7 Effective Poster Design Tips You Should Know
On average, a person receives 5,000 advertisements per day. However, the average person is only aware of 100 of these messages. This makes it extremely difficult to grab a person’s attention. Your poster will be a failure if it is not designed well.
It’s not as difficult as you might think.
Continue reading to discover the seven poster design tips that will help you stand out from the rest and be noticed.
1. Find out the purpose of your poster
Effective poster design starts with defining your poster’s purpose. There are many types of posters available, including posters for movies and political posters.
There are different requirements for each type of poster. For example, a movie poster must not give too much information about the movie. It also needs to mention the title of the film and the director. A poster for an event, however, is intended to be as informative as possible, but not overcrowded.
Your design decisions will be influenced by the message your poster promotes.
2. Get posters templates
Are you not tech-savvy?
You can use poster templates to help you design a great poster in no time. Pick a poster template that suits your purpose, then replace the text, images, and colors with your own.
Even if your goal is to make your own poster, it’s a good idea for poster design inspiration to look at templates.
3. Select the right poster design elements
When designing the perfect poster, there are many design elements you should keep in mind. You must make choices about color, typography, and imagery, regardless of whether you are using a template or designing from scratch. Here are some key considerations.
The color scheme of your poster is crucial for effective design. You can use color to create drama, tie in with your brand, or evoke emotions. It is important to be familiar with the psychology of color and what each color signifies. You might not want certain color combinations to be associated with your promotional materials.
Your typography and font choices are just as important as color. Some fonts feel more friendly and warm than others, while some fonts are more effective at building credibility.
Do you use more than one font on your poster? It is also important to use font combinations that are compatible.
Another important design element to remember is imagery. It is important to consider which images are most relevant and best fit the message of your poster. For a law firm, you wouldn’t use arty illustrations.
4. Poster Design Tips for Hierarchy
Once you have decided on the colors, fonts, and images that you want to use, it’s time to ensure they are properly formatted. Although design can be fun and creative, there are some rules you need to keep in mind.
The poster’s most important information should be the largest. This is often the name of the movie/event.
Larger elements draw the eye and create a poster more readable from far away. This is one of the key aspects of effective design.
The smaller an element, the more important it is. Sometimes it is best to remove an element if it isn’t necessary or can be found elsewhere. This will keep your design simple and attractive.
You can make your design as simple or as complex as you like, as long as it is connected to the idea that you are selling and draws the attention of the reader to the key points.
5. Layout and Format
- It is important that your poster’s text and data follow a logical, hierarchical order. We tend to read information from the top-down and from the left to the right when we are attempting to understand it. It makes sense to arrange your work in this order. For example, you could place the abstract in the upper left corner, and the conclusions at the bottom right. The poster should be able to guide the reader through the work.
- Alternate layouts to the one above include placing the conclusions at the center of the poster with the supporting work radiating from it.
- It might be useful to give arrows to direct your attention to the order and sequence of the presentation. However, excessive augmentation can lead to confusion and distraction.
- Make sure the columns are easy to read.
- Avoid presenting lengthy and complex sections of text. Bullet points are often more effective and keep the reader’s attention.
6. Use Images With High Resolution
There’s no use in using a low-quality or thumbnail-sized image you want it to be seen, so make it big. Photos are particularly useful for real estate posters, or for cafes and diners looking to show off their latest special; a great close-up of that tasty dish will have customers craving your food, but only if the picture is impactful. Make sure your images are of acceptable quality for printing in large formats. There’s nothing worse than seeing your poster with a pixelated, undistinguishable photo.
To make sure that your poster meets the standards of effective design, there are a few questions you should ask yourself when analyzing your draft poster designs:
- Is the message clearly aimed at the target group?
- Is the creative implementation of the communication goal tailored to the target group??
- How high is the degree of credibility/identification of the message for the viewer?
- Will the poster catch the attention of the public?
- Is the design clear and understandable?
- Is the poster designed in an original way?
7. Add a QR Code
It’s smart to add a QR code to your poster to cater to on-the-go people who don’t have the time to view it. This small rectangular barcode can be quickly scanned by anyone with a camera phone, and their application will take them directly to the link you’ve specified, such as the website for your business or event. It’s also a great way to show you’re up-to-date with digital marketing and capture the attention of those who are tech-savvy.
It’s all in the end
It is essential to clearly define the purpose of your poster design tip. This will ensure a long-lasting and effective design.
You can use templates as inspiration or personal tools while designing. They can help you design the perfect poster if you change up your fonts, colors, and images.
Remember the rule of the hierarchy. The more important it should be, the greater its importance.