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Poster Design Tips

At its best, poster design is the territory of the truly creative, and it has been used in the past as a public display of individual talent. When you are designing in this graphic form, the poster's purpose and application should be your first considerations. The poster will normally be on display in a public area, where it will have to compete both with its surroundings and with other posters. Poster Design Checklist:
  • Establish the information to be conveyed.

  • Decide on the size, proportion, and shape.

  • Research the locations for your poster.

  • Simplify the information to be communicated.

  • Produce scaled-down versions of the design.

  • Consider the space and its effects very carefully.

  • Select the typefaces that work for your design.

  • Make sure the message is conveyed clearly and dynamically.

  • Present a number of alternative designs.
When you are designing a poster, the first decision to make is the size and shape of the design area. This may be governed by the display site. For this example, three shapes have been explored: two differently proportioned portrait shapes and one landscape.
  • Portrait and Landscape: Most common sizes are 81/2x11, 11x17, and 22x34.

  • Large Format Posters: Most common sizes are 24" wide and 36" wide.

  • Both are available in unlimited lengths, but 96" or less is most practical.

How to Understand and Use Design and Layout

by Alan Swann and David Dabner

Find out how design works, and how you can make it work for you. Learn how to choose a shape to work on, the right proportion for your line, appropriate colors, and the right size typeface for headings and text. The new edition is basically a complete overhaul of the original. The design process is explored in incremental stages, taking one elemental at a time.