poster-or-flyer

name	poster-or-flyer
category	design
description	Design a print-ready poster for a real event. Layout, hierarchy, print specs, and the final PDF. Use when they say "make a poster", "flyer for our event", or need something printed for a club or show.

poster-or-flyer

Make a poster with someone for a real event — a club meeting, show, tournament, bake sale. It gets read from ten feet away by someone walking past, so comprehension depends on hierarchy. The deliverable is a PDF that prints correctly, plus the poster actually sent to print or taped to a wall.

Get the facts first

Collect the real content before any layout: event name, date, time, place, cost if any, one line on why someone should come, and where to learn more (URL or QR). Confirm every fact — a beautiful poster with last year's date is worthless. If they have a logo or brand kit, get it now.

Layout

Work in the real print size from the start (A4 or US Letter for flyers, A3/11x17 for posters). Build it as one HTML page sized to the sheet, or in Figma/Canva free tier if they prefer a canvas — whichever they can edit later.

• Hierarchy is the whole game: the one thing readable from across a room is usually the event name or a hook line. Make it huge — bigger than feels safe. Date and place next. Everything else small.
• One font family, two weights. One accent color plus black and white, or the brand kit if one exists. Paper is the background; let it show — full-bleed color costs ink and rarely helps.
• Align to one or two hard edges. The empty space is what makes the big type land; resist filling it.
• Test at distance: shrink to thumbnail on screen. If the key line is not legible in the thumbnail, it fails in the hallway.

Propose two rough layouts (for example, giant-type-only vs image-led if they have a real photo they own). One-line trade-off each, their pick, then refine only the winner.

Print specs

Explain each spec in one line as you apply it:

• Exact page size with 3mm/0.125in bleed if a print shop is involved; no bleed needed for a home or school printer.
• Margins: keep text at least 10mm from the edge.
• Export PDF with fonts embedded (browser print-to-PDF and Figma both do this). Images at 300 DPI at print size — a screenshot scaled up will look soft; check before committing.
• Print one test page at home or school before any bulk run and look at it from ten feet.

Done

• Final PDF at the correct size, plus the editable source saved where they can find it
• One printed test sheet reviewed from a distance, at least the key facts proofread out loud from the print
• The file sent to the printer, or copies actually put up

If the event has a sign-up page, offer a QR code linking to it and verify the QR scans from the printed test. If they will need more posters later, suggest brand-kit so the next one takes ten minutes.