Designing an event banner may seem straightforward, but when you take into account all the factors that affect the theme, how well it represents your brand, and how effective its message is, it soon becomes clear that there’s a lot more to designing a banner than meets the eye.
But by following these simple steps, you can make sure the basics are covered, so you can concentrate more on creativity.
Balance Text and Images
The overuse of text and/or images can clutter a banner and distract the viewers’ attention from the intended message. In most cases one image, a headline and a short string of subtext is all that’s need to make an effective, eye catching banner; the creative process is more about how you use these elements as opposed to how many elements you can use.
Use Margins and White Space
Another simply technique that should be used but is often overlooked is to include reasonable sized borders. A general rule of thumb is that the top and bottom borders should be 10% of the overall height, and the left and right borders should be at least the width of one letter.
Use High-Resolution Image
Most images online, especially those on social media, are compressed to low resolution .jpeg and .png files that still look good on standard size computer screen, but quickly become pixelated when enlarged.
When designing large event banners it’s always best to use RAW files for photos, and Photoshop (.psd) or Illustrator (.ai) files set at 300dpi for any graphics. But when these original files aren’t available, you’ll should be trying to find images that are 1920px x 1080px and least 1-2MB in size.
Use Legible Fonts
It’s common to think that fancy, complicated fonts with lots of detail look more creative and unique than standard ones regularly used online and in print, and whilst there may be an air of truth to this, there’s a very good reason that these fonts are used so much, and that’s because they are clear and easy to read.
Event banners should contain information that can be picked up by glancing at it for just a few moments, so using a neat font that’s instantly legible is a must when it comes to designing signs.
Use as Few Fonts as Possible
In the same way that busy fonts are difficult to read and can confuse the eyes; using a number of different fonts on the same design also makes it harder to take in the information.
In most case you’ll probably need to use more than 1 font, but you shouldn’t never really need to use more than a few.
Always Use Correct Spelling and Grammar
Be sure to proof-read the text on your banner at least 2 or 3 times, and whenever possible, employ the help of friend or colleague to check over it too. It’s common to overlook typos when looking at the same document for extended periods of time, so try to have another set of eyes scan for mistakes even if you think it’s all correct.
Get Permission for Copyrighted Images
Not all images online are free to use for commercial purposes. In fact most professional photos and graphics must be paid for. The cost is usually reasonable, and you’ll often find free alternatives. But it’s up to you to make sure that you’re not infringing copyright by using an image.
You can use a creative commons search that filters through images that have permission to be utilized for commercial purposes. This search isn’t 100% accurate, so if you’re unsure it’s always best to contact the owner of the image and ask for their permission.