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As you’re setting out on your mission to create something a little more professional, we thought we’d drop some tips so you can create posters that stand out from the crowd. The fun part about poster design is that, once you have some basic guidelines and a few poster ideas, you can bend the rules and get really creative.
In light of this, you will find some very straightforward tips as well as a few unconventional ones for the ambitious creatives out there. Sit back, and prepare for a crash course in poster design, easily mastered in the time it takes you to read this.
The best tip I can give you is to go back to your basics – get out a piece of paper, sketch and brainstorm. Do this in the form of drawings, with writing and little notes. Find some cool designs to draw and get to planning!
It is during this stage that you can begin to visualize your poster, position elements where need be and you will find the process quite liberating. Once you have a sketch (or sketches) of what you want your poster to look like, you’re halfway there.
Sketch or Photoshop can become your go-to tool for putting to life your ideas for creative posters. You can sift through templates online that are already there and modify them for your projects, or you can use some preset formats to start your poster design from scratch. As for designing a poster, here is everything you need to know.
2. Your #1 priority is legibility
3. Accent on the font
4. Turn up the contrast
5. Size, placement, hierarchy
6. Know who you’re designing for
7. Choose visuals that make a statement
8. Get rid of unnecessary elements
9. Leave plenty of space
10. Take your viewers on a journey
Remember 3 basics: headline, details and the fine print.
The largest design element in your poster has to be the text or an eye-catching image. Find typefaces that scream for attention an are interesting and unusual. The details have to cover what, where and when if it is a poster for an event. This is your second layer. The last one is the fine print if need be for more information.
Once you have a font that demands attention, you can play around with proportions and placement on your poster. A lot can be conveyed simply by your choice of font. Fonts tend to translate the mood, be it serious, playful or just fun. Choose at least 2 fonts, but not more than 3.
Juxtapositions with elements, colour palettes, gradients, different fonts – all these things are fun to experiment with as contrast can be achieved through different means.
You can choose photos or illustrations, and if you do, make sure it is a dominating image that helps communicate something.
The spacing can be between words and letters, between lines of text, margins, design elements, and illustrations.
If you feel like you’ve mastered the basics, don’t be afraid to bend the rules. Poster design is very much about innovation, different points of view and new angles. Changing someone’s point of view and making them look twice at your work is what determines a successful poster design.