Title: Why Choose A Catalog? Word Count: 756 Summary: The choice on the marketing tool to use depends on the type of business. There are actually so many kinds of marketing tools to choose from however it is important that you know which one is applicable to your business. Keywords: Catalog Article Body: The choice on the marketing tool to use depends on the type of business. There are actually so many kinds of marketing tools to choose from however it is important that you know which one is applicable to your business. One of the most chosen marketing tool is the catalog. But for starters let us first define what catalogs are. Catalogs are multi-page documents that permit customers to view and purchase products and services. Catalogs are excellent counterparts for business media like web sites, brochures or even flyers. The available catalog sizes are the following: 5 ½” x 8 ½ “, 8 ½ x 11”, 8 ½” x 11” and 11” x 17”. Moreover catalogs may also be customized for added flare. There are certain advantages that may be derived from having customized catalogs and these are as follows: custom-made catalogs are excellent representative of any company or business. They also provide customers with a constant access to all the products and services that a company is offering. And of course catalogs showcase the products and services in detail. Catalogs are so effective that according to one study it increases sales by 10 to 20% especially when it is combined with a website. But just how are we to create these catalogs? There are certain considerations in creating a catalog and these are design, paper, binding and of course the printing company. Catalog Design In deciding on what design to use for the catalog, one very important factor must be considered and that is the design must be able to effectively capture the interest of its recipients. Then there is also the consideration in terms of pages to be included in the catalog. The number of catalog pages will be in accordance to the information as well as the images that are going to be displayed on them. Remember that is it not a good idea to over crowd a certain page with so many texts and images that have no relevance whatsoever to the company or to the products and services being offered. But if ever you like your catalogs to have that professional feel and look to it you may consider alignment and parallelism as additional factors to dwell on. You see most people prefer to have their catalogs with symmetry meaning they want to see varied shapes, lines and patterns. Symmetry in some way attracts them so be sure to include that in your catalogs. Another is parallelism which is achieved by using uniform fonts, color as well as types of graphics or images in the catalog. The Paper to Use Choosing the right type of paper to use is important since it can make and unmake your design. There are certain characteristics your chosen paper should posses like surface strength, tear strength, bursting ability and the tensile strength. The surface strength pertains to the ability of the paper to resists ripping whenever ink is applied. The tear strength refers to ability of paper resist tearing. The bursting ability on the other hand refers to the capacity of paper to withstand ripping most especially for packaging bags and envelopes. And last but no the least, the tensile strength which is the ability of paper to stretch without breaking. Binding of Catalog Since catalogs are multi-pages documents you will have to bind these pages together. There are at least six types of standard stitching use for catalog binding the perfect binding, saddle-stitched binding, side-stitched binding, case binding, plastic comb binding and the three-ring binding. But before you choose you should first know the differences between these types of stitching. The perfect binding involves gluing of the outside edge of the pages in order to create that flat edge. The saddle-stitch binding make use of staples on the fold of the pages. The side-stitch binding also make use of stapling but this time staple the pages together on the side rather than on the fold. The case binding requires for the pages to be sewn together and then attached to a hard cover. The plastic comb binding make use of plastic teeth that are fit into a stack of pages. And then the three-ring binding requires for punching of holes into the pages before fitting them into a binder. The Printing Company There are many printing companies to choose from and they are available either online or offline. However, there are certain edges that online providers have over their offline counterparts and that is in terms of their lowered prices plus their fast turnaround time. It is also more convenient transacting business as well as sending your catalog orders online.