3 Designs Down

So I've created my 3 catalog cover designs...as with everything... much harder to do than it seems. I've learned InDesign as I go through my assignments for the class. I'm excited to pick my top design and refine it a little. I can't say that I'd be 100% happy with any one of the designs to submit it to my boss today, as is.

Inspiration Search

As previously mentioned, I work at a catalog company...and it goes hand in hand that we'd have hundreds of catalogs from other companies laying around. After about and hour of pawing my way through a stacks and stacks, I didn't find too many that actually appeal to me and jump out as great design.
I've scanned a few sale covers I came across...can't say that any of them are all that inspirational. I do like the Eddie Bauer ones more than the ones other scans.

Here is one that is so bad, I just had to scan it

And last, three covers that I liked, but aren't sale catalogs. I feel like I can still pull some inspiration out of them

..now on to starting my designs.

After further review...

Through the processing collecting and scanning some recent End of Summer Sale catalog covers and the most recent Holiday catalog cover, it is apparent to me that a new design for our End of Summer Sale catalog is very much needed.
Attached are the 3 most recent years' End of Summer Sale catalog covers, last year's Holiday catalog cover and two of our catalog covers from spring/summer 2011.

Behold...

Catalogs. Why Bother?

We are in a continuing education graphic design course through MCAD, what a great opportunity to design something for 'real life'. I have selected to do a catalog cover as my final project.

I work at a catalog and internet company, so catalogs are part of what we do. But should we? Does anybody even look at them anymore?
Surprisingly, the answer is yes, people do look at them. For my company, 80% of our business comes through the website but that doesn't mean that the catalog only generates 20% of sales. In the recent years of economic downturn, we had mailed fewer catalogs and noticed a significant decrease in traffic... I'll let the numbers guys fill in the middle, but ultimately it was determined that people like to browse the catalogs they get in the mail, then go online to purchase.

Which brings us back to catalog covers. You have 3 seconds to persuade someone to open your catalog and look at your offering. So we not just talking good graphic design here - we're talking eye grabbing marketing.

I am still deciding between an End of Summer Sale catalog and a Holiday catalog cover...