How to Create a Fabulous Poster

If you have something to promote then chances are you're in the market for a fabulous poster of some kind to spruik your incredible band, event, market, occurrence or party. Posters have been around for ages and have been used to promote a huge range of things. While the actual act of making a poster is relatively easy-design it, approve it, print it-the poster itself can vary hugely depending on the kind of thing that you're promoting. Let's say that you're designing a poster for an event-it needs to be a snappy and attention-grabbing kind of design that really excites people about your event; and if you're working to promote a classical music show you're going to want something that sums up the vibe of that particular event. You can see that the kind of colours, imagery and wording all depend on the kind of promotion that you're doing.

I wanted to cover a few of the steps to follow when creating a poster-in the hopes that it helps you to deliver an incredible poster for whatever you're working on.

Step One-Know your style

When you're going to be designing a poster the first thing you need to do is figure out what you're going to be trying to say and how you want to say it. Too often people start designing a poster but then change their mind halfway through and scrap what they were originally doing. This is time wasting and can be a frustrating process. To make it easier you can make up a chart of the kind of poster you want to do, and then identify key things like font, imager, colours and ‘mood'-if you like.

Step Two-Find your focus

Once you have figured out the broad parameters of your poster you need to narrow in on what you want people to focus on. Perhaps it's going to be the date or time of the event, or it might be a great picture that you're going to include. Whatever it is, be sure to include it front and centre for everyone to see it.

Step Three-Get designing

Now's the time for the fun part of the process-the design and creative part! This is where you get to flex your creative muscle and make some beautiful magic on paper. Why not do up a couple of different options for the poster and run them by some trusted friends? That way you'll have options and you'll also get a bit of a sample of what people like. Remember that what you love other people might not be so hot on, so getting some second opinions is always a good idea.

Step Four-Get printing

Once you have worked out what you want to say and show, it's time to get printing. Find someone who does great poster printing and you're halfway there. You should always get high quality printing-the best quality you can afford-because it'll mean you'll be so much happier with the result.

Step Five-Stick ‘em up!

You've done the hard work-now get out there and show your posters off. Great job!

If you need funding for a creative project, there are many government schemes set in place for funding.