18 cool & creative poster design ideas
Poster design has come a long way since the 1880s, changing in style for different eras and often strongly influenced by political or social events of the day. Posters have become a powerful and popular medium for advertising (sometimes referred to as street or guerilla marketing). In this blog, we’re going to take a look at some of the gorgeous templates in the Lucidpress poster collection and how you can use them effectively to convey your unique message and reach your targeted customer base.
Choosing a design
We admit it’s not always easy to choose a design, so to help you make up your mind, we’ve assigned two keywords to each poster. These keywords capture the mood of the poster and what it’s ideally suited for. We’ve also identified “niche” posters, such as real estate or restaurants. Still, remember: Lucidpress templates are fully customizable. If you wish to use our restaurant poster to promote your software business, go right ahead. You can easily change the tone by using different color schemes or fonts.
Marketing aesthetics
Marketing aesthetics play a central role in creating the proper tone, and they’re determined by your use of colors, shapes, lines and patterns. All poster templates here were inspired by different combinations of these key elements.
99Designs succinctly illustrates the six core elements of great design. Some tips:
- Lines. The Golden Ratio is a number calculated by dividing a line into two parts so that the longer part divided by the smaller part is equal to the whole length divided by the longer part. (Phew.) It’s a golden rule for pleasing design.
- Color. Try to use your brand colors in all business collateral. Use a color picker to get the shades right. Color is an integral element for professional business designs.
- Shapes. Shapes and images are central to any design, and Lucidpress makes working with them easy and intuitive. Custom shapes can be used to great effect in fun, trendy and modern designs.
- Textures. Use the Lucidpress image editor to texturize your images and poster background. Texture is a core element of whimsical and innovative designs.
- Framing. Frames and borders help to focus a viewer’s attention. Use them to structure your layout and content, and to layer design elements. Layering adds depth to posters and is a key element of sophisticated, cosmopolitan and luxury designs.
- Type. Don’t forget: Fonts used for educational and research project designs should never be distracting to the reader. In Lucidpress, Pro users can upload custom fonts.
Getting started only requires an internet connection — which you clearly already have. Imagine a blank wall. To decorate it, head over to our free online poster maker. Bring your ideas to life!
Forests research poster template
Informative | Modern
Created with research and educational projects in mind, this poster provides ample space for images and content in a structured, brochure-like design. The slideshow is both modern and practical, and you can easily add or duplicate pages. The beauty of a one-page template is that your design remains consistent.
Western wanted poster template
Vintage | Fun
Our designers created this template tongue-in-cheek. It’s eye-catching and memorable with an instantly recognizable theme. Have excessive quantities of stationery gone missing at work? This is a fun and subtle way to draw attention to outlaw behavior in the office or at home.
Standard advertising poster template
Business | Multi-functional
This 3-page poster is perfect for marketing your business at trade shows and exhibitions, or it can be used for an online catalog to advertise special offers. The format is deliberately simple so as not to distract from the content and to make it easy to update if you have regular campaigns.
Motivational quote poster template
Hard-sell | Visual
Motivational quotes are powerful tools to inspire innovative thinking and promote a sense of well-being. Psychologist and motivation expert Jonathan Fader, PhD, says well-structured messages that use strong imagery and appeal to our aspirational nature can be powerful in changing our thought patterns and behavior.
Heartland business poster template
Business | Multi-functional
This business poster template provides a surprising and unusual variety of content placeholders so you can sneak in a wealth of information. Each placeholder demands your customers’ attention, and the longer they’re looking at your poster, the more likely they’ll absorb your message.
Homegrown event poster template
Inviting | Eye-catching
We call it Homegrown because this poster has multiple layers, just like a home-baked pie. If you really want to stand out from the crowd, putting a bit of effort into creating a layered poster will help you to demonstrate the depth and originality of your company’s vision.
Ecosystem scientific poster template
Educational | Nature
Blue is the new green — and this eco-theme disrupts the traditional color mold quite innovatively. This huge 36" x 48" poster gives you the physical space to cover even the most complex research projects without having to resort to smaller fonts or cropped images.
Weekend Away photo poster template
Travel | Visual
This trendy design showcases your professional photographs, but your message still takes center stage. It’s ideal for travel and tourism businesses, for exhibitions, and for luxury brands to announce corporate events and exhibit their products. The Weekend Away is a great example of design layering.
Swiss Alps travel poster template
Urgent | Travel
Contemporary and bold, this poster paints a strong message. It’s a single-focus design, and you should customize it with your own bold background photograph and daringly creative fonts. The unusual text layout makes it a unique and original choice for technology startups and entrepreneurs.
Nature Retreat poster template
Nature | Informal
Inspired by the layout of quality print magazine covers, Nature Retreat is eminently versatile. Our customers have used it in projects as diverse as publishing upcoming event information and showcasing their portfolios, and for school projects. The style is informal and slightly whimsical.
Origami Banner event poster template
Formal | Artistic
Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into decorative shapes and figures, dating back to the 1880s. This template combines traditional origami with a fresh, modern look to create a perfectly structured design ideal for formal and professional corporate posters.
Block Party poster template
Informal | Fun
This is our flagship celebration poster. Its vibrant design and no-nonsense block layout works well for invitations and holiday events. It’s a one-pager, easy to modify and with placeholders for the “who-what-when-where-why” information. The blocks and frame design are reminiscent of the calling cards of yesteryear.
Night Life poster template
Trendy | Events
Like torn classic denims and multi-layered dresses, this design ushers in a new trend of visually captivating posters that challenge design rules — we wouldn’t be surprised to see it in the MOMA one day. Light and dark are juxtaposed to evoke excitement and anticipation.
Real Estate poster template
Eclectic | Real estate
Arguably the most versatile and stylish template in the Lucidpress collection, this block design is ultra-bold. Rather than simply invite, the poster compels customers to attend a home viewing. We’ve incorporated vintage and trendy elements both formal and informal… and the result rocks.
Cobalt Café poster template
Sensual | Restaurant
When it comes to real estate, location is everything. And when it comes to food, presentation is everything. The design mimics those used for magazine food pages, arousing your taste, visual and smell senses. The Cobalt is warm, welcoming and very practical.
Cut Glass marketing poster template
Innovative | Bold
Cut Glass is cutting-edge design, perfect for technology startups and real estate innovators. Diagonal lines are more striking than horizontal or vertical ones. As explained by Vanseo Design: “Their kinetic energy and apparent movement create tension and excitement.” Use this template boldly and aggressively.
Cosmopolitan business poster template
Luxury | Elegant
Cosmopolitan means cultured, suave, polished and refined… an image you may want to cultivate, particularly if you have an international, sophisticated client base. The hallmarks of cosmopolitan design include the avoidance of “fluff,” subtlety, attention to detail, intricacy and cohesiveness. Would these tactics serve your brand, too?
Reflections company poster template
Corporate | Health
The creative inspiration for this design was the subtle reflection of images in water, clouds and shadows, conveying the impression of depth and intelligence. This poster would work particularly well for a beauty technologist, health spa or clinic, or even a luxury brand.
Poster design with Lucidpress is simple thanks to our user-friendly, intuitive interface. It gives you all the functionality of traditional desktop publishing software — but without the learning curve needed when using professional packages. Now it’s time for you to grab one of our free poster templates and get creative.
Feeling inspired? You can design and order your brand new poster right here in Lucidpress.
About Penny Hoelscher
Penny Hoelscher has a degree in journalism. She worked as a programmer on legacy projects for a number of years before combining her passion for writing and IT to become a technical writer.
Originally published at www.lucidpress.com.
