Brochure Design Brochure Design 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You're designing a brochure with a dark background. What is the best practice for body text?
- Use a slightly heavier weight of light-colored type (Correct answer)
- Use thin serif type at small sizes
- Use pure saturated red text
- Lower the text opacity to 50%
Correct answer: Use a slightly heavier weight of light-colored type
Reversed-out text can fill in when printed, so a slightly heavier weight keeps light text on dark backgrounds legible.
Question 2: What is 'rich black' and when is it used in brochure design?
- Black built from all four CMYK inks for deep solid coverage (Correct answer)
- Black printed with only the K channel for small text
- A Pantone spot color
- A digital-only screen effect
Correct answer: Black built from all four CMYK inks for deep solid coverage
Rich black combines CMYK inks for a deeper black on large areas, while small text uses 100% K only.
Question 3: A brochure photo looks fine on screen but prints dull. What is the most likely cause?
- The image was left in RGB and shifted when converted to CMYK (Correct answer)
- The DPI was too high
- The bleed was set incorrectly
- The paper was too heavy
Correct answer: The image was left in RGB and shifted when converted to CMYK
CMYK has a smaller color gamut than RGB, so vibrant screen colors often dull when converted.
Question 4: Which file format is the industry standard for sending final brochure artwork to a commercial printer?
- Press-ready PDF with embedded fonts (Correct answer)
- PowerPoint file
- PNG at screen resolution
- Word document
Correct answer: Press-ready PDF with embedded fonts
A press-ready PDF preserves fonts, bleeds, and color settings exactly as designed.
Question 5: When would a spot color (e.g., Pantone) be added to a brochure job?
- When exact brand color matching is critical (Correct answer)
- When printing only photographs
- When reducing cost on short digital runs
- When the design uses only black text
Correct answer: When exact brand color matching is critical
Spot colors are pre-mixed inks that guarantee consistent brand color that CMYK may not match precisely.
Question 6: A restaurant wants a takeout menu brochure that customers keep. Which design choice best supports retention?
- Compact fold size with durable stock and clear menu organization (Correct answer)
- Oversized poster format
- Minimal contact information
- A single large photo with no text
Correct answer: Compact fold size with durable stock and clear menu organization
A compact, durable, well-organized piece is easy to keep and reference, encouraging repeat orders.
Question 7: What is the purpose of a printed proof before a full brochure run?
- To catch color, layout, and folding errors before mass printing (Correct answer)
- To test the mailing list
- To measure reader engagement
- To finalize the marketing budget
Correct answer: To catch color, layout, and folding errors before mass printing
A proof lets the designer and client verify everything before committing to the cost of a full run.
Brochure Design Brochure Design 4
You're designing a brochure with a dark background.
What is the best practice for body text?