Graphic Design Options for Your Spa Business Brochures and Marketing Materials

How your spa portrays itself to the community at large is probably the most important factor to consider when creating your spa’s image. Think about BRANDING…

This applies to everything from your wall colors, to your dress code, to your furnishings, to your signage, to your advertising campaign.  All of these decisions give an impression of what your spa is all about, so it’s very important that you make sure the impression you are expressing is a positive one.  You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so the overall design picture that you create with your spa menu and other marketing materials needs to convey to the reader that your spa or beauty business is professional, inviting, and relaxing. 

While you can certainly hire someone to create this overall impression, such as an ad agency or a graphic design firm, this can often be an expensive option, especially if you are planning on updating your spa menu on a regular basis.  Fortunately, creating your own spa menu is fairly simple and easy to do with a little computer knowledge and some basic design tips.Your spa menu should look as if a professional designed it, not your ten-year-old nephew, so make sure you keep it simple, organized, and free from errors in order to create that professional appearance.  You don’t need to know a fancy computer program in order to create a basic spa menu, but some computer knowledge is helpful.  If you know how to use Word, you can easily create a basic spa menu that looks great and contains all the necessary elements of a professional looking spa menu.The first thing to keep in mind is organization.  Think of your spa menu as a resume for your spa.  You want to follow all the basic design rules that come with designing a resume and apply them to your spa menu design.  This means listing treatments and services in a logical, organized order, such as all the facials together, all the massages together, and all the specialty packages together.  Consistency is the key to a visually pleasing document, so make sure all your fonts, tabs, columns, colors, and overall layout are the same from one page to the next.  If you have bold, underline, Times Roman headings that are centered in the page, make sure all the headings are done this way throughout your spa menu.  Many people make the mistake of using too many different fonts or colors thinking that it makes the document look more interesting, but this only makes things look messy, confusing, and distracting to the eye.  While you want to grab the reader’s attention, you want to make sure it is in a good way, not a bad one.Visit other spas and get a copy of their spa menus and other advertising materials and take a long, hard look at what is working and what is not.  You can get a lot of great ideas by looking at what other spa menus look like.  Some you will immediately like and others will turn you right off.  Try to think about what it is that makes you like one spa menu over another. 

Your spa menu should make people feel relaxed, intrigued, and wanting to come to your spa, so really look at your spa menu as if you’re a client and decide for yourself if you would come to your own spa if you saw your spa menu.When you’re comparing other spa menus to your own, you’ll probably find that the most appealing ones have beautiful pictures, inspiring sayings, or attractive graphics to break up the monotony of the type.  You definitely want to add these elements to your spa menu, but make sure they are of high quality and related to your overall theme.  While you can certainly purchase or find royalty free spa photos on the internet, you should always try to use photos or your actual spa rather than generic ones.  Hiring someone who can take professional looking pictures of your spa, staff, and products will be well worth the money in the end.

Once you have your spa menu put together, you’ll need to print them out.  Of course, you can print them out on your company printer, but you’ll find printing them at a local printer will produce a higher quality and more professional product.  You’ll probably spend just as much money on ink refills anyway, so opt for professional printing if you can manage it.  The best way to assure quality printing is to purchase quality paper, so ask your local print shop what they recommend.  While the largest expense in printing documents is related to the use of color, you will probably need to stick with four-color printing so that your photographs look their best.  However, many printers offer discounts to clients who print bulk, so ask what they can do for you in exchange for your continued business.  You might even try offering a barter system of printing services in exchange for complimentary spa treatments!