7 Poster Design Ideas With Eye-Catching Design Tips

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Creative Market Last updated: April 22, 2024 · 7 min read

Looking for great ideas for your new poster? You’ve come to the right place!

Creating an effective poster is all about making your skills and vision work in perfect harmony to produce a unique, inspiring design.

At the same time, it also requires following a few guidelines and best practices to make sure that you achieve the intended goal for your poster, so before we get to ideas you can use for your own poster design, let’s first take a look at different design principles to guide you in making a quality poster:

How to Design a Poster

First off, when designing a poster, remember that it should…

Be attractive. Before you make your viewers listen to what you have to say, you must first capture their interest, and you can do that by choosing the right combination of fonts, shapes, colors, and images that draw attention.
Display a clear message or idea. All works of art have an underlying message in them, however, when it comes to poster designs, you have to make your message clear by putting them into words that people can easily read and understand.
Aim for a specific target audience. Both your message and design should speak directly to your target audience. This means putting their interests, attitudes, lifestyles, motivations, and pain points into consideration when creating your poster.
Have a lasting effect. A well-designed poster is a memorable poster and will generate the right response. It will also make an impact and prompt the right action from your target audience.

Essential Elements of a Poster Design

Now let’s move on to the basics of designing a poster. Each of these design elements contributes to the overall presentation of your poster:

1. Typography

The typography or font usage is probably the most important part of your poster for it is responsible for the successful delivery of your message. If you choose fonts with poor legibility or those with busy typefaces, your content will not be properly digested.

The typography also contributes to the kind of impression you want to make. If you’re going for a playful or stylish vibe, then script fonts might be the best option. Meanwhile, if you want to portray a more serious tone or achieve an elegant look, then serif fonts are the right choice.

Ideally, you should only use up to 3 different fonts in your design and your title should always have a display typeface. Serif fonts are also recommended for your body text as they have great readability. Ultimately, the fonts you use should be distinguishable from one another yet create a unified design.

2. Color

You can communicate a lot of things with the simple use of colors. Different colors symbolize different things; like how black is usually associated with being sophisticated or mysterious, blue corresponds to cool or calming, green means growth, and red is sexy or exciting.

Once you’ve decided on a base color, you can then choose a color scheme by referring to the color wheel to see how each color relates to one another. Go for a monochromatic color scheme if you want to work with varying shades and tints of the same color. You can also try a contrasting color palette as well as analogous color combinations if you want to create either a warm or cool color palette, as long as it makes your text pop.

3. Contrast

Contrast is when you place two graphic elements in opposing ways. Creating contrast is an important part of making a creative poster design as it establishes the focal point in your design and makes certain elements stand out. Placing a black silhouette on a light-colored background is an example of applying contrast; the negative space or white space highlights the main subject in your poster.

4. Hierarchy

Hierarchy is setting which elements you want the viewer to look at first. It is the arrangement or presentation of elements from the most important to least important which provides a direction for your eyes to move. It’s the same logic as when we read something from top to bottom, or how we look at the biggest or most disconnected object from the whole before proceeding to the other parts.

5. Shapes

Like hierarchy, shapes also create a path that your eyes can follow while scanning the poster. Shapes can help you give emphasis to the most important details in your design. For example, you can put the title inside a large rectangle or use a triangle and put the headline at the tip. You can also create moods with shapes: strong, sharp edges can feel stiff while circles and curves can appear laid-back.

Design Ideas for Different Types of Posters

Whatever industry you’re in, there is a poster design inspiration for you! Take a look at these creative poster templates and let’s start designing your poster!

Campaign Posters: Public Health Campaign Poster Design Ideas

Campaign posters are designed to spread awareness about a certain cause. Most posters of this type address health, social, or environmental concerns and are meant to influence change. They usually have minimalist designs.

Show Posters: Movie Poster Design Ideas

Promote your upcoming TV show, movie, or play with these poster ideas! Movie posters or show posters usually display the most creative designs using special effects, eye-catching images and illustrations, and bold and bright colors.

Event Posters: Entertainment and Corporate Event Poster Design Ideas

Announce parties, concerts and tours, competitions, and workshops or conferences using an event poster. Since events are one-time happenings, event posters should immediately grab attention and create a sense of urgency. Here are some ideas to help you:

Advertisement Posters: Print and Online Ad Poster Design Ideas

Kick-start your product or brand launch, sale announcement, or email marketing campaign with these kickass advertisement poster ideas:

Political Ad Posters: Student Council Poster Design Ideas

Political ad posters are popular during election campaign periods for their purpose is to introduce different parties and their platforms to the general public. They are informative and should convince people to vote. Class or student council election posters are also considered political ad posters.

Image Source: Pinterest

Image Source: Pinterest

Motivational Posters: Peace Poster Design Ideas

Affirmative or motivational posters usually contain inspiring quotes and radiate positivity. Check out these feel-good peace poster design ideas:

Educational Posters: Pollution Poster Design Ideas

Like campaign posters, an educational poster spreads awareness about a certain topic but discusses it in great detail so it is usually in a semi-infographic format. Here are some educational posters tackling pollution:

Poster Layout Ideas That Attract Viewers

The layout or formatting affects the flow of your design. It is responsible for creating balance and therefore choosing a good layout style will add to the overall effectiveness of your poster. Here are some layout ideas that can help you make a great poster:

Mondrian Layout

Named after the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, the Mondrian layout involves dividing spaces into vertical or horizontal rectangles and squares to create multiple frames and portray different scenarios in one design. It works best with a portrait orientation which makes it perfect for posters.

Symmetrical Layout

In symmetrically balanced graphic design layouts, the elements “mirror each other” or are laid out equally on either side of the vertical axis. This layout is recommended if you want a more static look.

Image Source: IMDb

Asymmetrical Layout

Meanwhile, in an asymmetrical layout, balance is created by positioning elements in an unequal arrangement. You can do this by putting a large object on one side and a small object on the opposite side. Here is a poster example with an asymmetrical layout: