DOES YOUR SEASONAL CATALOG STACK UP?

At Wheelie, we love photographing and designing seasonal catalogs. This might even be our ideal project these days because catalogs combine photography with layout design and sometimes infographic design. That’s a hat trick for us over at Wheelie. 

When outdoor and action sports companies drop catalogs a few times a year (or if you’re a bike company, annually), there are two really fun things we get to work around:

Amanda designing her heart out.

1. They're Temporary:

Because of the transitory nature of catalog design, you get to take creative risks. In five (or even one) years, your catalog won’t be in retail stores or on your website. It will probably still be on your company’s conference table with a stack of catalogs from years prior, though, a nice portfolio of what has worked and why. This means, every catalog comes with an opportunity to look amazing in the time period it's in. If there is ever an appropriate time to use trendy design styles or try a new look, this is it.

THEY GET TO BE VISUAL MASTERPIECES:

Both print and digital catalogs are a visual showcase of your products and how you intend for them to be used. This requires a skilled mix of product shots and lifestyle shots. If the catalog is digital, we like to help you play with the user experience of how the catalog scrolls or flips pages, and that is fresh to your audience, too. This is a time to go big, be unique, be a little more innovative than you normally would.
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Takeaways for you:
A few things for you to think about with your next product catalog:

1. Does it stay within your branding, but also help push your brand into what’s next?
2. Does it look absolutely awesome? It should. 
3. Aside from clearly showcasing your products, is it just cool enough that someone would put your catalog on their coffee table instead of their trash can? That’s the goal.
4. Does it provide value? Some of the favorite catalogs we’ve made feel more like a magazine than product sheets. They have articles and letters, and the product pages aren’t the main focus of the catalog. That might not be right for your brand, but think about how you can provide value instead of noise. 
5. Is it printed on recycled paper? The environment will thank you.
6. Photography: Are the photos on-brand for you? Do the models or athletes look like your target audience? Can your target audience picture themselves in the scenes? Are you including diversity of models in your photos to expand your customer base and make more people feel included in your brand? This is so ridiculously important that it has almost become our mission at Wheelie to help brands include diversity in their visuals. It’s time for that to happen in our industry, and catalogs are a great place to start.

With that, thanks for reading.
The sun is out, and I'm heading up to the mountain.
-Lisa

P.S.--As I prepare to open a Colorado branch of Wheelie (!!!!), I just hired a new Account Executive out of Colorado. His name is Matt Swenson, and you can read his bio here. Matt wants to ride bikes with you and help you kickoff your next dream project with us! Email him with your ideas or just to say hi:  matt@wheeliecreative.com


If you'd like to talk about your upcoming products with me, I'm obsessed with gear. If you're interested in hiring WheelieCreative to help photograph or design your next catalog, I'd love to hear that, too. Just hit the button below:)

LET'S TALK GEAR!