What is a tri-fold brochure?

A trifold is a tri-sided brochure. These three sides are the result of folding a sheet of paper two times. What it is obtained is a graphic piece consisting of six panels; three on the recto and three on the verso. The sides can be folded in different ways, one on top of the other, resulting in variants with different degrees of originality. Traditionally, a trifold is vertical and its panels are superposed so that it forms only one side when it is closed.

NJCorp Trifold Brochure Design, designed by Brochure Design Service

The standard size of these brochures when they are opened is 81/2’’ x 11’’, that is to say, letter format paper. However, they can be found in bigger sizes too –such as double and triple letter format paper-; high quality paper is generally used to make brochures of this kind, which are ideal because they produce a high visual impact.

Unlike other graphic pieces –such as flyers, ads, posters, labels, etc.- that cannot include too much detail due to a lack of space, trifolds do can include great amounts of information. A trifold is perfect to enumerate the advantages, benefits and technical details of a particular product or service that is being promoted, and it has enough space to include text and pictures. A trifold combines together information and esthetics, which reinforces the virtues of the products or services offered by a company.

There are different possible designs which will depend on the characteristics of the company, the kind of product, the public, the text and the format of the brochure itself. With regard to the paper, there are also different options among which we find ordinary paper and glossy or matte illustration paper, as well as paper with different textures. Printing can be done in full color (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), in one or two colors, or in black-and-white. Special colors are possible too (Pantone). Regarding the circulation and the contact with the public, trifolds can be delivered by post, distributed from hand to hand, or put on display for potential clients to take them. Thus, these graphic pieces are kept by the public instead of being thrown away.