When having brochures printed by a commercial folded printing company, one thing that you might be asked about is the type of fold that you would prefer. If you're placing your first order for brochures, you might not have thought about this yet. Printing companies print out brochures and other materials with different folds on a daily basis. Some of what you'll choose will be up to your personal preference and the purpose of your brochures. The accordion fold is a popular one.

Create Brochures That Don't Take Up a Lot of Space

If you are going to be displaying your brochures on racks, you might only have a limited amount of space to work with. This may also be true if you're displaying your brochures on a desk or table in your office or on a table at a trade show booth. Because of the way they're folded, accordion-folded brochures don't take up much space.

Avoid Overwhelming Your Audience

People often expect a brief, light read when they're reading brochures. If your brochures aren't folded properly, those who pick them up to read them might see a whole lot of information at one time. Even if the wording isn't complicated, this can be overwhelming.

When using your brochures to attract and inform customers, scaring them away isn't the goal. Accordion folds help with this. Because of the way that they are folded, only a small amount of information is displayed at one time. Even if the people who pick up your brochures end up reading the whole thing, there isn't the same risk of them feeling overwhelmed and putting the brochures back down because they appear to be long and wordy.

It is possible for accordion fold brochures to be too wordy and overwhelming, though. Adding pictures throughout and making sure that the font isn't too small are two prevention tips.

Keep Everything Organized

Brochures that aren't in an accordion fold aren't just overwhelming for readers. They can be overwhelming for those who are putting them together and who want to provide organized information. An accordion fold gives you separate "pages." This makes it easier for you to determine how to arrange the words and pictures that you're adding. There are also resources that provide help with organizing and creating great brochures, so you may want to make use of some of these resources in addition to choosing an accordion fold, too.