F.O.C.U.S. on Posters Tips for Making Successful Posters, Websites, Projects, Book Covers and a Whole Lot More

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters Tips for Making Successful Posters, Websites,

Projects, Book Covers and a Whole Lot More!

by Phillip Martin

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

Focus on these five key points for better projects. The first key is . . . F O C U S

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

Focus on these five key points for better projects. The first key is . . . Fonts O C U S

Fonts

Font choice is important. If you look at ads, they usually use no more than three fonts. Often, they use one font but in 2 or 3 sizes.

Fonts

If an ad uses all capital letters, it is usually a simple font.

Fonts

Fonts that are more complicated are not as easy to read if they are all written with capital letters.

Fonts

You will almost never see ads with rainbow lettering (either top to bottom as seen here or left to right with different letters.)

Fonts

It may be attractive but it is harder to read than solid colors on words.

Fonts

You almost never see an ad that has every other word (or every other letter) in a different color.

Fonts

Most lettering in ads goes left to right; not in spirals, up-and-down, or diagonally.

Fonts

You need to also use these concepts in your posters. What is good with the fonts here? What could have been done better? Find out on the next slide.

Fonts

Yes, most important of all, when you draw your own letters, use a ruler. If you use only capital letters, draw two lines. If you also make lower case letters, use three lines.

Fonts

Yes, most important of all, when you draw your own letters, use a ruler. If you use only capital letters, draw two lines. If you also make lower case letters, use three lines. Don’t press hard with the pencil when you draw the lines. You will later need to erase them.

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

For successful projects, you must also focus on . . . Fonts Oops! Watch that Glue! C U S

Oops! Watch that Glue

Use glue sparingly. You want to use enough to properly hold your papers in place. But, you don’t want to use so much glue that it leaks out on the front.

Wow! Wow

Wow!

Careful Gluing

This poster is so beautiful! Lots of cats were individually cut out. However, the text and pictures were not secure.

Oops! Watch that Glue

Keep your hands clean and glue-free.

Oops! Watch that Glue

Keep your hands clean and glue-free. Be careful in placing pieces on the poster so that they aren’t accidentally crooked.

Oops! Watch that Glue

This is a great photograph, with excellent emphasis, but just like on some students’ posters, the text is crooked (because I made it that way.)

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

For successful projects, don’t forget about . . . Fonts Oops! Watch that Glue! Careful Cutting U S

Careful Cutting

If you want things square, measure or use a cutting board. Note how the yellow text boxes are crooked.

Careful Cutting

Plan ahead. Straight corners and edges really make a huge difference in how your project looks.

Careful Cutting

When adding a border, be sure all sides are equal. The trim could be more evenly cut, but what a great poster!

Careful Cutting

If the object is not square, take time to carefully cut.

Oops!

A round border around the graph is very clever, but also very hard to cut evenly.

Wow!

However, a compass can solve this problem easily.

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

For successful posters, you must also consider the . . . Fonts Oops! Watch that Glue! Careful Cutting Use of Color S

Use of Color

Many kids’ posters and websites use too many colors with the lettering. As a rule, use no more than three colors. Two is even better.

Use of Color

It’s hard to get better than this poster. Only two colors were used for all of the lettering.

Use of Color

Don’t use dark letters on dark paper or light letters on light paper. Contrast is important.

Use of Color

Don’t use dark letters on dark paper or light letters on light paper. Contrast is important. The art needs emphasis to be easily read.

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

For successful projects, finally, you must . . . Fonts Oops! Watch that Glue! Careful Cutting Use of Color Stress for Success

Stress for Success

Some posters look like Where’s Wally ads with so much clutter you don’t know where to look. Your projects need something emphasised, something stressed. It is usually the title and / or a piece of art.

Stress for Success

Science fair posters need to have a lot of information. There is no way around that. But, for other posters, less is more. Less wording and information makes for a more attractive poster.

Stress for Success

There is so much information! But, the stressed title is very attractive.

Stress for Success

The people behind this ad campaign understood the concept that “less is more”.

Stress for Success

Some ads stress the title. It’s the first thing you see.

