Why Does Using Geometry Make for Effective Leaflet Designs?

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I know that sounds like an odd question but I ask it for two reasons.

The first reason is I hope you will keep reading and the second reason is I thought “Are you even interested in geometry and leaflet designs?” as the title may see you reaching for the off button before your eyes began to glaze over. And I would like you to keep reading because geometry plays a major part in leaflet design and I’d like to explain why.

Graphic designers have been producing designs for the medium of print for many years. And believe it or not, they have been using geometry in their designs to make them more effective in their job.

Why you should use geometry in leaflet design

Geometry is defined in the dictionary as ‘a branch of mathematics concerned with the properties, relationships, and measurements of points, lines, curves, and surfaces’.

However, geometry is not and has never been a mystical art known only to an initiated few.

Geometry is actually surrounding us in our daily lives. It’s in art, architecture, signs, patterns and shapes. These shapes and patterns are used in their specific fields because they work and will work well within on a design for a leaflet.

There are a number of reasons why geometry has a positive effect on the reader when reading your leaflet:

Geometric shapes and lines establish a sense of symmetry and balance, making leaflets easier to understand.
Geometry naturally lends itself well to an organised state where each element fits within one another or within a specific order. There is something innately calming about that.
Geometry is also great for establishing consistency and repetition within the leaflet design, which helps train readers’ minds quickly to make certain associations with those elements.
Geometric shapes can be used solo or in conjunction with one another, and they can also be filled, outlined, or coloured in endless ways. How you mix and match these elements is what will give your design its own unique and beautiful edge.
Stronger geometric elements may be all that’s needed to give your content a major dramatic flare while you keep everything else surrounding them much more simple.

What is geometry in leaflet design?

Geometry in leaflet design uses spheres, lines, and other shapes whose purpose is to guide the reader to a call to action. Spheres are used to focus the reader’s attention while lines will guide them to another area of information.

In addition to the spheres and lines, other shapes such as triangles, squares and hexagons can be used. These shapes can be used either as background in the design of a leaflet or used to carry an additional element of the design. A sphere could carry an illustration or a square a call to action.

The benefits of using geometry in leaflet design

When you use geometry in a leaflet design you will introduce repetition and consistency to your leaflet. These along with geometric shapes will add balance and symmetry to your design and make it easy for the reader to read and understand which in turn will increase the chances of them following on and using your call to action.

Using geometric shapes can have an added advantage as each shape has its own physiological meaning. Circles with wholeness, squares or rectangles with reliability, triangles with direction and hexagons with unity. Understanding this means you can use each geometric shape to make your design work in the way you want it to.

Using geometry in your design will give your leaflet a layout that will have the appearance of balance that will lead your reader easily and naturally to the call to action. And it is the call to action that is the aim of all direct marketing and using geometry and geometric shapes will help.

Think about the architects who used geometry when they designed the classical cathedrals we see today. Although they were built pointing to the sky the aim was to get people inside the cathedral. To achieve these architects built steps leading up to a large door. That is a real call to action!