So what makes a good outdoor ad? There are certain rules when it comes to creativity — the message should be concise, unlike a press ad. Eight words maximum is a good rule of thumb. It’s also good to use a picture of a person as people are drawn to eyes. Humour usually gets a good response.

That said, small firms don’t have to be super-creative. If you’re a plumber, that is what you do, just give the information and you will get a good response.

If you want to raise awareness, then the more sites the better. But if it’s directional, you can be more tactical with a few well-positioned ads. Stations are a great option because they offer more dwell time than other sites

Top tips for great poster design

  1. Layout
  2. Colour
  3. Text style and font
  4. Visuals

 

  1. Layout

The layout is vital to a successful poster.

You need to make sure that there is the right balance of information, the viewer needs to understand what the poster is telling them, in order to respond to it. Too much information will bore them and too little won’t make sense! Bullet points are always helpful to get the information across quickly and effectively.

Sort all the Information into separate sections, this will allow you to keep all the relevant information in and filter out unnecessary parts.

When creating an effective layout it’s a good idea to cut out all the information you want to display and lay it out onto a piece of paper so that you can move things around easily and see where the sections look best.

To make it easier for your customer to read, the information needs to flow across the page

This technique will allow the viewer to take in all the information in the order that you want it to appear. A numbering system will also help create an order.

Finally, make sure you have a clear brand name and contact information on the poster. In order for the public to respond to your poster, they need to know who you are, or how to contact you.

 

 

 

  1. Colour

Be careful not to use too much colour on your poster, as it will detract from the information and can be visually off putting.

  • Remember less is more!
  • Make sure there is plenty of “white space” on your poster, this will make the poster gentle on the eyes and ensure the information stands out.
  • Choose colours that complement each other.
  • Use a foreground (text) colour that is easy on the eye and complements the background colour.
  • Test your colour scheme. Many yellows and shades of red can be a strain to read, so test different colours and shades, to make sure that the writing is easy to read.
  • It will generally always look better and be more effective to use a darker colour for your foreground (text). Black is always a good choice as it will stand out from any colour.
  • By using a bold lettering you are again ensuring that the writing will “POP” from the page.

 

 

  1. Text size and font type

A good poster is one where the main information and genre of the poster can be understood from 6meters away, to ensure this is the case the font needs to be clear and the size needs to be accurate. When looking at the poster on a computer screen or on an A4 template, remember the finished result will be at least 2/3 times bigger.

  • The font type needs to be clear and easy to read.
  • Although some fonts are easy to read, this font (courier) can be considered old and boring.
  • Italic fonts are not always easy to read. Especially when reading from a distance.
  • CAPITALS ARE ALSO CONSIDERED HARDER TO READ
  • Choose a font that is simple and clear. This will communicate with your audience far better. If your poster is not easy to read, then all your hard work was for nothing.
  • If the font is too big, then it will just waste space. And if it is too small, then it will not attract people to read the poster

 

  1. Visuals

Photos, Graphics and charts are vital components to your poster, they will illustrate the point, and hopefully attract your audience to the poster and cement your poster in their minds.

  • Try not to use too many visuals in your poster as it will look cluttered and overpowering.
  • Enlarge and crop visuals to only show the relevant bits.
  • Make sure that your visuals are clear and of good quality.
  • When using diagrams and charts – Design the diagram with a software package that has been designed for graphics and diagrams, such as Corel Presentations, CorelDraw, Photoshop, etc.
  • Use a high quality digital camera or scanner when adding photos.

This ensures that the picture will look clear and not out of focus.