How to Design Your Own Flyer: Part 1

Templates and Tips

Flyers are considered the jack-of-all-trades of marketing print design. They start as a blank canvas and are adaptable to be whatever they need to be – an advertisement, an invitation, or an announcement. They are used for whatever creative and marketing purpose you need to promote an event or announce a public message.

Flyers are everywhere. You see them on community bulletin boards, in your mailbox, and in shop windows. It’s also not uncommon to see them trampled on the street, in the trash, or buried under a pile of notes on a table. However, if the flyers do their job right, they can catch the attention of your intended market and get them to take action.

The adaptability of flyers works well in tailoring them for marketing purposes. For designers, having skills in flyer design is a handy tool to keep and master.

But, what makes an effective flyer? What tips and techniques should you implement to produce a well-designed one? Here are failsafe tips on making a flyer – from conceptualizing the design and copywriting the ad, to distributing the copies.

Creating and Designing Your Flyer

Creating an eye-catching and relevant flyer can be tough, especially if you’re new to the craft. Figuring out your design choices to fashion an attractive and informative end product requires keen attention and careful planning.

What fonts go together? Is the color combination you’re considering suitable for the theme? Questions like these are important to determine which fundamental design tools to use in designing your flyer.

1. Make the design distinctive.

Let’s say you’re on your way to work and stopped by your neighborhood café to get your morning caffeine fix. You navigate the line and shuffle on to get an extra pack of sugar when something catches your attention. It’s a flyer for a three-day sale at your favorite shopping mall pinned to the coffee shop’s bulletin board. You’re running late for work, you’ve yet to drink your coffee, but something about the flyer made you stop to give it a second look.

This “something” is most likely a visual element of the flyer. It can be the attractive typography or the striking color combination. It can be a compelling photo or a charming illustration.

That being said, it’s also important to realize that colors don’t have to be quite literal all the time. Sometimes, the abstract approach works, especially if the purpose of the flyer has something to do with a creative event or an artsy product.

If the purpose of the flyer calls for a black and white, then use the classic color combination. Black ink on a white paper doesn’t have to be boring or uninspired. Instead, use the simplicity of the combination to pop up other elements of the flyers like its font or image.

At its core, a flyer is a visual form of advertisement, regardless if it’s for marketing or not. So if you wish for your flyers to serve their intended purpose, they need to be seen, before anything else.

To make a flyer’s design stand out, make sure to have:

An uncluttered focal point.

Every design requires a focal point. It is the part of the layout that lures the attention of viewers into the design. It can be anything – an image, a font, a headline – but it’s almost always the first thing people notice about the flyer. For this reason, it is smart thinking to ensure your focal point is uncluttered and directs viewers to the important message you want to convey.

Applicable imagery.

Most flyer designers use an image because, by nature, people are visual beings. The imagery can be as basic as shapes, as multifaceted as background photos, or as fancy as custom typography. A visual element that relates to the purpose of the flyer will help viewers to easily understand its content.

It’s considerably better to use an image you created yourself. It’s more tailored, unique and personalized. However, if it’s not possible, sourcing the imagery is another option. You just have to use a high-quality image in both form and function: the former to match the theme of the flyer, the latter for high-resolution printing.

Suitable fonts.

Typography is an important element in any piece of print and graphic design. It’s the character of the font that can convey the message using this imagery alone.

Choosing the right fonts for the flyer is similar to deciding which photo or illustration to use. The fonts must suit the purpose and theme of the flyer. Picking the right ones require careful consideration because the fonts provide the distinct mood and look of the flyer.

Readability also plays an important factor in choosing fonts. Unless the theme or purpose of the flyer calls for it, avoid fonts that are overly ornate or too intricate.

2. Pick the right colors.

Noting creates more impact than a splash of colors when it comes to visual design. This is because the colors go beyond what is seen. Colors are highly emotional elements that can easily engage a viewer’s feelings. This is a fact that you should take full advantage of when designing a flyer.

Every color represents a feeling or a mood. For instance, if you want your flyer to exude warmth and comfort, pick something from the blue family. If you want your design to convey excitement and energy, choose red or orange. If you want a nature-inspired shade, go for green. Use these representations to enhance the quality and improve the message of your flyer.

3. Aim for a balanced design.

If you don’t want people to throw your flyer into the trash without even looking at it, then make sure it’s appealing to the eyes. People dislike a crowded layout. When too much information is presented and finding the most important details is a struggle, you defeat the purpose of the flyer. A well-balanced, well-spaced design makes the flyer pleasing to the eyes and easier to read.

Apart from editing your content to its core, finding the right balance requires putting the white space or blank area of the layout into good use. More often than not, this area is without any graphics or words. While you may want to use the space to cram up more information, this method won’t do you any favors. Don’t think of the blank area as wasted space. It isn’t. In reality, it allows viewers to focus on the flyer’s message or focal point.

Take advantage of the alignment settings and margin tools on your design software. These help in making a heavy-looking flyer more balanced.