1. Use colors wisely. Colors emanate a feeling – blue can mean calm, black is associated with dread or sadness, and red is associated with love. If you are designing your own marketing materials, be sure to use the right colors that evoke the kind of mood or feeling you want customers to feel when they see your marketing piece. Be sure to look up the color wheel so you know which colors complement each other, and which should not be used together under any circumstances! Complementary colors help each other stand out; non-complementary colors will help each color fade into the background. Choose wisely.

2. Use white space liberally. Eyes get tired. If you fill every square inch of your brochure or flyer with text or graphics, readers’ eyes will get tired. Once the eyes get tired, the brain doesn’t want to read anymore. That’s bad news for business. Be sure to include plenty of white space, or empty space, in your design to give people’s eyes a rest. Think that’s boring? Look at the most popular search engine’s Web site – Google – plenty of white space and it’s still going strong after 10 years.

3. Start with a template. If you aren’t a designer, starting from a template is your best bet for a professional-looking brochure or catalog. There’s nothing wrong with getting a little design help. You can find templates at Microsoft Office Online, HP’s Business Templates and Images Web page, or StockLayouts.com. You can find basic templates for free, which you simply download from the Web site, or you can pay for a more complex template. You can expect to pay about $100 per template.

4. Match the paper to your printer. Inkjet printers need to print on inkjet paper. Laser printers need to print on laser paper. Each type of paper is specially formulated for each type of printer. Laser printers use a fuser to dry toner particles on the paper; this requires intense heat. Laser paper is made of this type of heat.

Inkjet paper is created to absorb ink because inkjet printers spray liquid ink onto a page to create an image. Using a laser paper, which doesn’t absorb ink, on an inkjet printer would result in smearing or streaking.

5. Match the paper to your purpose. If you’re creating a brochure, you’ll want a heavier, more opaque (not see-through) paper than if you were creating a flyer. Your paper needs to match your purpose. Sales letters are generally printed on lighter weight paper, about 20 to 24 lbs. Greeting cards are generally printed on heavier paper, about 60 to 79 lbs.

You also need to refer to the brightness of the paper. A brighter paper will help your images and text look clearer because more light is bouncing off the paper.

You can also choose the type of paper finish you want: matte, glossy or something in between. Colored photos look better on glossy finishes and black-and-white photos look better on matte.

6. Ask someone to proof your work. Your work might look perfect to you, but it never hurts and always helps to get a second pair of eyes on it. Ask a colleague (or two or three) to look over your marketing piece. Ask the person if the colors look right, to make sure there are no typos, to suggest a different layout and to make sure you have enough white space. Another set of eyes can make the difference between an amateur-looking brochure or a professional-looking brochure.