Designer: Mary Brophy

Contrary to popular belief, a brochure can hit it big with a black-and-white layout. Don’t bet it all on red just yet, says DG designer Mary Brophy. “Color is very attractive when used effectively, and I was torn between going four color, two color, or black and white,” she notes of her redesign of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission’s brochure on licenses for employees.

The brochure is primarily targeted to current and hopeful casino industry employees. Publications coordinator for the commission Lisa Spengler feels the brochure is adequate and the employee license checklist is useful, but that it can be improved. She says the best format “would be attractive, easy to follow, and continue to inform the casino employees of the Commission regulations and procedures.”

Brophy chose to use black and white in her redesign because “I wanted a somewhat fun but sophisticated look to the piece,” she says. She converted low-cost, royalty-free images to grayscale, adjusting the contrast for added pop. “Using black and white printing and putting the money towards stock photos can pay off in the end,” Brophy suggests. She likes the current checklist, but made it more accessible and available to the user by creating a perforated edge so it can be easily torn out and kept on hand.

For the cover, Brophy used a square motif and carried it throughout the brochure for cohesion. The squares provide visual interest and can also be used to call out important information. Brophy selected a sans serif, modern font, Frutiger, for the copy. “The basic organization is there, but rather than a single, large capital letter [as in the original design], I chose to create titles that will be practical when the piece is used for quick reference,” says Brophy. With fascinating imagery, a unified design, and a take-home checklist, Brophy’s bet pays off.