How To Make An Eye-Catching Poster

Posters have been widely used as marketing tools since the 19th century. Initially, posters were designed and promoted in the printed form, but with time, they got the modern digital format.

This fantastic advertising medium got its final shape when the French Painter Jules Cheret introduced the “three-stone lithographic process”. He designed hundreds of posters throughout his 30-year career.

The most interesting part of posters is their cultural background, such as they were extensively used in the Golden Age of Wartime propaganda during World War ll.

Let’s come to the point.

Nowadays, posters are widely used for educational, commercial, political, and awareness purposes. They are also widely used to promote public-health drives and various types of campaigns.

Due to such wide use, the posters are divided into various types depending on the events for which they are used.

Let’s break each element down and what makes posters different from each other.

Types Of Posters

Ad Posters

Created by Kazia Kalitan-Mlodkowska | https://www.behance.net/gallery/78322257/Polish-illustratos-on-Lodz-Design-Festival

This is the most commonly used type of posters as you can see various brands use the posters such as Apple, Coca-cola, and Nike. they not only serve as powerful advertisement tools but also become the most-iconic cultural images.

With the ability to fit on the billboards, magazines, and newspapers, their use is not limited to social media, and TV ads.

Created by EZ3 | https://www.behance.net/gallery/109998485/EZ3

As the name indicates, these posters define the purpose, timing, and other details of any event in an enticing manner. Whether you want to promote a fair, cultural event, political procession, concert, fair, conference, or a trade show, you will need an attractive and visually-attractive event poster.

In this world of technological advancement, the use of event posters is getting immense popularity. Nowadays, a handsome budget is fixed for the advertising of public events via posters.

Political Posters

Created by The Sxftmachine | https://www.behance.net/gallery/110627907/Another-Day-in-Paradise

The use of political posters is associated with conflicts, disagreements, and political revolts. Different political parties try to mention the major personalities of their parties and share their moments.

Here, it is worth mentioning the example that during World War ll, the poster “We Can Do It” was released by the Washington house Electric whose main focus was to boost up the morale and confidence level of the employees.

Even you can see the example of the 21st century when iconic Barack Hussain Obama’s poster, “Hope” was perceived as the symbol of hope and energy. It got its value during the former president’s campaign.

Motivational Posters

Created by Borislav Miletić | https://www.behance.net/gallery/77118961/Hand-Lettering-Posters-Vol-2

Well, it is something we have all seen and even designed for our classrooms. Motivational posters were even more strongly trending in the 80s and 90s.

The drawing of such posters was also quite sentimental and related to emotions, such as helping someone, eliminating hatred, etc. They may also contain various sentiments of hard work, respect, teamwork, determination, and steadfastness.

Nowadays there are a lot of designs of posters and it seems quite interesting to see motivational quotes written in bold format.

Movie Posters

Created by Mark Hill | https://www.behance.net/gallery/111119261/FRANKENSTEIN-1931

Here comes the most interesting type of movie posters, without which we may miss a lot. It is truly the most popular and sought-after of print materials.

You may have seen a lot of movie posters, such as Harry Potter, The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, and various other hit films and franchises.

Educational Posters

Created by Sung Hwan Jang | https://www.behance.net/gallery/56458085/1708-Cake-Infographic-Poster

Academic, informational, and educational posters, all lie in the same category because they serve the main purpose of conveying instructions, interesting facts, company announcements, and any other research work.

This type of poster is quite formal and is used entirely for getting and sharing knowledge.

Well, now you have read about the main types of posters, let’s proceed and check out how you can design the most artistic and eye-catching poster.

How To Design A Poster In 6 Simple & Easy Steps?

Whether you need posters for simple announcements, events, promotions, or for any informational purpose, this quick guide will help you go through some authentic details regarding the poster design.

1. Build up the strong foundation

The idea of every successful design piece is first of all put on paper. Whatever type of poster you want to design, do not forget to put a few things on the paper.

A fully planned poster will define and convey your message very powerfully.

Well, here’s what you should consider while starting with your foundation.

Identify how your poster can reflect your brand, its main logo, or image and personality.
Who you want to impact through this poster. To put in simple words, find out your target audience.
How you can deliver your message powerfully by adding the elements of excitement, engagement, colors, and energy.

2. Draft an outline

When it comes to poster designing, do not try to put as much information as possible, because less is more for posters.

However, be flexible while drafting the outline and do not hesitate to mention all the details. Keep in mind that you can filter the best ones later.

Your outline may include:

Title
Event information, timing, and date
Rules and regulations
Parking details including the location and other facilities
Ticket details including the pricing
Special discount offers, etc.

Want to know the pro tip?

If you are going to make an event poster, try answering how, what, when, where, of the event on the poster.

3. Choose the design’s color scheme

Color schemes will powerfully impact the minds of the people at the first glance. So you must be familiar with the color theory.

One of the most widely used color rules is: 60-30-10.

Choose your favorite primary color and the two complementary colors. Next, you can use any of the online tools like Adobe Color to find the right color mix related to your already-chosen primary and complementary colors.

Keep in mind that your poster should contain 60% of the primary color, while the other two complementary colors and other shades should cover 30 and 10 percent respectively.

4. Add the images

Do you know that adding the right image can give your poster a huge boost in visual appeal?

It will turn out to be much more attractive than the regular text, no matter how many attractive words you have used in the poster.

Here are a few important rules:

While adding the images, make sure to keep them relevant to your brand’s image, message, poster design, and poster objectives.
Find out the images that can't exactly describe the main purpose of your poster, and the rest can be fulfilled using the right text.

5. Add your copy (Insert your details in the poster)

Well, you have already drafted an outline, right?

Now it is time to insert the most important details on the poster. Be careful while choosing the fonts, font colors, text size, type, and other elements related to typography and graphics.

The font type and size clearly define how it can appeal to your target audience.

For example, use Calibri font for the academic posters, stick to the sans serif typeface when your poster has something to do with the modern concept, insert bubble writing for the ad posters.

Note: Do not mix up your poster with a lot of bolded, underlined, and decorative fonts. Moreover, remember to maintain the visual hierarchy, so the readers will understand where to look and what are call-to-actions.

6. Make The CTAs visible and clear

Do you want people to take action after reading your poster? Well, then you must consider the wise, and right use of CTAs in your poster. Keep in mind that the CTAs should neither be too prominent that they mask the heading nor they should seem entirely small and impossible to find out.

A strong and clear call-to-action with a prominent heading is enough to draw the interest of the viewers and entice your audience.

Conclusion

Posters are visible from a fair distance, so a killer poster needs a lot of creativity, effort, and learning. Fortunately, this guide contains all the basics of poster designing, and you can always search for more.

Once you have got everything, do not waste your time and start working on the poster that can stand out.