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Nine Examples of Posters: How To Promote Your Message
As a paper-based medium that can be placed outside a venue, inside popular transportation hubs, or throughout local businesses, posters are incredibly affordable and vastly customisable. If you’re searching for new ideas to share your message with the world, take a look at these tips for a creative poster design — complete with nine examples of posters — to spark your inspiration!
Main Takeaways From This Article:
Posters are some of the most common and affordable marketing materials to spread a message, advertise a brand, and promote an event.
A good poster design must include simple text, eye-catching graphic elements, effective use of colours and fonts, and proper use of negative space.
Popular examples of posters include campaign posters, event posters, concert posters, movie posters, campaign posters, and school posters.
What Makes a Good Poster Design?
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Whether you spot them while waiting for the Tube or when walking into your favourite concert venue, posters are just about everywhere — and for a good reason! Posters are a simple, cost-friendly means to promote something. But what makes a good poster design? In the simplest sense, a good poster must consider its audience and purpose, have a clear message, and use proper white space.
However, you probably don’t want to settle for a good poster — you likely prefer a creative poster design! A creative poster makes good use of the medium’s white space (the area free of images or text) to spotlight eye-catching visuals, like high-quality illustrations. Creative poster examples also feature effective use of both colours and typography, which we explain in greater detail below.
How To Promote Your Message On a Poster
There are limitless examples of posters creatively promoting a message, from upcoming art exhibitions and rock concerts to unique tourism campaigns and infographics. Now that you know the ins and outs of what makes a good design, it’s time to discuss how to design it. Consult this how-to checklist to promote your message with the eight components of effective poster design.
1. Decide on a theme. Before you begin to brainstorm design ideas, decide on what kind of style you want your poster to have. For instance, you can follow an Art Graphique style with bold shapes and graphics or opt for a Photography style with high-quality imagery.
2. Select a colour palette. Your colour scheme will reflect the overall vibe of your poster. While a Neutral Shades colour palette will feature calming hues like creams and soft browns, a Bauhaus-inspired colour palette will feature more exciting, bright colours.
3. Nail down a message. Depending on a poster’s purpose, you must include key information, such as the date for an event. You also must include an inspiring call-to-action (CTA) or the words that describe the action you want readers to take, like buying a ticket for the event.
4. Choose a background image. No matter if you opt for a realistic photo or an eye-catching graphic illustration, the background image you select must be high-quality. Any images used within your poster design must also be able to scale to be printed in a large size properly.
5. Experiment with typography. Typography refers to the font styles and sizes used for the words printed on your poster. Bold fonts are ideal for grabbing attention because they’re easily legible from a distance. Steer clear of fun fonts that are hard to read (even up close).
6. Set a main focal point. The focal point of your poster is where you want to direct readers’ attention. You can only have one main focal point, so it’s wise to use design elements like contrasting colours and negative space to highlight the key information in your poster.
7. Select a poster size. It’s crucial to consider where your poster will be hung to decide on the final size. It’s a common mistake to select too small of a poster, which can not only look silly once you print and hang it, but may also include very minimal room for important details.
8. Create a poster template. Once you master the above components, you can begin to use your favourite poster examples to crank out templates that simplify your design process! Templates take the guesswork out of creative poster design, saving you hours of time.
Poster Templates and Poster Examples You Can Use Right Now
Want to design creative posters? Check out these ten examples of posters you can use right now to spark your inspiration!
Advertising and Promotional Posters
When it comes to examples of posters, advertising and promotional materials are some of the most popular — and that’s because they’re effective! Advertising posters use bold language and bright colours to relay a brand’s message to its target audience. They typically include a call-to-action (CTA), such as “contact us” or “shop now”, to encourage readers to interact with the promoted brand.
Example:
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This promotional poster for an art exhibition is a great example of how to pair bold typefaces with bright colours to quickly grab a reader’s attention. The colour choice and use of smileys evokes a sense of excitement and hint at a modern or youthful art style. The designer used negative space to draw the reader's attention to the most essential information: the name and location of the event.
Campaign Posters
A campaign refers to an organised course of action to achieve a specific goal. If you see the words ‘campaign poster’ and automatically assume the poster promotes a candidate for government, you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. However, campaign posters can also inspire an audience to take other actions to achieve a goal, such as visiting a particular destination or business.
Example:
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As you can see from the poster example above, not all campaign posters centre around politics. This In Love with Argentina Poster uses bright colours and fun imagery to encourage readers to experience nature, football, and culture (such as wine and dancing) when visiting Argentina.
Event Posters
Event posters are some of the most common poster examples you’ll see while out and about. These posters are most effective when the important details are given space to shine. Details like the date of the event, where the event will be held, and the name of the event are all key elements to include in the poster design. Event poster design can also include a call-to-action to buy tickets.
