How do you design a poster which doesn’t simply blend into the wallpaper, but speaks to your audience from up on high where it hangs?
Poster printing is still a lucrative business, despite the rise and rise of social media as a means of targeting mass and niche markets – and that’s because you cannot beat a good poster design in terms of visual impact and helping to create and establish a brand people will want to do business with.
The first key to a good poster is good content.
For the best visual impact, you should keep written information on your poster to a minimum.
Think about it. How likely would you be to stand and read reams of text from a poster? And how do blocks of text affect the visual impact of a poster design?
The answers are “very unlikely” and “badly!”
So first, think about a single, clear message that you want to get across on your poster and play about with the wording to make it as concise as possible.
Think about tourism marketing campaigns like VisitScotland – a simple call to action using just two words, which creates potential for maximum visual impact within a poster design used alongside simple illustrations or photography.
While thinking about keeping written information in the form of slogans and commands within your poster design concise, don’t forget about including vital information like your company name, contact details, website address and social media accounts.
These need to be in a clear, readable font that stands out and can be easily taken note of, but don’t take over the whole poster.
Also, ensure you keep consistency in terms of your branding. If you are running a series of posters to get your message across, keep some elements of the imagery and typography the same.
Use the same fonts and layout in subsequent posters, even if you play around with changing the slogan, keeping the visuals the same, or vice versa. Your company name and branding like logos should, of course, remain consistent.
Good use of colour is also important. Using a rainbow of colours might make for an eye-catching poster, but it could also make it difficult to read.
A single bright coloured background, with a contrasting coloured image and text, consisting of a headline at the top, image in the middle and supplementary information below the image is a clear and simple poster design which works well.
Carefully proofread your poster, ensuring factually accuracy and correctly spelt words.
Finally, ensure you choose a reputable poster printing company, such as Instaprint, that delivers a high quality finish, and research the best use of placement for your poster.