How to get your poster noticed

December is the season of bake sales, concerts, fundraisers and other year-end events. A good poster is key to grabbing the attention of your target customers and standing out among similar events. Design experts share tips you should keep in mind while making a poster by hand or with digital tools.

Set a clear goal

Be sure what you want to communicate through a poster. Girish K P, graphic designer with an MNC, says once the goal is defined, it becomes easy to select the right fonts, icons and images to go in the poster.

You must also be clear about your target audience. This will help you choose effective keywords and other details.

Simplicity is key to good communication. “Keeping the details clear and crisp gives the poster a neat look too,” he says.

To print or post?

Optimising a poster for print is different from making one for X or Instagram. “When sharing a poster online, one doesn’t need a very high resolution picture. 100 ppi (pixels per inch) will do. With photo correction around the photo, one can deliver an effective poster,” says graphic and UI/UX designer Abhinav K.

However, if you are printing, the resolution of each photo element in a poster should be between 150 dpi (dots per inch) and 300 dpi, says Abhinav.

If you plan to hang a poster on a bare wall, an A4 or A5 print size works. But if you are going to hang it besides other posters, choose a bigger print size. When it comes to social media posters, the dimensions for posting images on each platform differ and it’s better to look them up in advance. “Making different versions of a poster works best in such a case,” adds Abhinav. Posters in square or portrait format are preferred for mobile viewing as people scroll up and down the screen rather than side to side, he explains.

Choose right colours

Colours are the easiest way to attract attention to a poster or promotional material. Red, green, white, gold and silver are the go-to colours for holiday party posters. A poster for a kids’ fundraiser can feature a whole lot of colours. For office events, you can choose colours from the brand logo scheme.

Abhinav shares, “Blue is often associated with wisdom and loyalty, so it works for professional and business events. Green symbolises tranquillity and nature. It can be used in fundraising posters or for environmental awareness campaigns. Red is connected to courage and joy. It can be used on holiday posters as well as those that require a call to action.”

Focus on fonts, icons

The right font and font size are critical to highlight diverse information like the title of the event, its tagline or description, and its date, time and venue, besides the name of the organiser. “The title should be in the largest font. The tagline or description can be done in italics and in a much smaller font. Ideally the title should be four to three times the tagline size. Add the call-to-action details related to registration or donation in bold fonts so it is unmissable,” says Girish.

Arial and Verdana are pleasing fonts for the eyes and often chosen by many designers. Other attractive fonts that can be used in posters are Sans Serif, Franklin Gothic, Helvetica and Futura, he adds. 

You can add icons to illustrate some information quickly, like a tea cup icon to suggest a hi-tea, Girish adds. It will also break the monotony of text on the poster.

Leave white space

White space refers to blank or empty space in a design composition. “Placing information and images in the centre of the poster and leaving some white space around them creates a  visual balance,” says Abhinav. Optimum white space can also be achieved with the right text formatting, grouping all the elements logically, and keeping the design minimal.