Example:
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This Art Exhibition Poster is the perfect example of using negative space to draw the audience’s attention to important details. Readers can easily spot the event’s name, date, and location in the top right corner. The accompanying watercolour graphic is also eye-catching but not distracting.
Concert Posters
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Concert posters are a type of event poster that raises awareness about an upcoming musical event. So, it’s no surprise that effective concert posters share several elements in common with successful event posters. For instance, concert posters must include important details, like the time and date of the event. They also include a call-to-action, such as when and how to purchase concert tickets.
Example:
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This example Rock Music Festival poster has all the necessary elements of a concert poster and then some. It uses the event's name, paired with a striking guitar graphic, as the poster's focal point. Supporting details, like the type of music and concert admission fee, are included at the bottom.
Infographic Posters
As the name might suggest, infographic design posters combine text-based information with graphic-style images. Effective infographic posters use simple fonts and larger typography, so the written information is easier for the audience to read. Infographic posters should also use high-quality images or illustrations, so they don’t become pixelated once printed in a large size.
Example:
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If you’re looking for a creative poster that shares information in a unique way, look no further than this Tasty Beer Varieties poster example. The designer used a bold, easily legible font for the title and text. Plus, the simple vector images will keep their sharpness, even in large poster sizes.
Scientific Posters
Scientific posters are a type of infographic poster that break down popular science concepts into easy-to-understand graphics. So, it goes without saying that many scientific posters include technical terms and equations that require simple, easy-to-read typography. Effective scientific posters use plain fonts and clear graphics that are surrounded by proper white space.
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This Cirsium Canum scientific poster is the ultimate combination of easy-to-read and fun to look at. The designer selected a simple photo that was made to look elegant through the use of black and white. Not to mention, the typography is clean, simple, and perfectly spaced for quick reading.
Movie Posters
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Like event posters, movie posters promote an upcoming screening or release of a film. As such, many movie posters include important details like the date the film premiers or the price of admission. An effective movie poster must include eye-catching graphics to capture the attention of a larger audience and include the names of any notable actors who could drive traffic to the movie.
Example:
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To capture the most important elements of a movie poster, take a look at this A Star is Born creative poster. As an older film, this poster does not include the movie’s release date. However, it includes two notable actors who star in the movie and a list of songs the film made popular to drive interest.
School Posters
Aside from movie posters, which can be jam-packed with graphics from the film, school posters tend to be the most colourful and visually exciting posters. Effective school posters remain mindful of the target audience (children!), so they incorporate fun font styles and vibrant illustrations. These poster types are usually less text-heavy and tend to use brief messages and lots of images instead.
Example:
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The above Dream Big Little One poster is the ideal school poster example. This poster features an effective use of fun font styles that are still simple for little ones to read. Plus, the cartoon planets and rocketships create a whimsical art style that’s both inspiring and age-appropriate for school.
Framed Posters
Of all the poster examples on this list, framed posters are the most deluxe you can get. Whether it’s a framed event poster, framed infographic poster, or framed Paintings poster, adding a frame instantly enhances the professional look and feel of a poster design. To make a framed poster feel super luxurious, opt for a dark or natural wood frame, or select a black-painted wooden frame.
Example:
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As far as luxe framed posters go, this Van Gogh XII poster is the cream of the crop — literally! Titled ‘Landscape (1925-1928),’ the bold colours of this print pair perfectly with the simple typography. The addition of white space around the border is ideal to offset the black-painted wooden frame.
Other Posters
Have you been attempting to brainstorm the perfect poster, but haven’t found any examples of posters that match your vision? Don’t sweat it! There are tons of other posters beyond the above nine poster examples that combine bold typography with vibrant graphics to promote something, send a message, or share a sentiment with readers. There’s truly no single way to design a creative poster!
Example:
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Just take this Yeezus pop culture-themed poster, for example. Though the poster isn’t promoting anything in particular, its use of popular pop culture themes is a way to share common interests with an audience. The use of white text against a black background is also awesome for readability.
Amplify Your Message with Eye-Catching Posters from Optimalprint
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The secret to effective poster design is to focus on three things: your message, your colours, and your typography. Depending on the theme of your poster, your selected combination of colours and fonts, images and illustrations, or white space and graphic elements can make your poster shine. When you’re ready to create your poster, trust the experts at Optimalprint!
Optimalprint offers ready-made poster designs and personalised wall art that you can customise to amplify your message. Whether you use our convenient mobile app or tune into our website on a desktop computer, you can create effective poster designs in minutes. And with paper certified for eco-friendliness, Optimalprint posters are just as sustainable as they are simple to create.
Create your own custom posters or shop Optimalprint poster design today!
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