Stress for Success

Some ads stress the art to capture your attention.

Stress for Success

Other ads balance between the two.

Stress for Success

Almost no ads focus on the written text. It’s important, but when it comes to writing on a poster, remember less is more.

Stress for Success

This poster has a lot of good information, but most people will not take the time to read all of it.

F.O.C.U.S. Review

Now that you have “F.O.C.U.S.ed” on steps for making a good project, look at these examples made by students -- and people who should have been AIS students. What have they done well? What could they have improved upon?

Example 1

Example 1

Okay. Good choice of colour for fonts.

Example 1

Okay. Good choice of colour for fonts. Okay. Large centre photo.

Example 1

Okay. Good choice of colour for fonts. Okay. Large centre photo. Okay. Good contrast.

Example 1

Okay. Good choice of colour for fonts. Okay. Large centre photo. Okay. Good contrast. Oops! Too much clutter on the page.

Example 1

Okay. Good choice of colour for fonts. Okay. Large centre photo. Okay. Good contrast. Oops! Too much clutter on the page. Oops! Two fonts works better than two fonts plus italics.

Example 1

Okay. Good choice of colour for fonts. Okay. Large centre photo. Okay. Good contrast. Oops! Too much clutter on the page. Oops! Two fonts works better than two fonts plus italics. Oops! Wrong choice of photos.

Example 1

Example 2

Example 2

Wow! Excellent use of fonts!

Example 2

Wow! Excellent use of fonts! Wow! Careful trim around the text.

Example 2

Wow! Excellent use of fonts! Wow! Careful trim around the text. Wow! Neatly glued together and nothing is crooked.

Example 2

Wow! Excellent use of fonts! Wow! Careful trim around the text. Wow! Neatly glued together and nothing is crooked. Wow! Good use of photographs and three dimensional information.

Example 2

Wow! Excellent use of fonts! Wow! Careful trim around the text. Wow! Neatly glued together and nothing is crooked. Wow! Good use of photographs and three dimensional information. Oops! Fewer colours for text background would have looked better.

Example 3

Example 3

Okay. Good choice of fonts.

Example 3

Okay. Good choice of fonts. Okay. Good globe art.

Example 3

Okay. Good choice of fonts. Okay. Good globe art. Oops! Logos should NEVER be the main attraction in a poster. NEVER!

Example 3

This poster shows how logos are supposed to be used in advertising.

Example 3

Okay. Good choice of fonts. Okay. Good globe art. Oops! Logos should NEVER be the main attraction in a poster. NEVER! Oops! Too much information.

Example 3

Okay. Good choice of fonts. Okay. Good globe art. Oops! Logos should NEVER be the main attraction in a poster. NEVER! Oops! Too much information. Oops! Bland colours make this a poster that you would walk past and never read.

Example 3

Example 4

Example 4

Wow! Beautiful colour and contrast

Example 4

Wow! Beautiful colour and contrast Wow! One object is obviously the central focus.

Example 4

Wow! Beautiful colour and contrast Wow! One object is obviously the central focus. Wow! Careful attention to detail.

Example 4

Wow! Beautiful colour and contrast Wow! One object is obviously the central focus. Wow! Careful attention to detail. Oops! A title would be useful.

Example 4

Wow! Beautiful colour and contrast Wow! One object is obviously the central focus. Wow! Careful attention to detail. Oops! A title would be useful. Oops! White text boxes were not cut evenly.

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

Now that you know how to F.O.C.U.S. on good project tips, you can have much more attractive displays.

F.O.C.U.S. on Posters

Now that you know how to F.O.C.U.S. on good poster-making tips, you can have much more attractive displays. And remember, these suggestions are also good for ads, brochures, book covers, bulletin boards, report cover pages, menus, programs, post cards, banners, and a whole lot more!

Special thanks

Thanks to the students at the Antwerp International School in Antwerp, Belgium. The student art was taken from their posters and science fair projects.

Special thanks

Thanks to the students at the Antwerp International School in Antwerp, Belgium. The student art was taken from their posters and science fair projects. And, since then, their projects have gotten much better.