Business Marketing & Finance Resources

A poster is a visual presentation of information and more often than not, it should be used to communicate a fairly simple idea or to attract attention. Anything too complex doesn’t work in this medium – so if your message is particularly complicated then it may be best to step away now and consider an alternative method of reaching your target audience.

Staring at a blank page can be both an exhilarating and yet daunting experience but even before you start to sketch out a design, it is crucial to select the correct paper size. Make sure you know the exact dimensions of the space available and if possible visit the site where the poster will be visible to get a feel for the competition. Secondly, consider how far away the reader/viewer will be when they are looking at the poster – will your poster be on the back of a toilet door perhaps in which case you have a fairly captive audience! On the other hand, if it needs to attract attention from the far side of a doctor’s waiting room or on a notice board in a busy corridor you need give greater consideration to the layout and font sizes.

Next consider your message. Are you simply trying to communicate information, stimulate further conversation, advertise your services or demonstrate your capabilities. Don’t try and do too much – pick one theme and stick to it.

The best posters are often those that really engage with the audience, capture a moment of their life and thereby instigate a reaction. You could do this by posing a question, using emotions to either make them laugh, smile, empathise or sympathise, or create something so shocking they look back twice. Another clever tactic is to use a suite of posters that tell a story over time. If they are replaced regularly you can start to build a relationship with your audience.

Getting the headline right is one of the most important parts of the poster. Don’t go for anything too long otherwise it won’t be memorable – in fact one word headlines can be the most dramatic.

Consider the imagery – you might not even need a headline if you have really strong graphics. As the old saying goes – a picture paints a thousand words. If you are using images rather than photographs it can be better to be selective on colour rather than opting for a rainbow approach. You could also consider using different saturations of the same colour – this can be really impactful. Make sure you think about colour combinations too – red on blue doesn’t work well and red and green in close proximity could cause problems for people with colour blindness. Make sure your fonts are clearly legible on the background colour from a distance. Remember no one is really looking for your poster or the information it contains so you need to go out of your way to make it eye-catching and obvious.

Don’t feel you have to cram the entire poster full of information – less is definitely more: background space is as much part of the poster design as the content itself.

Try to prioritise the information on the poster so the most important information makes the most impact either by font, size or colour and then work your way down in order of importance. Consider using arrows or other symbols to direct the eye to the next piece of information.

If you want to include website details then make sure the URL is simple and memorable and similarly with any telephone numbers, it could be wise to buy a new number and redirect calls rather than rely on your audience remembering a long and complex sequence of numbers.

Check your poster is balanced – usually the posters that are most aesthetically pleasing have roughly the same amount of information on each side.

Finally, if you are feeling confident and really want to get spotted, break all of the rules. You need to be sure that this avant-garde approach will also appeal to your target audience and is appropriate to your messages but by taking a different approach you’ll be sure to stand out from the crowd.

Want to make your designs for poster printing more understandable? Well, you do not need to look at lots of poster samples to figure out how to do that. In this guide to poster printing and design, I will teach you the crucial elements that your custom posters need to make them more understandable. There are five very simple things that you need to consider to make them easier on the eyes and the brain of your audience.

*One clear, central image – The most important thing that your color posters need to make them more understandable is one clear and central image. If you look at a lot of the new posters in different markets today, you will see a lot of them trying to go for an abstract, artsy or grunge theme in their designs. While these tricks of course are beautiful, in a lot of ways, it also makes those posters a lot harder to understand.

That is why it is important to have on clear and central image that communicates the poster message exactly. Typically, it is best to use an actual photograph of a person in your central image to help people feel and imagine what the poster is trying to say. This will help a lot in making your posters easier to understand, simply because the image already gives it away explicitly in the center of the layout. So if you really want easily understandable color posters, always use one clear central image.

*A short and simple title – Another significant element that will make color posters easier to understand is a short and simple title. You do not need a whole sentence or paragraph to explain what your custom poster is all about. A word or a phrase in your title should be enough to do the job. You just need to think smartly and creatively to make sure that your message comes across in the least number of words. Trust me, the shorter your poster title is, the better most audiences will remember and understand it.

*Short and simple descriptions – Just like the title, another important element in more understandable poster printing is a short and simple description. Most people do not like reading a lot of things when faced with an interesting poster. They will usually want to read only short lines of information. Otherwise they won’t have the patience to take the time and understand what the color poster is all about. That is why, along with the title, your poster content such as descriptions, contact information etc. should be as short as possible with the least number of words. The shorter those lines are and the simpler the style of writing is, the more people should have the patience to understand your color posters. So make sure you compose things as concisely as possible in poster printing.

*Simple font styles – You should also know that certain font styles can actually hamper a poster design, making it less understandable. That is why you should always think about using sans serif fonts that only have little embellishments in their design. You do not need a wild or creative font styles to deliver a good message. In fact, most people want you to print in simpler fonts so that they can understand your poster messages better.

Great! Those are the crucial elements that you should consider integrating into your poster designs. With these concepts helping you in poster printing, your designs should be easier to understand for most audiences out there.