People have asked me how I create my posters. So I have decided to post the things that I find important when I create posters.
Get to Know Your Software
I use Photoshop myself, I am no Photoshop expert and I continue to learn new things about the program but I know my way around it.
Doing a Sketch or Not
Sometimes I do a quick sketch of what I have in mind for the poster. The sketches I do are not pretty but they serve their purpose. Commonly I just pick out the main picture for the poster, load it in Photoshop, add a headline, try out different fonts, add other things that may suit the poster, move things around, try different effects, etc. Then things usually start to happen, but if they do not I look for inspiration elsewhere; like in newspapers, magazines, nature, other people’s posters, movies, etc.
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| Doing a Sketch.. | ..or Not |
Thinking You Are Done
Sometimes somewhere along the process you get new ideas, feeling that something is not quite right or your wife comes up with something! 
So what should you do, should you pursue your new ideas or should you finish what you are doing? Well I usually ask myself the following questions to figure that out.
- How long will my new ideas take to do?
- Are my new ideas really better than what I am already doing?
- Does it require a total redesign, then perhaps I should save my new ideas for another poster?
Sometimes it is better to leave it as-is, sometimes it is better to follow you new ideas. It all depends..
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| Thinking You Are Done | The Final Version |
Useful Tips
- Remember to use the web, you can find lots of useful stuff there for both inspiration and for Photoshop (if that is what you are using).
- View your work on different monitors and do test prints on a printer you are familiar with. That way you know that what you create looks right on more than just your own monitor.
- Get critique from others. I use my wife for this, she knows me inside out and she is honest and I can see right away when she is right about the comments she makes. (Which can be a bit annoying from time to time).
