Posters are designed to communicate a message and to cause great impact on the onlooker, however, this too is a fact that neither a passersby nor a driver will stop to read them and consume the message being conveyed. So in order to make the posters more communicating, they should be precise regarding the message, colors and the elements being used to convey it. Much like designing printed business cards, once you learn the tricks of the trade you’ll be designing posters with ease.

Following are some tips to design a call-to-action and well-balanced poster that will work as a key marketing element conveying an unforgettable message immediately.

The Company, the Audience and the Competition

While designing a poster, the most important element to be considered is the message. The designer should understand the only reason of putting up a poster is to convey the message ahead. Constitute the message of your poster by considering three things, the attributed of the company or the client who is sending the message, the targeted audience to whom the message is being conveyed and the competitors from which one has to create a differentiation in the message. So, in order to ensure an effective communication, it is necessary to take account of the giver and the receiver of this message.

Originality and Differentiation

Like every other communication tool, posters are mean to be original and creative so that the message being conveyed hits the target audience well and stays in their minds for a longer period of time. Also, originality automatically leads to differentiation as there are millions of posters being made in the world on daily basis. So in order to create differentiation and effective communication, develop creativity in the message being conveyed through the poster. The conceptual idea and the poster aesthetic should be unique and recognizable among the visual pollution. Only then it will create a re-call among the masses.

Compatibility between Message and Aesthetics

Aesthetics of the poster matter a lot, as the contact of the target audience is very limited with the message. Therefore, while designing a poster, it is necessary to find the most appropriate aesthetic for the products or services or the company as a whole, whose message is being advertised through the poster. For instance, if the product or revolves around a serious and decent message, you cannot put funky images or highly colorful layout for the poster.

For the audience to recognize the product presented, the design should follow certain structures. Also, too much indirect graphics can lead to message distortion. So it is important for the designer to decide as how much the innovative style will influence on the poster and help its message get across.

Careful Color Usage

Colors are a very important element when it comes to designing any communication material. Same goes for the posters, where colors play a vital role in attracting the audience and retaining their interest in consuming the given information. It is important for the designers to balance and evaluate the amount of colors that will be used in the design, taking into consideration the message that is being conveyed and the company or client who is being advertised through this poster and ofcourse, the targeted audience. The number of colors being used is far important than the way it is used. Sometimes using four colors is effective; however, in some cases one or two colors may also have a great impact on the viewer.

Develop Information Hierarchies

When it comes to designing a poster, placing right information the right way is very important. The information on the poster should be in the ‘inverted pyramid’ model i.e. starting with most important information and go down to lesser important details. Information overload is not at all advised as it will spoil the message, confuse the reader and leave a blank-mined viewer.

A posters should be designed with different information hierarchies and the reading levels should be well defined in the space available, in order to accomplish the proper communication of a message. Otherwise, the very element you want to highlight in the poster will not stand out from the others.

The Emotional Element

Among all the appeals used in advertising to attract the audience, emotional appeal has its greater impact. So, in order to cash the limited time of viewer and put your message through, your poster design should have at least some emotional element in it. The emotional impact it will have on the different individuals is an important element to motivate a call-to-action. However, one should be very careful in putting an emotional element in the poster’s design so that it does not prove to be counter-productive. Also, remember that different emotional elements appeal different segments of market. So, always keep the target market in consideration while creating a touch of emotional appeal in the poster design.

Proper Composition

There are several parts of a poster design which, when put together in a proper composition create a joint impact. These elements are text, image, layout, color and miscellany. The location or composition of the different sections of information and the other elements that the poster comprises is very important for effective communication through the poster. The joint effect and influence that the elements will have is directly connected to their position in the poster and in relation to the other elements.

Tips for Designing Posters According to the Placement

As mentioned earlier, designing a poster depends on the sender, receiver and the competitors in the market. However, there is another thing to keep in mind while designing a poster i.e. the location where you want to deploy or place this poster. Here I would like to give you a few tips on poster designing that is specific to its deployment locations, so that when you design your next poster, it becomes easy for you to adapt your poster design in any area you want and make them a success.

For High Traffic Areas

When you are designing a poster to be deployed at high traffic areas, it is best to be as attractive and noticeable as possible. Basically, in high traffic areas, your poster is competing with the reader’s attention and that’s why it is always good to have large sized and full color posters when you are targeting these high traffic locations. The bigger and more colorful they are, the better your impact and presence will be. So for designing a poster for high traffic areas, make sure that you adjust the size as well as make the design as impressive as possible.

