In the past few years, the outdoor advertising industry has evolved into one of the most powerful media forces due to its ability to target geographically and its extremely low cost per person reached. Outdoor advertising takes on a broad definition, as it can be identified as any sign displayed outside. A very common example of outdoor advertising is poster advertising, which occupies the largest percentage of outdoor advertising. A poster is a large piece of paper or cardboard placed on a poster board, which usually tends to look professionally designed and polished in appearance.
Relatively inexpensive printing costs make massive poster advertising a convenient solution for business people wanting to create visibility of their products and services for a large audience. Poster advertising provides a high level of exposure, and is rather inexpensive compared to other advertising options. However, one of its drawbacks is that after a certain period of time posters that stay in the same location without changing their design, might become "invisible". The mere reason for this fact is that viewers' eyes become used to seeing the poster every day in the same place. That is why poster design has to be well-planned in advance in order to ensure timely design, printing, location and visibility. Also be sure to tell NO to each advertising company that tries to persuade you to leave your posters at the same location for a longer term, as chances are that no one else is going to notice it. However, even this offer could be a solution in areas where people are going to be in place for a brief time (like vacation areas, health resorts, etc). So the first tip to ensure that the message expressed by your posters will reach the audience you are interested in is to provide a good location for your poster. The second, but not less important tip would obviously concern its design.
If well designed, an advertising poster could be very attractive and create a lasting impression. But what is most important, it should shout out "Bye me", it should make potential consumers want what they see and leave the impression that they have learnt something new - all in all, an advertising poster should make the readers react somehow. Eventually, poster design is a personal matter and different individuals will have different views on how best to present certain information. Still, here are some essential tips that could guide you to creating eye-catching posters with lucid expression:
1. Do not forget that simplicity is the key to creating good outdoor advertising. After exactly deciding yourself on what you want to write on the poster in terms of its content, be sure you will make full use of space, and not crowd letters. Keep this message big enough so that people can see it easily from a few meters away.
2. Concerning the message of the poster - be as concise as possible, use only the information necessary to convey it, but don't forget to include the name of your organization and/or logo in a visible place. Using short words will considerable increase the comprehension of your message. For example, in creating a promotional concert poster for a musician or musical group, include the following text on your poster design: music group name (that would appear a bit larger than the other text, but not too large), dates, times, price, venue address, etc. The poster design of a company advertising services will include the company's name, logo, slogan, locations and a large picture or photograph of the company's services put in use.
3. The well-known saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" is most appropriate in creating fabulous poster design. So, make sure you will find photographs or pictures that best convey the ideas behind your chosen subject - advances in production technology allow advertisers to use increasingly complex imagery in their materials. However, poster design requirements in terms of imagery are the same here - images must be bold, clear and easy to understand.
4. Dare to use colours! Use of colours should be done with taste, only to add interest, maybe also to impress. Strong contrast in colours' hue and value is essential for creating a good poster design. Hue is the identity of color, while the value measures a color's lightness or darkness. Contrasting colors is best when viewing posters from far distances. For example, yellow and black are dissimilar in both hue and value, thus providing the strongest contrast for outdoor advertising. White complements colors with light values, while complementary colors, such as red and green, are not legible together because they have similar values that produce low visibility.
5. Finally, make a draft version of you poster and get someone to double, or triple-check and proof-read it carefully. There's nothing more annoying and unprofessional than spelling mistakes that appear on a public display, especially if they are on a title page.
When you are through with the design-planning, be sure to select some great locations that would provide maximal visibility for your advertisements, and consider your advertising posters a well-finished work!