On The Seen: Poster Design Best Practices
We’ve seen some pretty excellent designs come through Bandposters since we launched, but we’ve seen our share of crummy posters too. Design certainly isn’t easy, but with a few helpful tips you can make the most of your posters.
The most important thing to remember is that the purpose of a poster is to quickly convey everything a fan needs to know about your show (for the purposes of this article, we’re talking about show posters, but we’ll do a separate one for other types soon). In one glance they should instantly know who you are, where the gig is, and what date. Everything else follows from this.
Perhaps the number one problem we see on posters is problematic text. This can take a few forms:
Too small - Most of the text on your poster should be readable from at least 20 feet away. When in doubt, go big!
Too much text - Don’t crowd your poster with too much information. If you have a lot of info you really must put on the poster, be sure to at least convey your name, the venue, and the date of your show.
Text color – Make sure every letter contrasts with the canvas or image behind it so that it’s easily readable. Black text on dark gray background is very hard to read, especially in a dark club. This is especially true for thin font types as well.
Choose your font wisely – We have a whole lot of fonts available on Bandposters so that you can get creative, but at the end of the day you need to make sure you choose a font that is incredibly readable. Remember that some fonts work better at larger sizes than others.
The safety zone – On every poster, there is a margin around the outside called the “safety zone.” This part of your poster will be trimmed after printing so that the image bleeds to the edge of the page, and any text caught inside this safety zone runs the risk of being cut off of your poster!
Want to catch someone’s attention? Nothing does it better than a great photo. Bandposters prints every photo in gorgeous color, but there are a few things you can do to ensure your poster gets the attention it deserves:
Resolution - Posters are much larger than your typical 4x6 photo, so be sure you upload your images in as high a resolution as possible. Our posters are 11 inches x 17 inches. We recommend at least 150dpi, but 300dpi will create the best images. Generally speaking, if you camera can output at 6 megapixels or above you should be fine. Not to worry – an iPhone 6 outputs at 8 megapixels.
Choose a great photo – if you’re using a photo on your poster, make sure it’s freaking awesome. Faces work great, and so do action shots. Photos of your band are always good, though you can use photos of other things as long as they fit your brand or otherwise tell your fans that this is you (album covers for example).
Color – You don’t have to use color photos, but if you choose black and white make sure it’s a clear photo.
Orientation – If your photo is in landscape mode, consider making your poster in landscape as well. Same for portrait. It’s hard to squeeze 5 band members into a portrait style photo. You can also use the backdrop of your photo to extend over the areas where there is text on your poster.
Too much info – Decide which things really need to be on your poster, including date, time, opening bands, venue name, city, state, etc. Don’t use full addresses. Try to use as little info as possible while still informing your fans of everything they need to know.
Too little info – Your band name and date is not enough. Make sure you let them know what venue you’re playing at, even if the poster is hanging in that venue!
Other Things To Think About
Design for darkness – That’s probably the most metal thing we’ve ever written. Where will your poster hang? - In a dark club? In a window? On a phone pole? In the bathroom at the bar? Darkness can make posters very hard to read, so be sure to design with that in mind.
QR Codes – This one is up to you. Some say they’re useless, some people use them all the time. If you do use one, make sure it’s easy to scan.
URLs – Same thing here, make sure it’s short and easy to type on a mobile phone. Don’t use http://www.totallyradband.com/2015/4/5/come-to-our-show/
Album minis, quotes, awards, etc. – These things can help if the person viewing your poster might not know who you are. But use these sparingly, and keep your design clean. You don’t need social media logos on your poster. Everybody has a Facebook page, and let’s face it, Facebook doesn’t need any more free publicity.
Make your poster photo-friendly – These days most fans who see your poster and want to remember will just snap a photo of the poster with their phone. Make sure everything is easy to read when they snap that photo, even in the dark!
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