For In-Store Branding

While designing a poster for in-store windows and walls, the general rule is to have a decorative, appealing design and it should be in line with the current theme of the store. It is not appropriate to design a poster that does not go with the product line of the store. Also, a store is a place with busy walls, so make sure you try to create a design that looks unique and decorative while being in the current look and feel of the place of deployment.

For Post Boards

When it comes to designing posters for post boards or bulletin boards, the best thing is to focus on your distinct and originality in design. Basically, on a typical post board, there are many other related materials, and so, you will need to stand out among all these.  For poster placement on post boards or bulletin boards, you do not have to print large images and font sizes, as mentioned above for high traffic areas. A standard size with colors and images that are very different and very much eye-catching from the board posts will be ideal to make your promotions better advertised.

For Public Places

For designing posters which are aimed to be deployed at public gathering places, you will need a combination of important design elements for your posters to be effective. For instance, placing a poster at spots stadium, performance hall or public parks require larger and more readable fonts, simpler text, attractive graphics and a highly colorful layout. Simplicity in design is also one thing to remember while designing posters for public places.

Here it ends. I hope that next time when you are designing a poster for some client, you keep the aforementioned tips in consideration and design the best and most effective posters of all times!

A calendar is one of the most important promotional materials that helps deliver business communication all year long. In fact, calendars are more than just a promotional item. Calendar offers as a useful free gift to current and prospective clients and friends alike and also keeps your company at the top of their mind for the whole year. However, the challenge for calendar designers is to conceptualize and design their calendar in such a way that it retains the onlooker’s interest in each page for a longer time and to develop the viewer’s interest in your business. Such is called a call-to-action calendar.

So if you have got an assignment of calendar designing, or planning to design your own company’s calendar to promote your business; keep the following tips in mind in order to design a better calendar for the year 2011.

The Tips

Number of Months per Page

Calendars are of different types, depending upon the number of months per page. Mostly, businesses and organizations prefer 1-month-a-page type of calendar. This enables them to put their message across properly and the message, along with the visual keeps changing every month.

Although, this type of calendar may get expensive, however, it is better to opt for this one and suggest your client on the same. There are other options for calendars too including, 2 months a page, 4 months a page, 6 months a page and even 12 month (the whole year a page). Whichever calendar type you want to adopt, your aim should be to make it as appealing as possible.

Conceptualize a Theme

Every winning communication material requires a rationale, concept or theme behind it. Same goes for the calendar designing. You need to think about certain themes or concepts for the calendar and get one approved from the client (or yourself – in case of your own calendar).

This theme may be in accordance with the general corporate theme of the client company or any other interesting concept that may appeal the target audience of the calendar. I, for instance, gave some concepts for a bank’s calendar that included environment, culture, and music (as indirect themes) and history of money and the bank’s corporate history (as direct themes).

Decide Upon a Message

The concept of theme, about which I have mentioned above, needs to be accompanied, rather strengthened with the help of a message. Once the theme is decided, brainstorm the overall message you want to communicate in your calendar about your client’s product, service, industry or cause.

For example, the theme on environment should have statistical messages on extinct animals and plants or about every conservation etc. Likewise, for cultural theme, the message can be more poetic and for the bank’s history theme, the message can be regarding the different attribute or achievements of the bank.

Images with Quality and Quantity

When designing a calendar, images are of second-most important aspect to be considered (the first most important aspect is the theme). After the concept and message of the calendar is decided, you start searching the right images that blend with the theme and the message. Although it is quite a hectic activity to go step by step and look for best suited images for the messages, however, this hard work reaps you good at the end.

Some design houses or advertising agencies have their own images banks from where they find good images for the design. However, in most cases, either you undergo customized photography or rely on the images available from the internet. Whatever the medium is, you need to make sure that there are enough design, photography or illustration resources for all the pages of calendar and these images should be high-quality and printable according to the size of the calendar.

Make Best Use of the Page Space

As I have mentioned quite a lot of time earlier in this post, that a calendar is not just a page with dates and images, it is more of an opportunity to spread your message out throughout the year. So either you are designing a wall calendar or a table calendar (or even a pocket-size calendar), the message you want to convey should be proper and perfect. Also, there are times when designers find very little space for everything they want to put in a calendar and other times, it happens that designers get a large page space to display all the elements of the calendar.

