Reading Response Week 5
The brochure I found was for Flora Marathon that took place in London on April 22 of this year. The front of the brochure uses a bright yellow background that attracts the eye and makes the brochure stand out. The graphics on the front panel use two shades of green, a complimentary color to yellow, that make that the brochure aesthetically pleasing. The graphics themselves depict several silhouettes of runners, cyclists, babies, the Tower Bridge, and a rhinoceros. Without reading the print the viewer receives the message that this is an athletic event in London for anyone who wishes to participate. I would like to achieve a similar effect when creating a brochure of my own. I think that it is important to not only have a front panel that draws in the viewer’s eye, but also conveys the message without having to read the copy. This is important because most people judge publications by their aesthetics and only after that do they read the copy. Inside the brochure the reader can find information about how to get around London during the event, effectively avoiding crowds and the easiest ways to follow the race. There is the consistent use of blue headers to distinguish between sections. Within each section there are green headers with a smaller font size that separate important points of the section. Furthermore, the use of bullets further points out important information. I like the simple design of this brochure and the clear structure used. I will try to mirror the same type of structure within my brochure, being able to keep it simple will allow the reader to follow the information easily and provide a clean look within the brochure. This brochure also uses a map of London to show where the race will take place and points out all the Underground stops along the route. This allows those who are in a hurry to absorb information from the brochure quickly, as well as provide a visual representation of the text. This is an effective use of imagery and I hope to achieve the same effect in my brochure as well.
The leaflet I have used for this response is available at the following address: http://www.london-marathon.co.uk/site/downloads/London%20Marathon%2007%2...
Comments
Comment
I agree that the brochure uses a good use of color to catch the eye of the reader. The graphics are pretty good and the map is very informative for the event. It is easy to read and the people will know where they have to go. They use misalignment in the title to catch the reader’s attention. I liked the way they used colors and bullets to contrast the writing and make it organized. One thing that I do not like about this brochure is that it seems almost to have too much writing. I think we can take some of the aspects from this brochure to help us make our own.
Reply
I think this is a real good brochure. It has a very good cover page and the colors and image grab my attention. It is simple enough that I am interested in looking at it and the colors work well together. I also like how the back has specific numbers stating what they are, such as “23 hour travel information” The big map also worked out well in this brochure because someone will be able to open the whole thing up and see it all. The map is easy to read and labeled well. I think they could have organized the inside a little better with headers of certain things such as, “Why use oyster?” or other headers. Overall I think this was an effective brochure. I would maybe have added some info on the marathon in general, incase I saw this brochure and was curious about more info on the marathon. Unless this was only given to people signed up for this event.
Group Reply
"I like the simple design of this brochure and the clear structure used." I couldn't agree more. Sometimes simple is better. I also liked the emphasis on the pictures and how a viewer could guess what was inside the brochure without having to read it. I think that is also important because people do judge books by their covers. I also really like the color combinations. I definitely think that complementary colors look better on brochures that are giving information. The brochure you chose is very similar in layout and design to the one I chose. I hope this is a design and layout that our group uses because as you stated it is simile and easy to read.
Group Reply
I also thought use of green and yellow on the cover was effective. I especially thought, as you pointed out, the use of green font for headers did a nice job separating the sections and tying into the color scheme. I definitely think simplifying the brochure it the way to go. If it gets to complicated people will lose interest immediately. I have to agree with Stephanie about the amount of text used. Even though the brochure catches the eye, it requires a lot of reading to get all the information. The brochure did use bullet points, but they were rather long. For our brochure I would like to make use of bullet points to get the message across more concisely.
Brochure Comment
Not only do I think you choose a very good example of a brochure, I think you did a great job analyzing it and showing how it relates to chapter 25. I think you brought up a great point when you explained how the picture is able to express the point of the brochure without text. I hope to bring a similar aspect when I am creating our project brochure. I also think the author did a great job on keeping the important information separated by color contrasting titles. Last, I really liked how, on the inside of the pamphlet, the diagram of the course was able to separate this section into a top and bottom.