A little more about printed posters...

The history of the poster...

Poster Printing was first used in France in the 19^th century to promote events and advertise merchandise. Within 10 years, this effective method spread throughout the whole of Europe. To portray political views, posters were used heavily within World War II to remind civilians that their country was fighting for a cause. Due to this, posters became the anchor of one of the biggest campaigns in history to promote jobs for the army.  Now in the 21^st century, poster printing remains as a cost efficient and effective method of promotion and advertising. 

Why are posters effective?

Because of the larger surface available on posters you can use really eye catching graphics to good effect, allowing your advertising to be seen from greater distances. This is the great advantage of posters, their reach allows them to be seen by so many more people.

Our posters are printed in full colour on 170gsm standard silk paper in a full range of sizes. We can print all standard sizes from A4 to A0, and also offer bespoke poster options to make any larger size or shape posters you need, from billboards and hoardings to sizes and shapes that fill specific areas of walls in conference or exhibition halls.

Choosing the correct size and colour

A variety of sizes are available upon request. They can be as small as A4 through to A0 to ensure your message stands out. They are displayed easily too.  You can hang them up anywhere, from windows to walls, doors to billboards, indoors and out!

Colours also vary. Our black and white posters can reflect a 19^th century French feel or bright colours and bold text can be used for a more modern image. You can also brighten up the place with our DayGlo fly posters too! Catch the eye of your customers, with our printed posters. 

Create your own poster

If you want to make your own advertising poster feel free to download our free design templates to help you format your ideas in just the right way for printing.

Let us personalise your poster!

It can be hard to visualise how the larger format will look when creating the design on a desktop screen, and how graphics and lettering will blend when scaled up to full size.

Our professional marketing and design team have a wealth of experience in creating custom posters that look good and achieve their marketing aim, and their input can make a real difference to the success of your campaign.

To find out more simply call the office or fill out the quote request form.

Guide to designing an effective poster

Design for your target audience

Poster designs can vary greatly in content and artwork, from underground punk designs that consisted of collaging newspaper cuttings, to highly polished and refined artwork for selling high end products. Regardless of how the poster is made, your target audience should be the main factor for how you create your design. Think who are you trying to attract, what is their age? What do they like to do? Creating a message that is tailored to a particular demographic creates opportunities to close in on their attention and hold them whilst they look at your poster.

Content and layout

The message on your poster goes hand in hand with your target audience. Copy is a huge element of effective design. Think about the language you use, if your poster is targeted at a younger audience don't use copy which won't be relatable. Short, punchy copy is also good for gaining attention quickly. The amount of copy you choose to display should also be considered - don't let the purpose of your poster be forgotten. It is to gain an insight, spark intrigue or give a taste of what's on offer. The more ambiguous the content, the more interest you can generate. With this, the layout of the content should reflect this. Have your main tag line/slogan bigger than the smaller details, such as contact information. If people have gained interest, they will actively seek more information. Having a well-designed logo can also help in brand recognition at this stage.

Choosing fonts and colours

Font choice can make or break a good design. So many times we see a bad font choice which results in our attention going quickly in the other direction. Luckily, there are hundreds of fonts to choose from, so steer away from boring Calibri and experiment a little! Some great free online type resources can be found at www.fontsquirrel.com/ - In contrast, this does not mean you can use as many fonts as you can possibly find on one design. Never use more than three, think about heading styles, what does a main heading look like? Heading two and three should always follow one, be smaller in size and less dominating. The style of the font should reflect the design, calligraphic for classic, grunge for a punk night etc. The colours should follow this design suit and reflect the feeling, purple and gold for luxurious, blues and greens for tranquillity etc.

Use of images and photography

It is fairly obvious to think that a poster needs good imagery to work - there are free stock imagery sites that can help you if you don't have any images and won't cost you a total fortune. There is nothing more frustrating than receiving a client's content for their poster design to find out the images are taken on their camera phone with their thumb half way over the image - (it happens more then you think.) The client soon starts to ask why the design isn't as effective as they thought, and don't seem to understand just how important photography is within design. Fotolia and i-stock are great resources. Once you have purchased a couple of really great images you can re-use them.

Getting your poster noticed

Probably the most important aspect of all is your placement of your poster. It's all well and good having a great design but what's the use when your audience won't see it! Think back to your target audience, where will they see this poster, in the supermarket, on the school run, at a club night for an ABBA tribute act - whatever the audience find a common place where you can reach as many of your audience as possible.

FREE Blank Poster Templates

Choose the template of your choice below and press the download button. In A4, A3 and A2, these poster templates provide you with the opportunity to have your stylish poster displayed where you like. The range of sizes mean that you can advertise where you like, whether it be a noticeboard or a shop window, the poster is the classic marketing tool.