A flyer gets about three seconds. Someone pulls it out of the letterbox, glances at it on the way to the bin, and either it tells them something they care about or it’s gone. The flyers that fail almost always fail for the same reason: they try to say everything.
The fix is mostly editing, not decoration: one message, a clear reading order, type you can read at arm’s length and one obvious next step. Below is the process we use, then a worked example.
Decide the one thing first
Before anyone opens a design program, write down the single thing you want the reader to do, and the single reason they’d do it. Not three services, a mission statement and your history. One offer, one action.
Good flyer briefs sound like this:
- “Book a free roof inspection before storm season.”
- “Come to our open day on Saturday 14th.”
- “We’ve just opened in Alstonville. Here’s 20% off your first visit.”
If you can’t get it down to one sentence, you’ve got two flyers, not one. Print them separately or pick the stronger one.
Build the hierarchy
Hierarchy just means the order the eye reads things in. On a good flyer, a reader who only takes in the first two levels still gets the message.
- The headline. The offer or benefit, in the biggest type on the page. Readable from arm’s length.
- The supporting line. One or two sentences that answer “why should I care?” or “what’s the catch?”
- The details. Date, time, location, what’s included, conditions. Short lines, not paragraphs.
- The next step. Phone number, web address or QR code, big enough to use.
- Who you are. Your logo and name. Yes, it goes near the bottom. People care what’s in it for them before they care who’s offering it.
The most common mistake is reversing levels 1 and 5: a huge logo at the top and the actual offer in small type halfway down.
Make the type readable
On a flyer, people read in poor light, at an angle, often without their glasses.
- Body text no smaller than about 10 point on an A5 or DL flyer. Bigger if your audience skews older.
- Two fonts at most. One for headlines, one for everything else. Your brand fonts, if you have them, which a proper brand identity should specify.
- Dark text on a light background for anything longer than a few words. White text over a busy photo looks great on screen and disappears in print.
- Short lines. If a line of body text runs the full width of an A4 page, it’s too long to read comfortably. Split it into columns or cut words.
Leave space on purpose
Empty space isn’t wasted space. It’s what makes the important parts stand out. If every corner of the flyer has something in it, nothing gets noticed.
A practical test: print it, stick it on the wall, walk to the other side of the room, and look back. What do you see first? If it’s not the headline, something else is competing with it. Usually it’s a photo, a starburst, or a second offer that snuck in.
Make the next step obvious
Tell people exactly what to do, in words: “Call Mel on 0400 000 000” works better than a phone number floating on its own. If you’re using a QR code:
- Print it at least 2 cm square, bigger if it’ll be read from a distance.
- Test it from the printed proof, not just the screen.
- Point it at a specific page about the offer, not your homepage.
- Write what it does next to it: “Scan to book.”
If the link goes to a form, make sure the form is short and works on a phone. A good flyer that leads to a broken form has done half the job.
A worked example: before and after
This is the kind of flyer we typically get sent to “tidy up”. The business is a fictional mobile dog groomer.
Before:
PAWS & CO MOBILE GROOMING (logo, large, centred)
Established 2019. Family owned and operated. Passionate about pets.
Services: Full groom, Wash and dry, Nail clipping, Ear cleaning, De-shedding, Flea treatment, Puppy intro, Teeth brushing
Servicing Ballina, Lennox Head, Alstonville, Wollongbar, Byron Bay, Bangalow, Lismore, Evans Head and surrounding areas
Fully insured. Cert III in Companion Animal Services.
Phone 0400 000 000 | Email | Website | Facebook | Instagram
NEW CUSTOMER SPECIAL: 15% off your first full groom!!
Everything here is true and none of it is wrong. But the only reason a stranger would act, the discount, is in the last line. Eight services and nine towns compete for attention. There are five ways to get in touch, which means none stands out.
After:
15% off your dog’s first full groom
We come to you. No car trips, no cages, no stressed dog.
Full groom, wash and nails, in our van outside your house.
Ballina, Lennox Head and Alstonville. Offer ends 30 November.
Book: call Jess on 0400 000 000 (or scan the QR code)
Paws & Co Mobile Grooming. Fully insured.
The headline is now the reason to act. The second line answers “why mobile?” with the benefit to the dog, which is what owners really worry about. The services list is cut to the three that matter for a first booking. The area is narrowed to where they most want work. There’s one way to book, with a deadline. The logo moves to the bottom, smaller, and the brand still comes through in colour and type.
Nothing about the “after” needed a fancier design. It needed someone to make choices.
Before it goes to print
Check the dull bits that ruin print runs: the file is CMYK, it has 3 mm bleed if the design runs to the edge, nothing important sits within 5 mm of the trim, and the phone number has been checked by someone who didn’t write it. We cover the technical setup in print-ready files: bleed, crop marks and resolution.
Order a small run first if you can. Hand out 200, see what comes back, then print more.
If you’re doing a flyer, you’re probably also thinking about whether business cards are still worth printing. The same rules of one message and plenty of space apply there.
Print design is where we started, and it’s still a regular part of our graphic design work. You can see some of it in our portfolio.