Thursday, June 12, 2008

GED School Brochure Design

The brochure design challenge: How to make a learn at home GED school look like a well-established "Bricks and Mortar" institution?

The "Southern Academy" (not the real name) is located in a nondescript office building somewhere in Louisiana (not the real location). For the last eleven years the state-licensed school has had a successful operation, making a modest profit each year. Though for the past year or so, they have seen their profits plateau and realize that they need to attract more students in order to continue to grow.

It's obvious from their success, that they have tapped into a need in the geographic region and demographics that they have been marketing to. Presently, they have used a haphazard approach to reaching their audience using various advertising methods like matchbook advertising, bus shelter posters andTV and radio spots. They follow-up inquires from these advertising vehicles with a sales pitch and a brochure. The brochure design they use has evolved over the past eleven years with a variety of different layouts. Some designs looked better than others, but all had a hard-sell image with bits and pieces of ideas that the owners had gleaned from years of attending different marketing seminars and scrutinizing what their competitors' had done.