10 Steps to a Successful Redesign
A catalog redesign has a lot in common with a midlife crisis makeover. There comes a time in every catalog’s life — if it’s lucky to survive long enough — when it looks around at the competition and feels ugly, frumpy and over the hill. And though there’s no single redesign shape up solution that fits everyone, we all travel the same path. So here are 10 steps to a “new you.”
1. Do you really need a whole new you, or just a haircut?
Before you start looking at new fonts and cover treatments, determine the purpose of your redesign.
• Is it for the customer you have, the one who likes you just the way you are but could use a little something to relight the passion you once shared?
• Or is it for a new customer who — and we need to be honest with ourselves here — would never be attracted to the old you?
If you’re designing for the customer you already have, do some tweaking to get where you want to be. Be guided by the old saying, “Less is more.”
If you want to appeal to a different customer, you’ll need more radical changes. Letting go is hard; you should talk to your marketing people, because they may not be ready to give up your old customers even if you are. Evolution is often more successful than revolution.
Most Telling Attributes
Here are a few customer attributes to think about when designing your new look:
• male or female
• age range
• educational level
• interests (sports, movies, reading, travel, crafts, etc.)
• ethnic background
• trendy or traditional
• cheap or chic
• early adopters vs. mainstream users.
The more you know about your customer the better. B-to-B companies need to focus more on the attributes of the companies they’re selling to and less on the personal attributes of the people who make the purchases.
