Mar 10 2009
Poster Design For Performing Arts
Going into the performing arts industry means putting on shows, advertising, publicity and juggling many different jobs all at once. In the beginning you might have to advertise independently because you cannot afford professional advertising. At some point you might have to design a poster and if you do then it helps to know how to design one as well as how to design an effective one. It’s all very well designing a poster but, if it isn’t effective then you are not going to sell tickets and if you don’t sell tickets then you will lose money, simple as that. So, in order to help you with the basics of poster design I decided to do a blog article on the subject.To start with a brainstorming session could be useful. Remember that a poster is a visual presentation of information and needs to be designed as such. A poster needs to be creative and you should not reproduce your written paper in poster format. This would mean that there is too much information on it and you need to narrow it down and think of pictures that will always speak louder than words.The poster needs to be understandable to the reader without verbal comment. If someone looks at the poster while you are away then they need to be able to understand what it is saying. What are the ideas you want to get across?One of the important things to remember is that you are trying to get the individual’s attention. You want to get the person interested in what the poster is saying enough to take action.
Some of the programmes that you can use to create your poster is Microsoft Word or Power Point. These are not graphical layout applications, but they are adequate in most cases.
You need to ensure the title and author’s name stand out and are eye- catching.
Tell your audience a story providing clear information from introduction to conclusion.Do not fill your poster with too much information, but do keep it to the point. Not everyone will stand and read all the information on your poster so keep it clear. Use graphs, tables, diagrams and images where you can. Boxes are good to use and they isolate and bring emphasis to important points.
Use all the space that you can without cramming to much in the content - white space is an important part of the layout, and good use of it can make a poster stylish and eye catching.
Colour should be used sparingly - choose a few colours that are eye catching rather than going for more colours that can often be distracting.
Try to understand the colours you use. Use them for addressing important parts of the poster and also for differentiation.
Avoid colour combinations that clash (e.g. red on blue) or cause problems for people with colour-blindness (e.g. red and green in proximity).
The text should be readable from 6 metres away - a good suggestion is 36-point text
The main text should be readable from 2 metres away - a good suggestion is 18-point text.
Use an easy to read font with large inner space (i.e. the space inside the loops of letters such as ‘o’, ‘d’, ‘p’). Good examples are Arial, Verdana or Helvetica.
