Creating a poster design that catches the viewer’s attention can be very easy if done right but can be a living nightmare when all the required principles aren’t applied properly or not applied at all.
Poster designs have always been a medium Brands and business owners use to create awareness about new ideas, product promotions, or even an upcoming event to the general public.
Poster design could also be designed with properly laid out texts but most times, posters are made up of various graphic design elements – colors, texts, shapes, and images.
There are various sizes when it comes to poster design, these sizes depend on the events or the purpose of the poster. It could be poster design for an online purpose – Instagram, Facebook ads, Pinterest, and so on. It could as well be for an offline purpose – Birthday parties, club events, promotional events, and so on.
But just in case you are a newbie, you can check out the standard poster sizes below to help you get a better visual idea.
In the interest of time let’s jump right into the quick tips for an eye-catching poster design.
Image
You guessed it. The image you choose when designing a poster design project is very crucial. Just like the adage that says ‘’A picture tells a thousand words’’.
Images go a long way in telling stories, it gives the audience or viewer a hint of what the poster design is all about even before it’s fully digested.
If you are designing a poster, choosing an image that relates to the poster design is crucial and will make the reader easily hinted at early and also be interested to read more.
Let’s take for example you are designing a poster design for a pool party, images of models in the pool or a picture of a swimming pool would do the trick. Get the idea?
Background Contrast
The poster background should always contrast with the element in the foreground, various elements can be applied to the background of a poster design, it could be an image, shapes, colors, or texts. However, it should always complement the elements in the foreground for better visibility.
In most poster design cases, solid colors that contrast with the foreground is used for better visual visibility, for example-a white solid color can be used for the background and black color can be used for the font.
If you are using an image as a background, you should apply a blending mode that complements the foreground elements, Reducing the opacity of either the foreground or the background would do the trick too.
Limit Number Of Text
A poster isn’t complete without any form of text on it. Text is the most important element when it comes to poster design, it is the medium to which the intended information is passed to the reader. Without text, the poster is pointless.
Using too much text for the poster isn’t professional, try as much as possible to always reduce text crowding and focus on passing out the most important information.
Always remember that the viewer has just less than a minute to read your poster and move on with the rest of their life activities.
Font Usage
Every font has its unique appearance and usage, they express a kind of visual feeling and because of that, they make your poster design stand out. All fonts have their uniqueness and they will fit in well when placed rightfully and will appear terrible when used wrongly.
When you are designing a poster, it is advised you limit the number of fonts to be used. The standard limitation for usage is 1-3 fonts or one font family with different font sizes. Using too much font on a poster design makes it look too crowded and boring to read.
Conclusion
Planning on designing a new poster design for a client or your portfolio, with these tips, hopefully, you will do it right at your first shot. And also, poster design needs frequent practice and also looking out for inspiration from professionals. You can check for inspiration from different online graphic design communities or platforms e.g: Pinterest, Behance, Instagram and so many more.
Every single practice adds up to your skill improvement, trials and failure will surely come but never stop designing. Be creative and see you at the next one.