Your club’s event is coming up fast and you need to advertise — posters, flyers, mailbox stuffers, the works. You mistakenly mention you touched Photoshop once in your life and all of a sudden, the task of designing falls onto your shoulders. You do not have to be a professional graphic designer to make a decent poster, just make sure to follow these simple steps.
1. NO COMIC SANS. Or Curlz MT. Or any other tacky, hideous, overly decorated fonts. These fonts were created for mothers to use on their 3-year-old’s birthday party invitations. Stick with a legible font that also can be bold, italic and other variations. This makes your text appear stylized without being a hot mess. Good fonts are Helvetica and Georgia.
2. PIXELLATED IMAGES ARE A NO-GO. If the image is pixellated, get rid of it. Pixellated art is worse than no art at all. While no art may not make for the most attractive flyer, pixellated art is a turn-off. It will make your work look unprofessional. If you care about the event, make it look like you do.
3. NEON IS A NEVER. Neon colors are hard to read. And unless you are advertising for a highlighter party, avoid them. The bright colors generally just hurt people’s eyes, and remind them of that frat party they regret going to.
4. EXCESSIVE USE OF CLIP ART. No. Never. Under no circumstance may you use Clip Art. No ifs, ands or buts. There is nothing more tacky or 1990s than Clip Art. This outdated form of decoration serves no purpose but to plague designers. Need a cartoon image? Try a vector image. Significantly more classy and up to date.
Looking for examples of art not to copy? Take the newest selection of Sodexo signs and menu boards. Their Mardi Gras signs are illegible, and trigger my upchuck reflex. Finally, a part of Sodexo more disgusting than its food.
So please, with your student group’s winter bake sale or spring dance coming up, take this advice, and make a poster that doesn’t disgrace the paper it is printed on.