Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be used for many purposes and can be vertical (portrait) or horizontal (landscape). Below are some top tips for creating great posters.

Visibility and readability

Posters are designed to grab attention, to expose information and convey a message. It’s not going to achieve this if the message is lost because the design is a confusing mess or the text is too small.

Consider the copy on your poster; dividing it into the distinct elements of headline, details and the fine print can help build a hierarchy into your design.

Spacing

Let your elements breathe, give them exaggerated spacing to improve the readability and visual impact.

A few key things to keep in mind include: extra kerning (spacing) between letters, extra leading (spacing) between lines of text, extra margins around the edge and extra spacing between different types of elements such as images and text.

Contrast

Often you have only one glance to grab someone’s attention. Consider where the poster will be and its scale so you can design to the brief and make a poster which stands out from its setting with high contrast colours and bold typography.

Eazy Print can print full bleed so experiment with bringing your design right to the edge of the page and make the burst with colour.

Rule of Fives

It’s said that a good poster should be as impactful at 50 feet, 5 feet and 5 inches. This means making it big and bold to grab attention at a distance and then details to bring the viewer closer and closer so they can fully receive your message.

Call to action

It doesn’t matter how nice the poster design is if ultimately the reader doesn’t know what to do after having read it. The call to action needs to be obvious, both visually and that it’s the call to action. A call to action on a poster can be the event information or a contact point.

Conclusion

Posters are a great way to express your creativity whilst exploring unique typefaces or colour palettes which might not usually work on other more mundane projects.

Remember; these tips can apply to any large scale piece of print such as our Roller Banners, PVC Banners or Exhibition Displays.

We can help you with all your print questions so feel free to get in touch.