Here, only the wisest of all designers would know how to compose everything in a way that it makes the best use of the page space, without losing viewer’s interest. Also, put an introductory page at the beginning or end of the calendar describing the business, its attributes and achievements. Take the page space as calendar’s real estate and make best use of it all.

Make the Calendar Your Portfolio

Either you are making your own business’s calendar or designing one for one of your clients, as a designer it is an opportunity for you to make it a call-to-action portfolio. Want to know how? Let me tell you the secret.

If you are making a calendar for your own business or your own brand, turn it into an opportunity to display some of the best works you did in the previous year and display the work one-by-one on each page. Write details about the work (date, company, design rational and its outcome etc.) in the body copy and get it printed well. Then send it to your friends, clients and acquaintances and see the boost in your work gain.

Likewise, if you are designing a calendar for your client, highlight their product or services and the message they want to convey through the calendar in the best way possible. Outsource if you want to, but take it seriously and add the best creative juices into its designing as much as possible. Reason being, when your client will give out this calendar t their contacts and others, it will stay with a number of people all year long and if it will be well designed, people will automatically want the maker of the calendar to work for them as well.

The Date Display

A calendar has its most important part in the date section (basically, that’s what it is for). The pattern and designing of date display should be legible, pleasant and attractive. Although it depends a lot on the size of the calendar, however, you should try to keep the target market in mind and make it as comfortable as possible. I mean seriously, people should not be looking for September the 30th throughout the calendar! Here again, you can make use of the dates to promote your company or business through the dates.

For example, inform the viewers of your company’s scheduled events or promotions in your calendar dates. You can also customize the dates so they specify when events or sales will take place, or print suggestions on your calendars like, ‘visit our website’ or ‘Buy a gift for a loved one’ on holidays like Christmas or Valentine’s Day etc.

Be Keen About the Production Details

After designing the calendar, the most crucial part of the process is the printing and production of the material. Sit with your printer and think about the production techniques that will:

1. Work best with your calendar’s theme or message
2. Make the calendar easy for recipients to use.

Also, research upon how matte paper would go for your calendar design or a glossy one, and different trim sizes will look with your design. Printers also offer different types of binding, such as traditional saddle-stitched or stapled bindings and wire-o or spiral bindings. A spiral binding allows users to hang the calendar on a wall, as does a stapled binding plus a small hole for a thumbtack.

The Crux

When we think of calendar, the usual picture that comes to mind is the traditional paper calendar with squares containing of the days of the month. It’s a gone story, as nowadays calendars are a great marketing tool for yours or your client’s business promotion because once people have them; they serve as a constant reminder inside their homes, offices, shops or wherever they put it.

Focus on these tips and create the best calendar for 2011, and do send me a copy of it!

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Introduction

This is a practical guide on how to design a easy brochure from scratch using only Photoshop. I’m doing it without using InDesign templates, or Illustrator, since there are many people who don’t have that software, or don’t know how to use it. If you’re a student looking to print a Brochure in your Inkjet Printer, this just might be the right tutorial for you.

Part One – Setting Up the Work Document

Step 1 – Chose the Folding Type

There are numerous things we need to think before starting to design a brochure: the size, shape, and folding type besides the concept itself. Usually, we should start with pen and paper – factually. It’s a good idea to grab a piece of paper and start looking for the best way to fold it, anyway at the end you’ll have only two printable sides, that means, two Photoshop documents, one for the front side, and one more for the back side.

This time I’ll show you how to design a three-fold brochure. Underneath is a quick draft of the folding guide. From here and forward, we’ll name each print area a “Face,” so we have “Face 1,” “Face 2,” “Face 3″… until “Face 6.”

Step 2 – Drafting

It isn’t hard to imagine a design once the folding type is selected. Once you’ve folded your piece of paper, draw something over it and see how it looks. This is the most creative step, so feel free to do whatever you want.

In the following instance, I’ve used my tablet to draw something for you (did the same on paper actually). This forms the basic guidelines of the design and some of the graphic ideas. Drafting will help you to see where you’ll put the content of your brochure and if the layout will help the reader find the info rapidly, besides it’s a good way to keep your info prearranged. E.g. in my draft you can see how I placed the “Contact us” text in field number 2 (see the previous graphic), so when the brochure stays folded, the reader will still be able to read the title of the brochure and the contact info as a speedy reference.

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