25 tips to teach you how to design awesome posters

Poster design is full of countless possibilities. It does not have to stick to the rules, it can be as bold and creative as possible. There are also many types of posters, either with headlines for concerts or with text that contains a lot of information. Regardless of the type, the key is to find a balance between title, text, images, and logo. Now, we will share 25 tips with friends who love poster design to help students make wonderful posters.

01 The magic of color - conveying energy, expressing emotions, and eye-catching In design, color has unlimited possibilities. It can transfer energy, express emotions, and attract attention. Depending on the theme of the poster, you can choose bold, soft or romantic colors. In short, color can play a vital role.

In the example below, the Savannah Music Festival poster uses soft spring colors to let everyone feel that this is an outdoor music festival and the type of music you will enjoy is soft and beautiful, rather than heavy. rock.

Another way is to use solid color blocks, just make sure the various color combinations are harmonious. This approach can make the background stand out, as the example below illustrates.

You can also control the number of colors used. See how the event poster below uses only red and black to create an eye-catching effect with strong contrast.

02 Try different fonts Sometimes, just using fonts can make event posters convey rich information. Use sans-serif bold to express seriousness, serif italics to convey elegance, or choose playful handwriting for fun. When choosing fonts, choose at least two—one for titles and another for text. Let fonts create visual impact. Take a look at the two beautiful event posters below, which are inspired by the event theme "food". This is a good example of how to use experimental composition to successfully convey the core content of the event to the public.

If you also want to try similar font styles, make sure to use a simple auxiliary font.

Below is a poster for an annual font design festival, which also cleverly combines the event theme with fonts.

03 Divide visual levels

Posters should be easy to read quickly and play an eye-catching role. It is particularly important to divide information levels. If there is only a small amount of text in the poster, use bold fonts as much as possible and combine it with simple graphics or photos. You can refer to ColumbusCreative’s poster below. If your poster contains a lot of text, make the text the focal point, consider placing a large headline, and treat the large amount of text as a whole text block.

04 Use negative space to form a clever composition

It is really magical to hide another picture in one picture. When you finally see the hidden image, you will feel refreshing. . The Melbourne Restaurant Association poster cleverly uses the negative space in the fork to incorporate wine glasses. Another way to use negative space is to focus the visual center on a smaller object and leave visual breathing space around it. Place text within negative space to draw the eye, but never fill it up.

05 Remove redundant elements, less is more

Sometimes, less is more. This method can attract the attention of the audience. A simple word or a dramatic picture can communicate far more effectively than a large piece of text or a complex image. Don't add unnecessary graphics or text just for the sake of adding it.

We can notice the most similarities between these two posters. They both use only one leading word to focus the audience's attention, and use plain colors to create a simple font feel.

The elegance of minimalism is still very effective in practical applications.

06 Lock focus

Combined with clear or blurred pictures, you can enhance the power of text. If you crop the image to its core, you can create a dramatic effect and draw the eye. The poster for the Chaillot National Theater below uses a partial lip image instead of a full face image to create a sense of passion and provocation. Have you noticed that the lip shape also outlines the heart shape?

07 graphics create visual highlights

Various shapes are connected to each other and then form new shapes. They can Create a visual clue for your audience.

We can use graphics to place text, create interesting compositions, or guide specific visual directions. In short, shapes are extremely versatile and practical in poster design.

08 Possibilities of composition

When all the information, pictures or graphics are ready, it is time to consider how to completely break them up and then reassemble them for ease of reading. . The process of reassembling information is like walking a maze. You decide how the audience should read the poster and obtain the information it expresses. Think more about the interplay between graphics and text.

The poster below was designed by Calamargraphic for the Malaga Festival. The text information is placed on the upper right side of the poster, and various colorful character graphics are used to move towards the text information.

09 Draw the depth of the picture layer by layer. Place graphics, colors and text on different levels to create depth, using a small drawing board to lead people into the small world in the poster. The Gardening Festival poster below is layered, using text and pictures to overlap each other to create a picture of the life of a gardener.

The Valentine's Day poster below has a similar approach, using shadows to create a three-dimensional effect. The placement of the text is also very interesting. They are close to each figure, making the two related to each other. Wonderful. Composition skills in poster design_9 kinds of creative compositions in poster design

Composition skills, in addition to the contrast skills in the use of colors, need to be learned and mastered, and several contrast relationships need to be considered. Such as the contrast of thick and thin in composition techniques, the contrast of far and near in composition techniques, the contrast of density in composition techniques, the contrast of static and dynamic composition techniques, and the contrast of Chinese and Western composition techniques. Comparison of ancient and modern composition techniques, etc.

(1) Thickness contrast of composition techniques: The so-called thickness contrast refers to the colors used in the composition process and the style formed by the patterns composed of colors. In calligraphy and painting works, we We know that there is a theory of gongbi and freehand brushwork, or that gongbi and freehand brushwork appear together in the same picture (like the Chinese painting master Qi Baishi's paintings of cabbages and grasshoppers). This style is an expression technique often used by some packages in packaging composition. For this kind of thickness contrast, some are the contrast between the main pattern and the foil pattern; some are the contrast between the central pattern and the background pattern; some are as rough as the wind sweeping away the remaining clouds, while the other side is as exquisite and thin as a gossamer; some use wild calligraphy to replace the pattern. , which can be seen anytime and anywhere in some wine and food packaging. This is the case with Missing Brand Dumplings and Rejoice Brand Shampoo.

