Rajendra Zadpe
While it may be tempting to hop onto the latest marketing trend and use whatever social app is making the headlines right now, sometimes tried-and-tested tools are the most effective—like posters. The shiny leaflets handed out on the street—that often end up in the next trash can—still have a place in today’s marketing campaigns.
Posters are tangible, cost effective and incredibly versatile. When done right, they can reach the right audience with the right message at the right time—which, after all, is what poster marketing is all about. Poster templates are readily available on Doographics within the under mentioned categories.
Here are some poster design ideas that will inspire you, and poster design tips to create a poster with genuine impact.
Attract people’s attention with vibrant colors and lively designs. Go for a bold red background or use contrast to your advantage with a neon accent on a dark base. You can also use colors to reinforce your message, like greens and yellows for a health brand or primary colors for kids.
Sometimes going really dark can attract as much attention as bright colors. Black is particularly effective for luxury brands or to communicate danger, horror or nighttime.
You don’t need to go overboard and stuff the flyer full of every ounce of information you have available. Decide on one key message and then focus on that. Minimalist designs with a lot of space can really help to focus attention on what matters.
Clichés aren’t always a bad thing! Using familiar styles, colors and imagery will provide context and help customers understand what you’re about right away. Use obvious cues: blackboards and apples mean school; orchestras and script fonts equal classical music; postcards and stamps portray travel and so on.
Ho, ho, ho! Tapping into seasonality and current events will ensure that your message is relevant and timely. It can be a promotion or a special event or just a design element that ties into the symbols associated with the fall or the December holiday season or whatever else is going on that’s relevant to your brand and products.
Include patterns, put a frame around the content or use graphics and type in an unexpected way. A clever bit of design or an element of surprise will help to draw the customer in to see what you have to say.
Linear is boring! Try putting your headings on an angle and play with your typography and imagery to make your flyer stand out from the crowd.
Beautiful imagery is a great way to draw people in and get people looking at your flyer. The images should be of a high quality and visually impactful.
Babies and animals are always reliable methods of upping the cute factor! Don’t be afraid to pull at those heartstrings—even if they’re not directly relevant to the business, cute images can help to grab attention and give people all the feels.
Sometimes old is new. If you’re not down with the kids and in touch with the latest trends, why not choose a vintage design that embraces the old days?
Cartoons and graphics can be a fun way to bring to life your message and build an approachable brand personality. To get even more on-trend, go full emoji!
Beyond the content and design of what’s on the flyer, consider the flyer itself. Most flyers tend to come in a pretty standard size, so consider what you can do to make yours different. Try going smaller to make it easier to handle or go big for an impressive high-end product.
Think outside the flyer box and get creative with its shape, maybe even turning it into something that can be repurposed. If you can get people using the flyer instead of throwing it away, you’ve succeeded! Consider creating a flyer that’s a door hanger or a postcard, or perhaps an interactive design that inspires the customer to fold it or play around with it in some capacity.
Asking a question, even a rhetorical one, can engage the prospective customer and get them to pause long enough to consider what you have to say.
If your brand allows it, dare to take some risks and be provocative. Make a bold claim, be overdramatic, use humor if you have it and maybe even lean on some swear words if appropriate (or if inappropriate and you really want to make a statement, dammit!).