10 Tips For Gig Posters That Work

Giant Heads On Posters Work

Ever wonder why some gig posters are works of art, and others are unreadable crap? Here are some design tips from a variety of experts that will help you create something that's clear, creative and attention grabbing.

1. Make sure you can read it. Title text should be no smaller than 48 pt and body text no smaller than 24 pt.

2. Make sure that the most important info is the largest, then work down in size. Make the eye follow it down the page .

3.  Keep the word count low. Posters should be about the basics; who, what, and when. The why usually isn't important unless it's a charity event. Simplicity works best. 

4. Don't be afraid to use uncommon fonts, but not too many. For a gig or concert performance, an unusual font may be totally appropriate where it wouldn't work anywhere else.

5. Use contrast. In order to be readable, stay with black or dark text on a white or light background or vice versa.

6. Use colors that represent your event or your brand, but use color sparingly. Too many colors make a poster not only distracting, but expensive to reproduce.

7. Use high quality images. In order to keep the image sharp, make sure the image is at least 300 dpi. Small or low-resolution images will look blurry and unprofessional.

8. Make sure you have layout symmetry. Negative or white space can be effective, but make sure that there's a balance between halves of the poster.

9. Be sure to include social media and website info, or a QR code. You can't possibly include all the information you want and still make the poster readable, but you can include a way for the reader to get more information.

10. When in doubt, use a giant head! People are attracted to big heads for some reason (see the graphic on the left).

If you'd rather start designing your poster from a template, here's a great site that has a lot to choose from at very reasonable prices.

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