(2) The contrast between far and near in composition techniques. In the composition of traditional Chinese landscape paintings, we pay attention to the near, middle and long shots. In the design of packaging pictures, based on the same principle, we should also distinguish between near, middle and far. The composition level of the picture. The so-called "near" refers to the most eye-catching part of the pattern in a picture, also called the first visual impact. This most eye-catching part is also the most important content to be expressed in the packaging pattern. For example, the earliest instant noodles packaging used by Shuanghui, the first What breaks into people's sight is the Shuanghui trademark on a blank background and the huge white "Shuanghui" characters for variety show on a dark red square background (i.e. close-up), followed by the smaller main characters "Braised Beef Noodles" in cursive script. (It should be said that the second line of sight, also called the middle shot), the third line of sight is the product photo describing the contents of the package (also called the third line of sight, bounded by the middle shot), and then the auxiliary corporate mascot slogan, Performance instructions, corporate logos, etc. This obvious sense of hierarchy is also called the three-step rule of vision. It takes into account people's habit of looking at a still life picture from top to bottom, from right to left, and at the same time highlights the most important expressions. the topic part. As a designer, when creating a picture, you should first understand the theme you want to appeal to, and create an atmosphere where the stars support the moon and stand out from the crowd. As a result, the strong magnetic force of the image of our installation design tightly pulls the marketers' attention.

(3) Contrast between density and density in composition techniques: Speaking of contrast between density and density in composition techniques, this is very similar to the contrast between traditional and simplified colors used, and is also very similar to the flying white in Chinese painting, that is, the contrast between the density and density in the pattern. Where there is concentration, there must be diffusion, and it is not advisable to concentrate everything or diffuse everything. It embodies a kind of coordination of density and density, clear rhythm, tension and relaxation, showing emptiness. At the same time, the theme remains prominent. Recently, I have seen a lot of packaging pattern designs. The whole picture is densely packed with colorful colors. From the background pattern to the theme pattern, it is all very heavy color expression, which makes people feel depressed and breathless. This not only fails to beautify Products, the purpose of promoting sales, on the contrary, makes people feel bored and lack appetite. This is caused by not grasping the contrast between density and density.

(4) Static and dynamic contrast in composition techniques: In a pattern, we often find this phenomenon, that is, an explosive pattern displayed in the background or surrounding the name of a packaging theme Or it may look careless, but in fact it is a few crazy thick lines deliberately daubed, or streamer-shaped English or patterns, etc., all of which show a "dynamic" feeling, while the theme name is dignified and steady with the big background It is light and calm. This scene is the contrast between stillness and movement. This kind of contrast avoids the gimmicky and too quiet rigidity of the design. So the visual effect feels comfortable. In line with people's normal aesthetic psychology.

(5) Contrast between Chinese and Western in composition techniques: This kind of contrast often uses the combination of Western painting cartoon techniques and traditional Chinese techniques or the combination of Chinese Sinology art and English in the picture of an outer packaging design. And directly use realistic techniques to highlight Western photos or certain scenes on the packaging pattern. This form of expression is also a common reference method, which is used in children's products, women's socks, and clothing. Or often appear on the packaging of cosmetics.

(6) Comparison of composition techniques today: both the foreign is used for China and the ancient is used today. Especially in order to reflect a cultural taste, people often use ancient classic patterns in packaging design composition. , calligraphy, characters, and patterns are used in current packaging, which is most clearly reflected in the packaging of wine. For example, the wine and Taibai wine in the picture of the Twelve Golden Hairpin Ladies in Dream of Red Mansions, as well as the Mid-Autumn Mooncakes and Black Lao Bao Peanuts in food, all reflect and explore the connotation from these aspects. In addition, there are some high-end gift boxes for cosmetics and daily necessities whose decorations and patterns are also grafted from classical culture. This can give people a sense of antique, elegant connotation or a certain aspect of comfort. So it is very popular with consumers. Poster Design

1. Text as a Design Element

If you want to use text as a design element, but not set it to a larger size as shown before, you can creatively Put it on a poster. Use alignment, size, color and placement to design a memorable poster.

2. Engraving objects

Integrate text directly into the items to be promoted. There are already many works in which words are cleverly integrated into countless different objects. If you want to create a style like this, the key is that you make sure your text blends subtly into the object of the promotion.

3. Combine text and images

Combine text and images so that the text becomes part of the image. This is a novel solution.

4. Try an irregular or handwritten font

Find another irregular or handwritten font from the font library to design an unusual poster.

5. Add dynamic elements

The poster above is very dynamic. To achieve this effect, first use a grid to place your content. This means copy and design elements. Once you have everything set up that you want to display on your page, you need to rotate the design elements. You can rotate entire paragraphs or individual elements, a feature of this poster that feels like the words are being thrown into the air.

6. Featured creative photography

Use unconventional and weird photography as the poster background.

7. Creative text layout design

In the above example, the grid and the image of hands are combined to form the way the content is set up on the poster. In the same way that makes content and images feel relevant, let your image shape and content placement sit on your poster.

8. Try black ink

There is something called "junk" about ink stains and spills. If you're looking for a great way to create a poster with a rebellious attitude, use black ink.

9. Color Photos

How to combine cute illustrated characters with photography. Not only does it make the content it serves super fun, but it also creates mini-narratives within each post. If you keep the image as the visual centerpiece but want to take it a step further, consider drawing characters or elements to add a layer of fun to your poster.

10. Quirky Illustrations

Don’t worry about a funky illustration becoming the main star of your poster. Combine a nice color with clever typography to achieve a perfect design scheme like the one shown above.

Don’t be fooled by marketing points – stand out and use the unique selling point you’ve established to create something creative. The best way to highlight it is to design a poster that reflects your innovative ideas.