By Trish Witkowski

In my line of work, I talk to designers and printers fairly often. Whenever I ask them to name all the folding styles they know of, I always get the same answers – roll fold, letter fold, gate fold and accordion fold.

Sometimes on a rare occasion, someone will say map fold or parallel fold. It sure would be nice to hear a “triple parallel” or an “iron cross fold” once in a while. Our industry is in a folding rut, and it’s my personal mission to catapult us out of it.

I’m a self-described folding fanatic, having spent the past 12 years of my life researching and documenting folding styles. I’ve seen it all, and I know there’s a lot more to be done creatively in the mainstream, so I’d like to offer some fun alternatives to the old standbys you’ve been working with every day.

The following is a collection of tips and ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Cheap Solutions for High Impact
Are you stuck in a 4” x 9” funk? Unless you absolutely have to fit into a #10 envelope or a brochure rack, there really is no reason not to try a different format. Make it longer, shorter or wider.

Ask your printer if there’s any extra room on the sheet – you may be able to increase your trim size, or add another panel to the brochure. Rotate it. It’s easy to forget that if you design something vertically, you can always turn it to a horizontal format for something different. Small adjustments can inspire fresh solutions.

Are you addicted to letter folds? Also known as a trifold, letter folds are the most common (snore), and you’ll rarely see a variation on them – but they can take on a totally different personality when they’re in a broadside format.

The broadside option doubles the total area for a spacious, poster-style interior, yet it folds down very neatly into a tailored package.

Take it a step further using one of my favorite tricks by trimming the corner at an angle for a graphic teaser – it looks like a diecut, but it’s actually just an angled trim. Cheap and impactful.

Short folds and short trims are a great way to add pizzazz on a budget. A short fold is much like a broadside fold, except that the fold-over panels are shorter than the finished height of the piece.

Nice … now try flipping a short fold so that it pulls downward instead of lifting upward.

Like those? Try these: A simple four-page brochure looks far more interesting with a short cover, and you can shorten the fold-in panel of letter, gate or parallel folds to add interest as well. In most cases, it’s just a trim, but keep your printer in the loop to be sure.

Exciting Folds for Higher Budgets
Now that we’ve uncovered some solutions for creating impact on a budget, let’s have some fun exploring the more exotic folds that are great for moderate to higher budgets.

The wrapped accordion is a unique fold that combines accordion folding with a protective cover. The open edges of standard accordions are notorious for trouble during automatic insertion and generally would require multiple wafer seals to go through the mail without an envelope. The wrapped accordion solves these problems, and also creates an interesting “reveal” when opened.

Another fun variation on the accordion fold is the stepped accordion. This folding style uses the zigzag (back-and-forth) characteristic of the accordion, but with a tapering effect, either centered or flush in format. Great for creating a tabbed brochure, this is pricey and difficult, but pretty impressive in application.

The iron cross fold is another stunner. Named for its cross shape when folded flat, the iron cross fold requires a diecut and score and, in most cases, hand folding. This folding style creates a lot of paper waste, because its odd shape is hard to nest multiple-up, so get creative and use the extra room on the sheet for cards or promos.

Now, if you really want to wow ’em, try a swinger fold. Unlike anything else, the swinger fold uses a simple score and die to create movement and a directional shift.

Pulling the panels in opposing directions sets the diecut in motion and flips it over. There are lots of fun possibilities for this folding style. I didn’t say it would be cheap, though. A swinger fold is a specialty fold with certain requirements, and should be discussed with the printer or bindery before making a commitment .

Tap Your Resources
Printers and print finishers are a great resource for ideas. They’re not technically considered creatives, but they can be very creative when it comes to producing challenging work.

If you’re feeling stale, ask your printer or bindery for some samples of interesting folded brochures they’ve done, or see if they’ll let you loose in their sample room.

Other Great Places for Creative Folding Samples
- Start watching your mail. Some pretty neat things get thrown away every day, so look before you shred. Pay attention to how things fold, the size, shape and whether the piece survived the mailing process. Save the things you like.

- Art galleries, theater events and museum exhibits – visual and performing arts often have to promote themselves with great design.

- Tourist areas always have a wall of brochures. Just make sure you give yourself some time to peruse.

- Promotional materials from paper companies are high in production value and very creative. Foldability is a critical issue for paper, so they’re often finding creative ways to showcase foldability.

I hope these ideas have inspired you to make your next brochure something exciting. Remember, folding doesn’t have to be boring. Start using these simple tips and you’ll be out of your folding rut in no time!

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This article was previously published in Southwest Graphics magazine (Fall 2008) and is reprinted with permission.

Trish Witkowski is the president of Finishing Experts Group, Inc. She is the author of “FOLD: The Professional’s Guide to Folding” and the newly released “A Field Guide to Folding.” Ms. Witkowski’s software product, FOLDRite Template Master, is a plug-in for Adobe InDesign that creates custom folding templates (85 styles) complete with fold marks and panel cues in the slug area, all using industry-approved settings. To learn more, check out her online folding community at www.foldfactory.com.

If you are a member of PaperSpecs, you qualify to receive a $100 discount on Template Master, which is now available in InDesign CS4. As an additional bonus, you will receive a FREE copy of the new publication “A Field Guide to Folding” (a $40 value!) with your purchase. Please log in and select “Special Offers” for more details.