Posts by: Mark Williams

The silent value of a strong style guide.

At its simplest, a style guide defines how your brand looks, sounds and behaves. It sets clear rules for typography, colour, logo usage, imagery, layout and tone of voice. It explains what to do and what not to do.

Why most business brochures fail.

Is it for a sales meeting? A leave-behind at an exhibition? A downloadable PDF from your website? A tender document? Each of these needs a different structure and tone.

Design subscription services: hype vs reality.

Design subscriptions save time and money by eliminating the need to redo the groundwork.

Because design is not just output. It is clarity. And no subscription model creates that on its own.

How to decide when print is better than digital.

The key is intention. Poorly targeted print wastes budget. Well-planned print supports sales, brand and retention in ways digital alone cannot.

Why Annual Reports Still Matter in 2026.

An annual report is more than a collection of numbers. It is one of the clearest ways to express who we are and where we are going. If it feels like a chore, something is off. It should be something you are confident in sharing.

How to Design an Impact Report That Truly Stands Out.

An impact report is more than a summary of your achievements; it’s a powerful storytelling tool that showcases to stakeholders, funders, and your audience the tangible difference your organisation is making.

Professional Report & Whitepaper Design Services.

At Toast, we help organisations create reports and whitepapers that look polished, meet accessibility standards, and deliver results; whether for print, digital, or both.

Making Print Accessible: How WCAG is Applied to Create Compliant Digital Documents.

At Toast, we help businesses and organisations create accessible brochures, reports, guides, and other print-ready PDFs that comply with these standards, ensuring your communications reach everyone.

How to make your sales posters pop.

LifePharm® approached us to redesign a range of 10 posters for their sales teams. The posters were to be displayed in offices to help the sales teams quickly identify the range and the unique benefits of each product.

Why using a magazine design template is a terrible idea for marketing people.

There are loads of them on the internet. And if you already know a bit of InDesign, how hard can it be? It might even be fun, a chance to break out of the daily slog and indulge your creativity…

What is full service design?

‘Full-service design’ means that the design agency can provide a large range of services.

Specifying colours – from screen to print and how these differ.

Whether you’re just about to start your design project or in the finalising stages, specifying colours you want can get complicated as there are many systems involved that display the colour you want differently.

Purchasing images and licensing implications.

So you’ve instructed a designer to create an engaging brochure for your company but don’t have any images you can provide them because you simply don’t have any or the ones you have are not suitable for print (hi-res).

What are crops marks and bleed, do I need them?

When sending artwork to a printer you might get a response from them that they need the artwork to include crop marks and bleed. So what do they mean and why do you need to add them?

Large and multiple files, how do I send these to my designer?

When working with a designer on your latest brochure, you will probably need to send them multiple and or large image files. How can you do this without clogging up yours and their email accounts with Large Multiple Files?

Interactive brochures.

Toast can create or convert any professionally designed brochure into an interactive format that can be used across digital channels.

Rolling out a new “bigger” brand across all marketing materials.

Creating brands can be fun and we have taken a much-used phrase “can you make our logo bigger” (heard a lot in the design industry).

Looking to create marketing materials that are integrated and on brand?

Consistent and coordinated marketing materials project a clear and uniform message.

Do’s and don’ts for annual report design.

What you should be doing, and avoiding when creating your next annual report.

Formats and finishes for annual reports.

Selecting the correct format and finish to your annual report will add that extra finesse, making it stand out and communicate more than just the facts.

Planning your annual report design.

As there will be a lot of people contributing to the planning of your annual report, it is good to have a project manager to spearhead this and ensure the project runs smoothly.

Display banner designers.

Creating engaging and informative display banner designs are essential when showcasing your products or services.

No more death by Powerpoint.

So your Powerpoint presentation looks boring and amateurish, which is having a negative effect on your audience.

Stunning magazine design.

If you are looking at launching a new publication or thinking of refreshing your existing magazine design then toast are the ideal agency to help you with this.

What is the best finish for your brochure?

Design finishes can give your brochure that extra wow factor.

Outstanding exhibition design.

If you are displaying at a show or an event you’ll need some form of exhibition design to promote your product or service.

Pocket folder designers.

Pocket folders come in all shapes and sizes, and establishing the purpose, content, and use is important before you start, as this will define the type of folder needed.

Infographic design.

Infographics are becoming ever more popular as they are great at presenting information in a quick, clear and informative format. 

Looking for a new design agency to make the most from your budget?

Does your current agency seem to be overcharging and not really helping you get the return on investment you were hoping for?

Looking for a new design agency?

Trust is a fundamental part of the relationship between a client and a design agency.

Adding that little more to your PDF brochure.

Online brochure formats are increasingly becoming more and more popular as they give you the ability to respond to client requests instantly. 

Designing an electronic brochure.

There is a lot of terminology being used at the moment regarding electronic brochures, epubs (or electronic publications), e-books (electronic books) and iBooks (Apple’s version of the e-book format).

Online brochures.

Online brochures or ‘flippy page’ brochures have different names but fundamentally offer the same thing, the ability to view your brochure online.