Part advertisement. Part display piece. All information. The poster when created correctly can accomplish all these tasks in a single stroke. Sometimes the most overlooked piece in a marketer’s arsenal, posters are often assumed to be present but denied the forefront of attention. Why? Maybe because they ARE common. But if you’re a designer working with a client you want to push the limits of your poster design while STILL providing the basics that are required.

As the designer it’s not always up to you to decide which information should be included but it IS up to you to determine HOW it can be included to best represent your client and provide as the Heath brother’s (Author’s of “Made To Stick”) would phrase it, “Stick-Ability” in the mind. (You want the customer to remember it!).

Let’s examine some of the basics that will need to be included SOMEWHERE on your poster for it to be informationally effective.

Poster checklist

EVENT

Name of Event

Date of Event

4 of the W’s  (Who, What, When, Where)

PEOPLE
Name of person ( or Nickname) (Especially if the “event” is personality centered).
Title
Affiliations

PLACE
Pronunciation of unusual names
Department/division name
Street address
Floor/suite/mail stop
City/state/state abbreviation
Zip+four/postal code
Country

COMMUNICATION
Voice phone/extension number
Toll-free phone number
Mobile phone number
Pager number
Fax phone number
Home phone number
E-mail address
Web site address

DETAILS
Office hours
Time zone
Map/directions

ORIENTATION
Name of organization
Mission statement/business description
Product/service categories
Resource info
Special offer
Invitation
Illustration/photo
Logo
Organizational affiliations
Sponsorships

• By now, your head is probably reeling from the options that MAY be required for your poster design. But, hey, don’t forget— you can always include a URL that can contain MORE information.
• The poster I have included here, is a generic poster that is used for a public speaker. When a venue books him to attend, he sends the poster. Notice that the bottom portion is left blank? That’s so the venue can print the date, time, and location on the posters as needed. Just one example of getting the job done, without boxing yourself in!

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