Why Printed Materials Still Matter
In an increasingly digital world, a well-designed printed brochure signals professionalism. Collectors, curators, and art advisors still expect physical documentation — at viewings, art fairs, and during the sales process.
A gallery brochure is not a flyer. It's a presentation tool that should match the quality of the art it represents.
Typography Standards
Serif for Titles
The art world has long favored serif typefaces for their association with tradition, permanence, and cultural authority. The best choices:
- Garamond — the standard for gallery publications
- Baskerville — slightly more contemporary
- Cormorant — elegant open-source alternative
Sans-Serif for Body
Clean, readable body text in a neutral sans-serif:
- Inter — excellent screen and print rendering
- Helvetica Neue — the industry standard
- Aktiv Grotesk — modern alternative
Size Hierarchy
- Title: 24–32pt
- Artist name: 14–18pt
- Body text: 9–11pt
- Captions: 7–8pt
- All measurements assume A5 format (148 × 210mm)
Image Quality Requirements
Resolution
- Print: minimum 300 DPI at final output size
- Screen/PDF: 150 DPI acceptable
- Never upscale a low-resolution image
Color Profile
- Print: CMYK (ISO Coated v2)
- Screen: sRGB
- Include both profiles in your production files
Image Sizing
- Full-page artwork images: bleed to edges
- Grid layouts: maintain consistent gutters (minimum 4mm)
- Never stretch or distort artwork proportions
Layout Principles
- Generous whitespace. Gallery materials should breathe. Minimum 15mm margins on all sides.
- Consistent grid. Use a 4 or 6-column grid for flexibility.
- Artwork first. The image is always the hero. Text supports, never competes.
- Essential information only. Title, artist, year, medium, dimensions, price. Nothing more.
Paper and Finish
For a professional impression:
- Paper weight: 170–250gsm coated
- Finish: Matte or soft-touch lamination
- Format: A5 (148 × 210mm) is the gallery standard
- Binding: Saddle-stitched for 4–16 pages, perfect-bound for larger catalogs
What the generated catalog does and does not meet
The standards above are print-production standards, written for a designer sending a file to a press. Be clear about which of them a browser-rendered document can and cannot satisfy, because most guides of this kind quietly imply all of them.
The editorial catalog generated here meets the structural ones: serif titling and sans body in a consistent typographic voice, a fixed grid that holds whether the catalog runs to three works or thirty, generous margins, artwork before text, and exactly the essential fields — title, artist, year, medium, dimensions, price. It sets at A4, US Letter, A3 or A5, so the A5 gallery-booklet format is available.
It does not meet the press ones, and cannot:
- Colour profile. It renders in sRGB. There is no CMYK output and no ISO Coated v2 conversion — that happens at your printer, from the PDF you save.
- Resolution and DPI. Images are placed at the size the layout gives them. Each work sets in a 120 × 90 pixel entry, not a full-page plate, so a 300 DPI full-bleed reproduction is outside what this document produces.
- Full-bleed images. Every work is a ruled entry in a list. Nothing bleeds to the edge.
- Type sizes. The 24–32pt title in the table above is a print-design target; the generated heading sets nearer 17pt. The hierarchy is consistent, but it is not that scale.
- Paper, weight, finish and binding. 170–250gsm coated stock, soft-touch lamination and saddle-stitching are decisions made by whoever prints it. Nothing in a generated document can specify them.
Use this guide as the brief you hand a printer, and the generated catalog as the leave-behind you produce yourself in two minutes. They are different jobs. Generate a catalog now.