A poster design consists of 6 basic elements and these can be listed as under.
Typography is the font style and size that is used in the poster. The theme of the messaging or the brand has a major part to play in the style of font you choose for your poster design. Of course, you may be attracted to the more creative font types, but it is important that you consider the readability of the font, the areas where you want the viewer to focus on, and whether it is in tune with the overall image of the brand.
While designing a poster, it is important to create a balance and bring about a certain cohesion. While designing the layout of the poster you can create a balance in two ways – symmetric and asymmetric. While the elements in an asymmetric layout are aligned equally on either side of the vertical axis, in asymmetric layout the balance is created often with an unequal arrangement of all the constituent elements.
Simply choosing a color you like for your poster will not serve the purpose. Of course, if you are designing a poster for a brand it is a good idea to go with the brand colors. However, if you are creating an artistic poster, it is important that you first try and understand how colors behave with each other and their psychological impact on the viewer.
Using two elements, any two elements in opposing ways creates a contrast. Contrasts in sizes, shape, color, textures, or any other way creates interest and has the ability to grab and hold the attention of the viewer.
While designing a poster it is important that you create a visual hierarchy. A visual hierarchy is an arrangement of elements in a manner that conveys the importance of each of the element. When you do it right, you would be able to draw the viewer’s eye from the most important element to the least important element in exactly the order you want.
Shapes can be included in a poster to create a path which the eye of the viewer would follow. Shapes can also help you draw emphasis on a particular element or the main message of the poster.