summer camp brochure redesign

Identify the problem

High Adventure Day Camp needed a redesign of their brochure to bring in more kids for the summer ahead. The old brochure was too jumbled and hard to follow, the images used were also outdated. The camp needed a redesign to bring in more campers after record low attendances following the outbreak of COVID-19. Kids need to go outside again, but they needed a brochure that appealed to the children and their parents.

  • This poster holds a lot of crucial information, but unfortunately the format of it makes it hard to read and disrupts the overall message, potentially harming the camp's ability to bring in more campers. The poster is lacking an effective color palette, the text is too small and differs in size in different parts and the pictures don’t have a positive impact on the overall mood the poster is trying to convey.

  • Camp is fun and a poster about it should be using bright colors, but there is an inconsistency in contrast and placement. It seems as if every section of text is a different color, and no correlation between what color is which part of the text. Not only is the poster using six different colors, but also a different shade of each one.

  • The breakup of the text makes it impossible to read, there’s no consistency with the headers, sub-headers, or body text; it all looks the same. The breakup of it is odd as well, just very inconsistent and no apparent pattern or style. It should be apparent what is the most important block of text (headers) and which are the least, or last to read (body text).

  • The images aren’t very effective as they don’t portray a strong message. None of them make it clear what activities are being shown. Another thing I find off is if it’s a co-ed camp, there are 3/4 of the pictures girls only, and only one picture featuring boys among girls. They’re all placed in awkward spots that require the text to be broken up, emphasizing the feeling crowded. The logo doesn’t need to be on all four pages, and some white space would’ve definitely helped make the pages easier on the eyes.

What needs to change?

Target demographics:

who should want to come

Young kids

looking for their kid(s)

parents

looking for work

counselors

building relationships

schools

Sketches

Pencil and paper should be included in essentially any creative project. Sketching and doodling are some of the easiest ways to brainstorm, discover inspiration and communicate your ideas to others. I like to sketch out any illustrations or graphics I’m thinking of including, and it helps to do this before making wireframes so you can position them throughout.

Wireframes are another useful tool for planning out print materials. Creating a wireframe for the brochure showed me how much information I could fit on each page, and the best way to organize that information. Planning this out before jumping into the design helped me eliminate ideas that wouldn’t have worked and get a first look at how my brochure would read.

Color study

Color study is important before starting a design because color is a powerful visual element that can greatly impact the overall aesthetic and emotional response to a design. The choice of color can influence how a design is perceived, as well as affect its functionality and effectiveness in conveying a message. Color was especially important for me in creating the brochure because I had a specific mood I wanted to convey with the readers.

I knew I wanted the color palette to be earthy, so I played around with some shades of brown, orange and green. I also created the illustrations for the brochure, prototyping the color palettes. After comparing the illustrations I decided I needed the green to add saturation and contrast in my designs. The orange, brown and green went together very well together, but a light color was necessary to for highlights and so the overall color scheme wasn’t too dark.

compositions

I created two full compositions, and a third just on the cover, first spread, and back cover, just for extra options.

critiques

I collected critiques and feedback from peers. It’s important to get an outside perspective and opinion on your work. Critiques are not negative, comments, they’re opportunities to improve.

Some of the critiques I received:

  • Page 1 - Cover Page: No comments, strong illustrations and color choice.

  • Page 2 - Illustrations: Too much detail in sign; rest of illustrations are flat, keep consistency.

  • Page 3 - Program Summary: No widows.Don’t need slant. 

  • Page 4 - What to Bring: Keep consistency with uppercase and lowercase in lists. Add illustrations to fill up white space. Integrate more color; make the background white. No text over illustrations.

  • Page 5 - Communication: Simplify fire illustration or cut. No dashes or widows. Emphasize parts of text and break up; hard to read.

  • Page 6 - Cost: No text over illustrations. Make background white

  • Page 7 - Camp Rules: Simplify guitar. No text over illustrations. No widows. Doesn’t have to be a numbered list; illustration?

  • Page 8 - Back Cover: Break up text, too heavy.

The solution

I took all of my research, compositions and critiques, and I made a completely fresh booklet for High Adventure Day Camp to rebrand themselves and attract new faces to their growing family. The color palette and typography were updated to fit with the young feel of the new booklet, and illustrations were added to make it appealing to target demographics. It’s eye catching and easily digestible, perfect for a busy parent looking for a summer camp for their kids, or for a young child to see and understand.