The most important aspect of marketing is the way information is presented to consumers. One medium of advertising is with a poster. It is a well-known fact among business students that the average time a recruiter spends looking at your resume is 6 seconds. In the marketing world, it is even harder to captivate one’s attention because people do not usually actively look at posters. Noticing a poster usually happens in passing, which is why the poster needs to be eye-catching. Whether a poster is seen in person or online, the visual presentation is extremely important. Here are a couple general tips to follow when designing a poster.
Use Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator
Adobe Systems are the most popular and reliable programs for graphic designers. Choosing between Photoshop or Illustrator depends on what platform you intend to publicize your poster. Adobe Photoshop is primarily used for creating digital content because its pixel-based graphics use less memory, which is ideal for websites. Adobe Illustrator is used to make posters that are going to be printed because its vector-based graphics are highly detailed.
Have a Balance of Information
The perfect balance of information means not including too much, or too little information on a poster. You don’t want a possible customer to be turned off by a crowded poster or confused when there is not enough information. Below there is a poster for the Northern Coffee Tour. Because it is an event, it includes all relevant information including the date, time, and location, as well as an emphasis on the name of the event.
Have a Main Focus
It is important to have a focus that is relevant and captivating in your poster. The purpose of a main focus is again, not to have too much going on in the poster. A single focus will communicate simplicity and elegance. In the poster below, the hot air balloon is brightly colored while the rest of the poster is neutrally colored, emphasizing that it is the main focus. The balloon is very relevant to Firefly because besides for the performers, the hot air balloon rides given are one of its greatest attractions.
Use Interesting Typography
The interacting of fonts can make or break your poster. Believe it or not, picking complementary fonts is actually a very difficult process. Although it isn’t necessary to pick different fonts, it can definitely make a bold statement. You can also arrange the fonts in a creative way, as exhibited in the Starbucks advertisement below.
Create a Color Scheme
A great color scheme in your poster can be the finishing touch that you need to catch someone’s eye. This does not necessarily mean including very bright colors. It may be difficult to choose appealing colors, but this website is very helpful. It provides you with a color scheme, and the hex color codes that you can input into Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator. In Obama’s famous campaign poster below, the colors work very well together. The poster designer provides the right contrast of colors that isn’t too hard on the eyes.
Ariel Toy 