In my last post about fast food leaflets, I wrote about how clarity of information is key to getting as much business from your potential customers as possible. This post is about how to turn them off.
Last week, I recieved this leaflet through my door and it certainly stood out from the usual fast food leaflets I recieve. Would you really be attracted to food with spiral eyes and a mouth, serving what appears to be a slice of himself to you? I find that quite off putting. Disturbing, even.
And then there’s that header. “The pizza delivery expressperts”. Perhaps it’s just me, but trying to combine two words like that while worth a try at the design stage, is certainly not good enough to put on the front of a leaflet, regardless of what it’s for. You do have to wonder who designs these things and, more importantly, why the client signs off on it.
To their credit, “Krazy Pizza” have one of the clearer menu designs inside, but the leaflet’s cover would put me off. It just doesn’t look healthy at all, does it?
Do me a favour: Click on the image on the left of this post and tell me the price of a large Mexican Hot pizza from Dominos and reply to this post with the price.
Why am I asking such a strange question? Because I for one have no idea how much it costs and I’ve looked at the menu for a good ten minutes since recieving it through through my letterbox. I know how much an Original Cheese & Tomato pizza costs and I know how much it would be to create my own pizza. I also know how much a Mighty Meaty pizza costs, just one item down below Mexican Hot, but I’ve no idea how much the Mexican Hot pizza and the other pizzas on there cost. Why? Because there’s no easily identifiable price for them. I’m hoping that I’m not going crazy and you’re just as confused as I am with this menu.
I find it strange that such a large and popular company would not go to every effort to make sure that I understand how much something costs before ordering it. It wouldn’t be hard to add the prices for each separate pizza and yet they’ve been omitted, creating a level of confusion that shouldn’t be there.
If a customer doesn’t know the price of something, it makes the customer lack confidence and that will reduce the chance of them calling up and finding out over the phone. It’s an unnecessary barrier and one which could potentially lose you a customer because such a customer may simply decide to either go with a rival company or decide against purchasing anything at all.
In order to capitalise on your market share, every effort should be made to make buying one of your products as easy as possible for the customer. If it’s not easy, your customers will get turned off and look elsewhere.
A source file can be incredibly useful in finding new ways to progress with an idea. A source file allows you to see what’s worked in the past and how you can make it even better. It gives you ideas on how to progress with your idea without treading on the ideas of others.
My source file has been accumulating since 2002 and as you can see, it’s gotten quite big. There’s all sorts in it. Magazine adverts, packaging, tickets, leaflets. Everything. It’s all useful for design research.
Tickets, flyers and lots more
You’ll find that some of the best design ideas come from the more obscure pieces of promotional material. Don’t just collect posters, but things like ticket stubs and magazine covers too. Check out the D&AD ticket. Very simple, but very eye catching.
If you’re lucky enough to know or be a student, then you’ll undoubtedly get countless leaflets and flyers posted through your door pretty much every day of the week. Keep them. Well, keep the good ones, that is. Sometimes even the bad flyers offer you good ideas on how to improve them and/or your own work.
They won't miss one menu
Not that I can be responsible if you get caught of course, but if there’s something particularly interesting in a shop or a restaurant that you think would be great to keep, take it. Now I’m not condoning shoplifting of course, but La Tasca certainly aren’t going to miss a menu, as seen on the left. I picked this up because it’s a great example of how a menu should be designed. You should have a look if you get a chance.
Some great examples of packaging
Another example of something you should have in a source file is packaging. A lot of times, companies will send you stuff through the post that’s more than just a letter. They do this to grab your attention. And if you take the time to open it and see what it is, then it’s done its job of getting you to notice it. And if something does that, keep it. Learn from it. Use it in your next project.
Chocolate - A good source of creativity
Finally, take a look at the packaging that your shopping comes in. From cereal boxes to beans to chocolate to drinks, it’s all relevant. As before, if it makes you pick it up, then it’s done its job and you can learn from it to help you do the same with your project. In particular, you’ll find that the way chocolate is packaged is quite interesting. Chocolate is always seen as a luxury item and you’ll find that it’s always packaged to reflect that, with gold/silver leaf and rich colours. If nothing else, these types of packaging offer you a chance to see which materials would look good on your products and posters.
So, if you haven’t already got one, consider starting a source file. It’ll help you considerably when you come to thinking about your next project. If you do have a source file, I’d love to see yours and compare. Send me a link and I’ll check it out.
