Catalogs are one of the most effective marketing tools in today’s digital age. They give marketers an easy way to present the details of products or companies to their target audiences. However, providing necessary information does not ensure the success of a catalog. You must incorporate some elements into it to make it more attractive and suitable to grab customers’ attention.
This is where catalog design plays an instrumental role. A unique design provided by an expert catalog design company will not only catch your target customers’ eye but will also help you create a better brand identity for your business. But remember, the catalog design trends change every year. For the past few years, brands were focusing on futuristic designs and new possibilities in their respective catalogs. However, as the 21st century progresses, the focus has shifted more to people, putting communities and connections first. To keep up with the steep market competitions, you must be aware of the current trends. Here, in this blog, we bring you the top 5 catalog design trends that are likely to dominate the 2021 trajectory of catalog designing.
Storytelling
The best way to connect to people is through an engaging narrative. Nobody likes to face some dull, monotonous session that blurts out information after information. People want something that interests them, intrigues their minds, or touches their hearts. So, you must provide some engaging, unique experience while promoting your brand to them. This is where great storytelling plays a key role. Since the last few years, many marketers have shifted from their traditional print layout focusing on product information to an engaging narrative, adapting to a more modern approach.
The new trend has introduced a wave of visual content to the catalog designs in the form of images and videos, along with some strong, influencing copywriting. Instead of loading the catalogs with product specifications or technical terms, the new trend is leading marketers to tell a story to the customers, elaborating the role of the brand in real life. So, before you decide on your catalog layout, think about the story you want to tell the world. Once you know it, you are ready to start the process.
No More Grids
As time passes, the emerging trends are driving catalog designing to become more unique than ever before. Every catalog design company is now trying to think out of the box and produce something unprecedented, fresh, and original. In short, the current thumb rule of catalog designing is essentially breaking the rules. As a consequence, many designers are doing away with design grids while developing new catalog ideas. This is giving them more freedom and opportunity to experiment with new ideas, producing some exciting layouts for your catalogs.
They are also coming in different geometrical shapes with unique typographies, making them stand out among the conventional crowd. As a result, soon you might come across a catalog that looks nothing like something you have seen before, but gets the message across more effectively than ever before. The world is changing. So, your catalogs should change too.
Embedded Video
With the advent of social media and networking sites, the world is witnessing a flash flood of video content for the last few years. It is noted that people today are engaging more with content that includes videos. Consequently, more and more marketers are using embedded video in their websites to amass more traffic.
Similarly, online catalogs can also leverage the popularity of embedded video to reach more customers. However, embedding videos in your catalogs does not mean sharing an external YouTube or Vimeo link on the page. Rather, they refer to video footage inside the catalog itself, giving your viewers an exclusive insight into your brand without having to leave the site they are on. This is an important strategy to keep your customers hooked to your catalog.
3D Catalogs
Keeping up with the wave of technological revolution, marketers, and designers are leaning more towards innovative technologies. In their effort to break out of the box, catalogs are evolving from their traditional two-dimensional form and exploring the third dimension. Designers are now adding depth to their designs, creating unique 3D catalogs.
This is an exciting opportunity not only for marketers but also for customers as they can now see the product more realistically. They can now have a better understanding of how the product will look like in real life. This is more likely to turn more viewers into buyers and reduce the rate of product return after they are purchased.
Social Media In Focus
With the rising popularity of social media, marketers, and designers are now compelled to focus on these networking platforms to reach more potential customers. To stay ahead of the competition, every catalog design company must be able to leverage the advantages of social media to convert more viewers into buyers. Consequently, the catalogs must pack essential elements for these platforms and optimize them in a necessary way.
Understandably, this will require novel strategies compared to the simple digital catalogs published on websites. The use of eye-catching layout, GIFs, unique typographies, vibrant colors, as well as a reference to current affairs, special occasions, and seasonal themes are becoming the major features of social media-focused catalogs. In the end, what matters the most is the potential of attracting more customers’ attention.
As the past year has been proved to be a major disaster for many businesses due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, marketers are eagerly looking forward to 2021 to make the most out of it. So, if you want to make your mark in the steep competition, make sure you are employing your marketing strategies in a smart and effective way. Having a perfect catalog gives you a heads up in this race. So, hire an expert catalog design company that is well-aware of the dominating trends of catalog design in 2021 and can effectively leverage them to your benefit.