A Basic Guide to Poster Design

Many people do not realize it, but posters are used in a wide variety of areas. The scientific community is famous for holding “poster sessions”, where science students display their posters about some research they are doing. Many companies use posters to share information with their employees. And virtually all businesses use posters in some form to advertise their products.

No matter how you are going to use your poster, this article will help you design it. There are a few questions that you must ask yourself, however, before you start designing your poster printing:

•Who is your audience? Who is going to be looking at your poster? Every aspect of your design must coincide with the audience you are presenting your work to.
•What idea are you trying to convey? If you could sum up the purpose of your poster in one sentence, what would it be? Go over that sentence in your head a few times, and make sure that it is something that your audience can relate to. If it is not, change it. If it is, then keep it in your head throughout the design process.
•What is the most interesting aspect of the idea you are trying to convey? No matter how important your idea is, it is going to need some help catching people’s attention. Having something interesting to throw out there helps.

If you do not have the answer to these three questions yet, STOP HERE! Do not go on into the design phase until you know who your audience is, what idea you want to express to your audience, and how you are going to grab the audience’s attention.

Once you have a firm grasp over those three topics, feel free to go on. Here are some tips for designing your poster printing:

Earlier, you determined what idea you were trying to convey with your poster. Whatever that idea is, it should be featured prominently on the poster. You might use large, bold letters to display this idea. You might use a variety of colors. You will probably set this main idea apart from everything else. However you do it, just make sure it stands out.

Another thing to remember is to make sure that everything you include on your poster flows in a smooth manner. In other words, make it easy for your audience to follow what you are trying to tell them. You can do this by having a large section in the center that displays your main idea, and have supporting information displayed in smaller sections surrounding it. Or you could have the information flow from left to right on the poster.

The title of your poster may or may not be your “main idea” that we have discussed. Whether or not it is, your title should be catchy. Here is where you want to include whatever it is that you decided was interesting about your poster. This is what is going to draw people in.

Be careful not to restrict your poster to several black and white cutouts with words in them, unless that is precisely the effect you are going for. It is usually best to attract attention by using color and provocative shapes in your poster. Try to arrange everything in a way that leads everyone right to your main idea. If they only look at your poster for a few seconds, the main idea is the one thing you want them to remember.