Rack Card Design Essentials

Rack card design is integral to a successful rack card campaign. In fact, the quality of your rack card design makes all the difference. A rack card design that commands immediate attention compels travelers to pick up your rack card, while a poorly designed rack card does little more than collect dust.

The following rack card design tips will put you on the fast track to crafting compelling rack card designs that get results:

Show off your features

The best rack cards are visually persuasive. They incorporate large images of people enjoying attractions and amenities. Your choice of images depends on your business. A hotel could include images of a large luxury suite, the pool, the lounge and even friendly hotel staff helping travelers, for example; while a restaurant could showcase their best dishes; and a theme park could display images of roller coasters, theater shows and water slides. From golf courses to museums and everything in between, it's important that your rack cards depict the sites and experiences visitors can expect up front.

Keep it simple

Rack cards don't need a lot of text - a large, bold headline with a supporting tagline on the front and a short paragraph with five or six bulleted points on the back. Beyond that, stick to imagery. For most travelers, whether business or vacationers, the joy is in discovery, so leave enough open to the imagination to entice visitors.

Use colors to stand out

Rack cards have heavy competition. There can be literally hundreds of other rack cards vying for your audience's eyes, so it's important that your rack cards stand out at first glance. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is through the use of color. Study the venues that your rack cards will be distributed in and design your rack cards to contrast against what's already there. You can use colors in your headlines, images and as shapes on the top half of the front of your rack cards to grab and hold attention.

Cater to your audience

It's equally important to consider who your target audience is. Are you catering to golfers? Business travelers? Vacationing families? Each one of these audiences is likely to respond to a different rack card design, so make sure your rack card designs cater to your audience.

Use a template

For the ultimate in rack card design efficiency, use a pre-formatted rack card template that includes bleed lines, cutlines and safety area lines so you can properly align your layout. Templates are not only useful for layout, they're also prepared in print-ready color modes (CMYK) and resolution (at least 300 dpi), so you can save time and money by using rack card templates.

Rack cards fuel the travel industry. From visitor's centers to hotel and airport lobbies, rack cards reach out to tourists and travelers to help them find the best attractions, food and lodging. With the right rack card design, you can drive a significant number of visitors and vacationers to your venue.

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