Brochure

Create brochures that are impactful in both size and design using Design.ai’s extensive templates.

Brochures are widely used in many industries. However, not all brochures are created equal as there are plenty of ways to present them.

Before designing your brochure, it is essential to understand which type of fold that you intend to use.

To ease this process, we have gathered the most frequent, favorable and effective brochure folds for your reference.

The common types of brochure fold

Half-Fold
Also known as a bi-fold or book fold, it is made simply by folding a brochure page into two equal halves. Commonly used in the food and entertainment industry, they are quick to mass produce and fold and keep a degree of simplicity.

Tri-Fold
This type of fold is made by folding three panels in on each other. It can be folded horizontally for wider, shorter panels, or vertically for narrower, taller panels. Commonly used for direct mail campaigns and other marketing collateral, the multiple panels help to fit and categorize a lot of information.

Z-Fold
It is made by folding three equal panels in a way that allows them to open like an accordion instrument would, forming a distinct zigzag “Z” shape. It is commonly used in image-heavy applications and allows for images to spill over from one panel onto the next. Best suited to large graphs, maps or any image-centered designs.

Gate Fold
The fold is created when two smaller panels on either size of a larger panel are folded inwards to meet in the middle, creating a gate-like appearance. Best used for image-heavy and more artistic designs as it gives your design a dramatic impact when opened, leave a lasting impression on your readers.

French Fold
It is created by combining two half folds by folding the page first in half horizontally, then vertically to create a card-like brochure. Commonly used for greeting cards, invitations and collateral that requires fast, quicker printing usually done on one side. It is useful for mailing purposes as the folded down version often fits into a standard envelope.

Double Gate Fold
This fold adds a slightly longer width and a second fold down the middle, creating eight panels in total instead of the six that a regular gate fold produces. Commonly used for larger presentations, magazines, and more visually impactful brochures, it allows the design of a cohesive image across the outer gate panels, and the reveal of more content on the inner panels.

Roll Fold
Each panel ‘rolls’ in on each other when folded, creating a spiral-like fold. Each subsequent panel will be slightly smaller than the last to allow for each panel to fit inside the last. Mostly used for brochures that contain information with a clear structure, it is an ideal choice for guides, handbooks and mini-tutorial booklets.

Accordion Fold
This type of fold has four panels that are each folded in alternating directions to the previous, creating a zigzag-like fold shape. Commonly used for travel brochures, instructional booklets, event schedules and the likes which fits well to a timeline or chronological reading.

Tri-Fold Half Fold
It is an amalgamation of the French fold and tri-fold where the brochure is folded first in half, then into three inward panels. Practical for brochures that need to be quickly printed, it generally only requires one side of the page to be printed on.

Four-Panel Roll Fold
Similar to a roll fold but with one additional panel than the standard, the four panel roll fold is practical for compiling a lot of information into segmented sections, making it incredibly useful for tutorials, step by step guides, and informational booklets.

Sixteen-Panel Fold
As its name suggests, this fold is made up of sixteen panels, making it perfect for information-dense content and much larger presentations. It is flexible and portable as it unravels into a large page or folds into a small portable booklet.