We’ll give it to you straight; you need marketing collateral for your business to succeed. Business cards, flyers, postcards, and yes, even pamphlets. Today, we’re specifically shining a spotlight on custom brochures or leaflets, an effective method of sharing your company’s services and offerings with your clientele. Brochures are essential marketing tools that connect businesses with potential customers by presenting visually appealing designs and concise information. Marketing brochures have a proven track record of usefulness for establishments in industries like real estate, automotive, restaurants, food delivery, finance, beauty services, and healthcare, just to name a few. Brochures of all types are most visible and useful when placed in stands on countertops, in delivery bags (specifically food menus), handed to customers directly, and even mailed out. A pamphlet’s effectiveness is greatly influenced by selecting the right size and fold. We’re not saying that there’s necessarily a wrong size, but it’s helpful to know what your options are so that you can make an informed decision.
Let’s dive into the most popular brochure sizes to help you pick the one you’ll need to effectively display your business’s information, which directly impacts message delivery, visual appeal, and functionality of your brochures.
Most Popular Brochure Sizes
8.5” x 11”
Fold options: Half Fold to 4.25” x 11”, Half Fold to 5.5” x 8.5”, Trifold, Z Fold
Custom 8.5” x 11” trifold brochures are the most popular size and that’s probably because it’s the same size as a regular piece of paper. It’s amazing the potential a regular-sized piece of paper has when both sides are used and divided up into panels. 8.5″ x 11″ brochures can be used to display multiple pieces of information. Create informational pamphlets and service lists for automotive shops, contractors, financial offices, dentists, health clinics, realtor brokerages, restaurant catering and take-out menus, and much more. You really can’t go wrong with a custom 8.5″ x 11″ brochure.
11” x 17”
Fold Options: Half Fold to 8.5” x 11”, Tri-Fold, Z-Fold, Open Gate Fold, Closed Gate Fold, Double Parallel Fold, Double Parallel Reverse Fold, Roll Fold (4 Panel), Half Fold then Half Fold 5.5” x 8.5” (French Fold), Half Fold then Tri-Fold, Accordion Fold (4 Panel)
The largest of the popular bunch, 11” x 17” Brochures are convenient when paired with the most amount of information. Because of their size, you can easily incorporate images throughout your design. This size brochure would be ideal for a disposable restaurant menu. Include photos of popular dishes and daily ongoing specials; there’s even enough room to list out ingredients for each menu item. This size has the most fold options (all 10, in fact) so there are 10 potential ways to print a pamphlet.
8.5” x 14”
Fold Options: Half Fold to 7” x 8.5”, Tri-Fold, Z-Fold, Open Gate Fold, Closed Gate Fold, Double Parallel Fold, Double Parallel Reverse Fold, Roll Fold (4 Panel), Accordion Fold (4 Panel)
If you’re looking for a brochure size that is eligible to be printed as a 4-panel pamphlet, but don’t want a size that’s much larger than an 8.5″ x 11″ brochure, then an 8.5″ x 14″ brochure size is the way to go!
6” x 9”
Fold Options: Half Fold 4.5” x 6”, Trifold
The most compact size of all the custom brochure size options, 6” x 9” brochures are perfect for highlighting a small amount of information. We do not recommend simply choosing this one if you’re interested in a smaller size. Note that if you have a lot of details to share, cramming them into a smaller brochure will be more harmful than helpful. If you have a short list of services or menu items, a 6″ x 9″ half-fold or tri-fold brochure will work just right for you.
What are the most popular brochure folds?
The most popular brochure fold types are Trifold brochures (3 panels), Bifold brochures (Half Fold – 2 panels), Z Fold brochures (3 panels), and Accordion Fold brochures (4 panels). With so many other options to choose from, why are these the most popular? That’s because all these fold types have a cohesive layout that is more reader-friendly. These folds allow images and text to flow easily and eliminate the possibility of confusion. It’s essential to choose a fold that will convey your information thoroughly and concisely.
Keep in mind the number of panels that each brochure fold has and consider how much space you need for your information. Also, the more panels your brochure has, the thinner the panels will be.
To learn more about brochure folds and their uses, and to see visuals on how they actually fold, check out our past blog on choosing the right brochure fold.
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The bottom line is that you want your brochures to be big enough to convey all necessary information while still remaining compact enough to carry around and save for later use. The size and fold you choose will depend on how you want your content to flow, which is equally as important. You wouldn’t want potential customers getting confused because your materials don’t clearly communicate what you’re offering.
Want to explore more options? Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty! Check out all of our brochure sizes and fold combinations below (there’s a lot!). You can shop all of these directly on our website. Ordering is a breeze – simply upload your print-ready designs, or browse free brochure templates you can customize with ease – no design experience required!
