Graphic Design

Posters serve a variety of purposes, from advertising corporate events or the latest movie to labeling a science project or providing decoration, but they’re all designed to attract attention. Even though most well-made posters contain only a few words and images, they can be deceptively difficult to design. Using these tips on designing posters can help you focus on what’s most important to your poster design. POSTER DESIGN

Determine the purpose of the poster and its intended audience. Do you need to advertise an event? Show off a piece of artwork? Explain how a process works? These key pieces of information will influence the entire poster design. POSTER DESIGN

Choose a size for the poster. You may want a small poster you can print at home, a large banner to draw attention to an event, or something in between. Some printing services only offer posters in standard sizes, or charge more for custom sizes, so you may want to look into printing options before you start your design. POSTER DESIGN

Consider what important text and images you might like to include on the poster, such as the name of the event, company or project, a logo, a single large photograph or image or a series of smaller images. POSTER DESIGN

Narrow down your list of potential elements to a few key images and words. Posters should contain as few elements as possible, to deliver a single message that’s easy to spot from a distance. POSTER DESIGN

Try resizing the text and images to emphasize and focus on the poster’s most important message. POSTER DESIGN

Choose a color scheme that suits the poster’s purpose and audience. If you are designing a poster for a company or event, you may want to use the organization’s colors as a theme. Avoid using too many colors in the same poster. POSTER DESIGN

Select a font for the text that is easy to read from a distance and matches the theme of the poster. A simple, serious font may be appropriate for a corporate event, while a font with oozing letters may work for a poster advertising horror movie week at the student lounge. POSTER DESIGN

Experiment with different arrangements of these elements in your layout software, or print them out and arrange them on a flat surface of piece of poster board. Try overlapping elements, as well as putting them side by side or in a sequential order until you find the most aesthetically pleasing design.

POSTER DESIGN