One of the oldest and most traditional ways to advertise an event, company, product or service is to use the trusty poster. Originating in the early 19th century, the poster is an advertising format that has played an important role in world history. From iconic movie posters to political propaganda during the wars, posters, and the design, in particular, has always been something of a fine art. Although it’s unlikely we’ll ever see a design as iconic as Lord Kitchener’s ‘Your Country Needs You’, we have put together some helpful tips for you to help with designing your very own standout poster.

Do Some Research

For some, starting from a blank canvas can be daunting, whereas for others it can inflame their imagination, with endless possibilities and designs bubbling away in their mind. Either way, it’s important to know, before you put pen to paper, what works well and what doesn’t. Take a look online, or in various books and other sources, such as newspapers and local event guides. Seeing what catches your eye for the right and wrong reasons and trying to stick to those simple rules is a good foundation to work from.

Designing a great poster

Make it Clearly Readable from a Distance

One of the main ways posters revolutionised the advertising space was by offering up large, readable font that could be seen from a distance. Make sure the most important aspect of the poster is fully readable and given the most room; making people search the poster to find the information you want to give them will frustrate people and ultimately switch people off from what you’re advertising.

Use Contrast to Your Advantage

For many people, problems can arise when trying to bring together colours that work well, that make the correct elements standout. Starting with a white background shouldn’t always mean you end with one; using colour to grab people’s attention is something of a trump card for poster design so make sure you go bold! Using the colour wheel to choose which shades and tones work well together can be a great place to start when designing your poster.

Use a Central Visual

Whether this is an eye-catching image, bold illustration or an intriguing photo, you need to make sure that it grabs people and can be seen from a distance. Having chosen the central image, ensure that any overlaid text or colours are independently readable so that the reader isn’t trying to pick out words from a jumble of colours and images.

Again, don’t make people work too hard to see what the poster is trying to say, the trick is that they should understand the poster without evening realising they’re reading it.

Person with pencil designing a poster

Know When and How to Use Spacing

When it comes to designing posters, we’re often put off by leaving blank space on the design as we feel it should be filled with an image or text. The famous quote from French poet, writer and aviator Antione de Saint-Exupéry reads “a designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

In some aspects of poster design, leaving space can actually be an advantage, such as:

  • Leaving spaces between letters so that they can be seen from distance and don’t blur into one another
  • Between lines of text so they are distinctly readable from each other
  • Around the most important part of the image so that it holds it own space on the design and conveys the headline message
  • Between different aspects of the design such as images and text

Include a Clear and Direct Call to Action

Normally, when designing a poster, you’ll be including a call to action, whether you want someone to attend an event, buy a product or just to raise awareness about something. The call to action should be clearly identifiable whether this is a website they should visit or a place they need to go to buy a ticket. Give plenty of space to this element of the design.

Unfortunately, with poster design, the effort required from the user is often larger than when advertising on the web. The action of ‘clicking here’ requires a small drag of the mouse, whereas, calling a number or visiting a website actually requires the audience to go to their phone or computer and actively search out your product/event etc. Making the call to action as easy and accessible as possible is important when designing a high-converting poster.

Print the Poster in a Unique Way

Depending on where your poster will be displayed and who will be reading it, you could experiment by printing it in a unique and stylish way! You could try using foiling, lamination, screen-printing or many other cool printing tricks! Our Devon printing company would be more than happy to help you out with the design and print of your posters!

Whether you’re designing a poster for a product, event, service or to raise awareness, here at Brightsea we have tons of design and print experience that we can happily share with you! Fill out our contact us form or pick up the phone and give us a call!