases may satisfy curiosity.

Production criteria such as paper, weight, quality, size and budget must be taken into account when designing any kind of printed handout along with format which is dictated by the information/contents contained within.Irrespective of context, or purpose,effective handouts aim to maximise response rates, therefore criteria such as what to say and how to say it must be clearly defined.

A.I.D.A. is a term, model and approach, attributed to American advertising and sales pioneer, Elias St. Elmo Lewis (1872—1948), who wrote and spoke prolifically about the potential of advertising “to educate the public”. It is applied tomarketing and advertising strategiesand describes a common list of events that may occur when a reader (consumer) engages with an advert.

Attention—attract the attention of the customer.Interest—raise customer interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages/benefits (instead of focusing on features, as in traditional advertising).Desire—convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs.Action—lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasing.

Using a system such as this gives a general understanding of how to target a market effectively and later versions of this theory have edited the A.I.D.A. steps to add phrases such as satisfaction (A.I.D.A.S)— Satisfy the client so they become a repeat customer and give referrals to a product and; confidence (A.I.D.C.A.S). Changes in thinkingnow facilitate a more flexible view of the order in which the steps are taken, suggesting that different arrangements might prove more effective for different consumer—to—product relationships.

Pamphlet: a small booklet orleaflet containing information

Leaflet: a printed sheet ofpaper, sometimes folded, with

information or advertising, andusually distributed free.

Booklet: a small book consisting of a few sheets,

typically with paper covers.

Circular: a letter or advertisement that is distributed

to a large number of people.

Flyer: a small handbill advertising an event or product.

Fact Sheet: a sheet of paper

giving useful information about a particular issue, especially for

puplicity purposes.

Handbill or Bulletin: a small printed advertisement or other

notice distributed by hand.

about a single subject.

Eleanor—Jayne Browne | Professional Practice Notes | Publishing Handouts 2

Before design can begin a great deal of pre—production, content gathering and objective defining isnecessary, such as what the handout should achieve and other factorsincluding: creating an awareness of issues or services, a list of different skills, directing viewers to a website,promoting a specific event or activity or; reminding readers of aunique selling point/s. An additional criterion to factor in is: who is the material targeted at? Potential clients/viewers? or, existing clients/viewers?

Grammar and spelling must becorrect and without errors, typos ormistakes, and body copy presented in short sentences that make the point clearly and concisely— a handout's purpose is to deliver a message with a call to action. Additional information includes contact details such as telephone number, email and website address along with a name or contact window.

Overuse of, and inappropriate use,of typographic elements such as fonts must be avoided. Focus shouldbe placed on creating a high degree of typographic authority with a clearvisual language based on a grid structure. Choice of format, and size, is determined primarily by (quantity of ) content, ie. how much and budget as well as distribution area. Select a size, and fold, that allows the inclusion of information while also remaining practical for the handout's purpose— a big size is definitely more noticeable but may not be practical for mailing purposes. A tri—fold is appropriate for direct mailing but not the best choice when an open spread is required.

Readers always ask: “What’s in it for me?” hence an attention grabbing headline is mandatory. Ask what selling point does this message have that will attract attention, or generate interest?

Known as the Shelf Shout the top 3" (approx. 7.5cm) of a handout arewhat people see when the materialis in a stand or on display, thereforewhether organised (in a stand) or hand distributed, the headline (or name/title) belongs in the top third of the first page. Headlines must be correct in fact and implication, and connect to readers, in order to attract attention through using interesting, active words that set (or match) the tone of the handout.

Straight or bent?You only get one chance to get it right, so get it right! Headlines are what catch attention and they can be written straight or bent; for example in delivering a punchy headline for an air conditioning company it could be presented in 2 ways: as a straight headline which might read “High Quality Air Conditioning” or as a bent headline and read “Cool Air—Hot Prices”.

A common mistake is failure to reinforce the headline with solid facts— don't keep the tone off beat by a focus on amusing the reader with joke—ladened copy. If using a bent headline, keep the body copy clean, concise and full of benefits. Also, include a sub—headline which maintains the momentum created by the headline. Images used in handouts can also be straight or bent and the general rule is: use a straight image with a bent headline, and vice versa.

Bi—Fold: a single sheet printedon both sides and folded into

Tri—Fold: a single sheet printedon both sides and folded into

thirds resulting in six panels(three on each side).

Gatefold: a folding method thatuses 2 parallel folds to create sixpanels (3 on each side). The leftand right panels are roughly half

the width of the centre panelsand fold inward with no overlap.

French Fold: a sheet that is foldedvertically and then horizontally,

of a booklet or brochure and expand to a final size that feels

like a poster.

accordion look is created byAccordion Fold or Z—Fold: an

allowing a sheet to start the size

folding a sheet of paper back andforth into 2, 3, 4 or more parallel

a fan. When folded only twice,

folds. This allows the document to open fully with one pull, like

an Accordion Fold is known as aZ—Fold.

half resulting in four panels (two on each side).

Eleanor—Jayne Browne | Professional Practice Notes | Publishing Handouts 3

Eye—catching images speak for themselves, however they must be relevant, reinforce objectives and pertinent to text. If promoting a product/s use pictures of people using it/them; and always use bestquality. Other graphic elementsmay include a Wordmark or logo, charts, graphs or statistics of some kind— ensure that these elements are designed with the same care asthe body text.

Also remember, white space, or empty space is the designer's best friend. Don't cram every inch of the handout with too many images (andtext). Empty space, such as margins or areas around the title keeps thedesign well—balanced, improvesaesthetics and increases readability.

Design Checklist—

Handout objective

Handout readership

Distribution method

Headline

Sub—headline

Shelf shout (7.5cm)

Body copy

Contact information

Images

Handout format

Fold type

Choice of typeface

Core colour palette

Grid structure

Paper type

Paper weight

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“Impossible is nothing”.Adidas, Muhammad Ali

“They laughed at me when I satdown at the piano. But when

I started to play...”John Caples

Dove Soap, David Ogilvy