Newsletter design

Montezone UK wanted a newsletter to distribute in PDF format. They asked us to provide the layout and design to align with their brand identity.

Project details

Client:	Montezone UK
Project:	Newsletter design
Date:	10 Dec 2012

Scope

Montezone’s brand identity was well established after we designed their logo, web site and printed stationery. Montezone approached us to design and layout a print–quality PDF newsletter because of our ongoing, trusted relationship with them as a client.

Montezone was keen to maintain the interest of its customer base and continue reminding them of the business. They decided to produce an occasional newsletter with a mixture of helpful information and articles and a few special offers. The client wanted to provide the content but asked us to design the newsletter layout initially and then input the content they provided for each edition.

The scope of the project was to create and design a layout for Montezone’s new newsletter. The client was keen to ensure that the newsletter would follow the branding principles that we had already set out for the business. The newsletter had to:

provide visual impact;
align with Montezone’s brand identity;
include high–quality images;
be distributed electronically but capable of high–quality printing; and,
present a reusable layout that we could modify for each newsletter.

Our solution

Although the client wanted to distribute the newsletter electronically in PDF format, we decided the best solution was to design the layout as a high–quality printed document.

We set out the layout and the overall design in InDesign®. We used high–quality architectural images of a Lancia Montecarlo for the cover and similar design techniques in the newsletter design as were used for the web site. This technique helped align the newsletter with the brand identity and style of the business.

Successes

We produced high–quality finished newsletters for the client, who was pleased with the look–and–feel achieved. Feedback suggested Montezone’s customers enjoyed the newsletter, and it was opened and read by those customers.

We reused the layout several times for the client’s newsletters. By reusing the design, we saved time with each subsequent newsletter, which saved our client money.

Challenges

Whenever we use a layout as a template for different content, there are challenges that every designer will understand:

varying copy often lends itself to distinctive layout/design techniques; and,
changed content varies in length, requiring alteration to the layout to accommodate.

So, there was a trade–off between a high–quality finished product and a templated design. Wherever possible, we worked within the actual design, but, if necessary, we tweaked it to accommodate the content we had.

Impacts of the project

We delivered high–quality newsletters to the client, which the client distributed to customers in PDF format. Customers engaged with the newsletters and responded well to them. Our client was pleased with the result.

The images provided demonstrate a selection of the pages and the covers of several newsletters. We have not included the whole newsletter each time and the images have been optimised for the web so are not high-quality reproductions of the PDF versions.