Flyers, Brochures, and Informational Materials

What this covers

Flyers, brochures, and informational materials are the everyday printed pieces an agency gives the public: event and promotional flyers, program brochures, handouts, fact sheets, rack cards, door hangers, postcards, and explainers for a new program or rate change. Parks and recreation, libraries, public works, utilities, public health, and planning all use them.

Dates, fees, and locations must match an agency system, such as a recreation registration system or a meeting calendar. Each piece follows brand standards, uses licensed images and fonts, passes department review, and often needs more than one language. Once posted online it is web content subject to accessibility law, and the final version is generally a public record. The hard part is moving fast without dropping those rules: a wrong fee means a reprint, and an inaccessible PDF means remediation and possible complaints.

How we do it

• Pull content from the system of record. We take dates, fees, age ranges, and activity codes from the registration system, calendar, or department record, not an email, and note the source on the proof.
• Build templates before requests arrive. For recurring pieces we build templates in the tools the staff who use them have: InDesign templates with paragraph, character, and object styles, parent pages, and locked brand elements, or templates in office or online design software with the approved colors, text styles, and locked logo placement. A routine flyer is then a content change in a tested layout.
• Set fold format and panel order for real use. A rack can show only the top of a piece, so the title and department go there. On a letter fold the front cover sits on the right of the outside sheet, and the inside flap is made slightly narrower so it closes flat.
• Edit in plain language. We edit for short sentences, common words, and a clear statement of what to do, by when, and whom to contact. The Plain Writing Act of 2010 covers only federal executive agencies, but its approach suits any public piece.
• Leave room for other languages. Translations often run longer than English, and some scripts need other fonts or right-to-left layout. We size text areas accordingly, set only text from qualified translators, and send the typeset proof to the agency's translator or another fluent reviewer the agency names.
• Confirm mail and distribution requirements early. Postcards and self-mailers have size, paper thickness, address, and postage marking requirements, and self-mailers also have folding and tabbing requirements, all of which vary by mailing method. We build to the mail house specifications, and the mail house, or a USPS mailpiece design analyst for unusual formats, reviews the design before files are final. School take-home pieces follow the school district's approval rules for distributing outside materials.
• Produce the accessible version with the print file. A print PDF with bleed, crop marks, and panels in folding order does not read correctly on screen. For each piece going online we produce a tagged PDF or HTML page with logical reading order, alternative text, live text, and sufficient color contrast.
• Use an intake form and set turnaround per request. The form captures piece type, audience, languages, quantity, distribution, deadline, content source, and approver. Turnaround is agreed per request, and no request skips accessibility or brand checks.

What you receive

• Print-ready PDF files built to the printer's specifications, with a folding mockup for folded formats.
• An accessible digital version of each piece posted online, checked against WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
• Editable templates for recurring pieces, in InDesign or the other tools staff use, with a short staff guide on what can be changed.
• Language versions set from the same template, with the translator and reviewer recorded.
• The intake form and a request log listing each piece, content source, approver, approval date, and file location.
• A list of fonts and images in each piece with their license terms.

Considerations for public agencies

• Accessibility. A piece posted online falls under the ADA Title II web rule, which adopts WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and the printed version is covered by the duty to provide effective communication, such as large print on request. The digital editions and accessible PDFs page covers the rule, its exceptions, and compliance dates.
• Language access. Which languages a piece needs depends on the agency's language access obligations, outlined on the publication layout and typesetting page. Confirm what applies with counsel or the language access coordinator.
• Public records. Final printed and posted versions are generally public records, and depending on state law, drafts and approvals may be too. Keep the file, approval, and request together.
• Ownership and licensing. The contract should state that the agency owns the final work product and editable files, subject to the licenses for any third-party stock images and fonts, which the agency licenses rather than owns and which may limit print quantities or uses. How font licenses affect handover is described on the production calendars, proofing, and file handover page. Photos of residents, especially children, should follow the agency's photo consent policy, as described on the event and program photography page.
• Fixed dates. Registration openings, events, and meetings have fixed dates, so schedules run backward from the date a piece must be in hand, allowing for translation, approval, printing, and mail delivery.

Starting an engagement

An engagement begins with a review of the agency's current materials, brand standards, languages, printer and mail house specifications, and event and program calendar. HQT then proposes templates, an intake form, and turnaround expectations, and runs the first requests through the full process so the agency can adjust it.

Frequently asked questions