A flyer for a restaurant or shop in Dubai works when it carries one offer, one set of dates and one clear way to find you. Add a small map, a QR code that opens your location or menu, honest photographs, and Arabic and English given equal care. Then make a second version sized for WhatsApp.
Pick one offer and state the dates
The most common flyer we are asked to fix has nine offers on it. A lunch deal, a family platter, free delivery, a loyalty card, a new branch, catering, a kids’ menu, a breakfast combo and a festive special. Each one is fine. Together they mean the reader takes in none of them.
A flyer is read in the time it takes to walk from the door to the bin. Choose the single offer most likely to bring someone in this month and give it about half the sheet. Everything else can go on the menu, the website or the next flyer.
Then give it dates. “Limited time” is easy to ignore. “Until the end of the month, Sunday to Thursday, noon to four” tells the reader when to come and gives them a reason not to wait. Put the conditions in plain words next to the offer, at a size people can read: dine-in only, one per table, selected sizes. Small grey text at the bottom edge causes arguments at the till.
Map, QR code and the last hundred metres
Addresses in Dubai are often described by what is nearby. Your flyer should do the same. “Behind the petrol station, next to the pharmacy, ground floor” is more use than a plot number.
A small drawn map helps when the shop is inside a community, off a service road or on an upper floor. Keep it to the main road, two things people already know and your door. Do not paste a screenshot from a maps app. It prints grey and tiny.
Add one QR code and say what it does: “Scan for location”, “Scan for the menu”, “Scan to order on WhatsApp”. One code, one purpose. A few points on getting it right:
- Print it large enough to scan at arm’s length, with a clear white margin around it.
- Use dark on light. Reversed and coloured codes fail more often.
- Point it at a link you control, so you can change the destination later.
- Test the printed proof with two different phones before the full run.
Put the phone number and WhatsApp number in text as well. Not everyone scans.
Food and product photography basics
A flyer for food lives or dies on the picture. You do not always need a studio shoot, but you do need to avoid the usual mistakes.
- Use daylight. Shoot near a window, out of direct sun. Kitchen tube lights turn rice green and meat grey.
- Turn off the flash. It flattens the dish and makes sauces shine like plastic.
- Shoot the real dish. The plate on the flyer should be the plate the customer receives, same portion, same garnish.
- Clear the background. A plain table or tray. Remove the tissue box and the sauce bottles.
- Pick one hero. One large photo beats a grid of twelve small ones.
- Keep the original file. Send the full-size photo to the designer, not the copy that has been through three chat groups.
Shops can follow the same list, with the product on a plain surface. Stock photos of someone else’s burger or sofa set a promise your counter cannot keep.
Arabic and English on the same sheet
Many neighbourhoods in Dubai have readers of both, and a flyer that treats Arabic as an afterthought shows it. Three things matter.
Write it, do not machine translate it. An offer line is short and idiomatic. Have a fluent Arabic speaker write the headline so it reads as naturally as the English one.
Give each language its own side or its own half. Arabic reads from right to left. Squeezing an Arabic line under each English line makes both hard to follow. A front and back split, or a clean left and right split, is easier on the eye.
Match the weight. The Arabic headline should be as bold and as large as the English. Prices, dates and phone numbers must agree on both sides, so have someone compare them line by line before printing.
There is more on handling the two scripts in our piece on Arabic and English bilingual layouts.
Choosing a size
Size follows where the flyer will be read. Ask your printer which sizes run economically on their press before the design starts, because trimming an odd size wastes paper.
| Size | Suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| A5 | A single offer, handouts at the counter, bag inserts | Little room for two languages on one side |
| A4 | A menu or price list with an offer on the front | Often folded by the reader, so keep the offer in one half |
| DL (one third of A4) | Racks, envelopes, hotel and salon counters | Tall and narrow; long Arabic or English headlines need care |
| A6 | Vouchers, loyalty offers, tray cards | One message only; QR code must still be scannable |
| Square | Design-led shops and cafes, matches social posts | Check the print cost first, it is a non-standard cut |
If the offer needs more room than A4 gives, you may have outgrown a flyer. A folded leaflet is the next step, and our guide to brochure sizes and folds explains the options.
Make a WhatsApp version at the same time
Your printed flyer will be photographed on a table and forwarded, badly lit and at an angle. Give customers and staff something better to send.
A WhatsApp version is not the print file saved as a picture. It is redrawn for a phone held upright: tall format, fewer words, a larger offer and a larger date. The map becomes a location link in the message. The QR code goes, since nobody can scan their own screen, and a tappable link or number replaces it in the caption.
Ask for a square version for status and social posts and a tall one for stories. Write the caption once, in both languages, and give it to every member of staff so the wording is the same wherever it is forwarded.
Distribution is your job, so check the rules first
A designer delivers the artwork. Getting it into hands is the business owner’s side, and it is worth sorting out before you print.
Handing out flyers in public places, placing them on vehicles or dropping them at doors may need a permit, and malls and building managements have their own rules. We cannot tell you what is allowed in your area. Ask the authority concerned and your landlord or mall management for the current requirement, and get the answer in writing if you can.
Places you already control need no one’s permission: your counter, takeaway bags, delivery orders, the table.
For the design itself, CPDA is part of HelloPixels and works in Arabic and English. We do not print; you receive print-ready files for your own printer, with the phone versions alongside. See our flyer design in Dubai page, or send the offer, the dates and your photos through the contact page. A first draft follows within 48 hours of a complete brief, and quotes are given in AED once we have seen it.
Frequently asked questions
How many offers can one flyer carry?
One main offer, with at most one smaller supporting line such as free delivery in your area. If you have several promotions, run them as a series over the month. A sequence of single-offer flyers gives each one a fair chance and gives regular customers a reason to look again.
What paper should I ask the printer for?
Ask the printer to show samples. A coated paper makes food photographs look richer. An uncoated paper suits a handwritten or craft feel and is easier to write on if staff need to add a table number or a name. Thickness affects cost and how the flyer feels in the hand.
How big should my logo be on the flyer?
Smaller than you expect. The reader wants the offer first, then where and when, then who. A logo in a corner at a modest size is enough, as long as the shop name is readable. Making the logo the largest item pushes the offer down and weakens the flyer.
Does the design studio distribute or print the flyers?
We do neither. We design the flyer and supply print-ready files along with versions for WhatsApp and social media. Printing is done by a printer you choose, and distribution is arranged by you, after checking permit requirements with the authority concerned and any rules set by your landlord or mall.