My venture into event flyer design began mostly out of utility. The music events that I produce are typically small budget productions. Given my existing DIY tendencies and my access to the necessary tools, I studied the work of other flyer designers I admire including those who have done work for me in the past. My first flyer designs (not shown here) were definitely not great! But it was a start, and I began developing additional techniques and learning new ways to use the tools and resources available to me.
My flyer design paradigm
In my design, I will prioritize accessibility and a clear, logical information architecture. I approach each design in the same way that I approach website page design: begin with a content outline, ensuring that all required information is collected, then develop a layout that works for the content. My designs might be the most creative or visually innovative. But they will be readable; text will have sufficient contrast against the background; you will be able to quickly locate the event date and location; and I will always try to make the next one at least a little bit better than the last one. Need a flyer for your upcoming event? Get in touch and let’s talk it through.
What I have learned through flyer designing
Perhaps the biggest challenge has been learning what works design-wise on a small screen. Everyone is consuming these on their mobile devices, mostly via social media (Instagram, Facebook) and occasionally on local or regional event list websites. I frequently send work-in-progress exports to my Google drive so that I can view it on my iPhone; often, I’m surprised at how clear it looks on the phone screen. It’s easy to think that text needs to be large to be readable on the small phone screen. However, this is often a bit misguided thinking.
What IS important is a clear information hierarchy, which I actually learned through the course of handing our printed flyers to people on the streets and in local shops. When I hand a flyer to someone, the most common questions they immediately ask are about the event date and the location/venue. As long as they can find this information within the first two seconds of scanning the flyer, I have done my job.