1.
Banner
A banner is a flag or other piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or other
message. Banner-making is an ancient craft.
The word derives from late Latin bandum , a cloth out of which a flag is made
( Latin banderia , Italian bandiera ). German developed the word to mean an
official edict or proclamation and since such written orders often prohibited some
form of human activity, bandum assumed the meaning of a ban, control, interdict or
excommunication. Banns has the same origin meaning an official proclamation, and
abandon means to change loyalty or disobey orders, semantically “to leave the cloth
or flag”.
In other word, banner is Depending on how it’s used, a banner is either a graphic
image that announces the name or identity of a site (and often is spread across the
width of the Web page) or is an advertising image. Advertisers sometimes count
banner “views,” or the number of times a banner graphic image was downloaded
over a period of time.
2. Poster
A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical
surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a
poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both
eye-catching and convey information. Posters may be used for many purposes. They
are a frequent tool of advertisers (particularly of events, musicians and
films), propagandists, protestors and other groups trying to communicate a message.
Posters are also used for reproductions of artwork, particularly famous works, and
are generally low-cost compared to original artwork. Another type of poster is the
educational poster, which may be about a particular subject for educational
purposes.
Many people also collect posters, and some famous posters have themselves become
quite valuable. Collectors’ posters and vintage posters are usually framed and
matted. Posters may be any size.
Types of posters such as: political posters, advertising posters, films posters, comic
book posters, event posters, educational posters, band/ music posters, etc
3. Pamphlet
Pamphlet is An unbound printed work, usually with a paper cover or
A short essay or treatise, usually on a current topic, published without a binding.
It means that A pamphlet is an unbound booklet (that is, without a hard
cover or binding). It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both
sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths (called a leaflet), or it may consist of
a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple
book.
Structure and types of posters
A poster's structure
Posters should vary and give creativity its space. However, there are certain basics that are very
common. The following order is random and not binding. For the design of a poster the use of rasters or
guides may be helpful. Two, three or four columns can be used. Text and images can run over more than
one column.
remark
A good structure supports the legibility of a poster.
actRaster
The (example) shows a raster with four columns.
Header area
Not all posters require a header or heading. In general, this is the area where a logo is placed, the logo
of a department for which the author is working. There can be guidelines as regards the correct
placement of a logo; just inquire at your organization.
Title area
A title should be clearly visible (from a 5 – 10 m distance), significant, and not too long. Due to space
restrictions it is often placed next to the logo, which may not be in accordance with your organization's
guidelines (e.g. the University of Zurich specifies that the space to the logo's right side has to be left
blank).
Author's photo and address
At poster fairs, where authors are not always standing next to their posters, we recommend providing a
photo in order to be recognized and approached, if necessary. There should at least be an address (an e-
mail address is often sufficient). Make sure to mention all authors and their affiliation (the latter can be
put in the footer area).
Albus Dumbledore1, Alain D. Sokal2
1 Dept.of Illusion and Magic, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hogwarts, HW1 2DL,
Scotland:
[email protected]2 Dept of Mathematics, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, England:
[email protected]
Fig. 14: Idealized representation of the structural elements of a poster. Source: Diagram by
author.
Fig. 14: Idealized representation of the structural elements of a poster. Source: Diagram by author.
Main area
The main area can be structured and sub-divided, e.g. by using several columns or an image across all
columns, etc. In this area, you present the poster's main statement.
Footer area
Header and footer can be seen as a kind of framework tying it all together. However, the footer is not
just a graphic element; this is where you can indicate references and contact details as well. This is also
the only area where the font size doesn't necessarily have to be read from a distance of 1 - 1.5 m.
actStructural Analysis
Look at this (example) before analyzing it as regards its structure.
Background
Often there are posters highlighted not only with colors but also with a structure or an image. This
background should be appropriate as regards the poster's topic and not be distracting at all. If in doubt,
it is always best to choose an unstructured background color.
Fonts
In a poster you can use serif as well as sans serif fonts. For longer texts sans serif fonts should be
avoided, but since you should not use longer text blocks in a poster both types can be used. Avoid
decorative fonts since they are not so legible. Use boldface for emphasis, avoid underscores or italics for
a poster.
If you use justification for text blocks, make sure that hyphenation is on. In order to avoid too large
spaces between words better use ragged alignment. Lines typically do not contain more than 70-90
characters. Texts with longer lines should have bigger line spacing to render them more legible. Typical
line spaces are 20-30% bigger than the font (i.e. for a 40 pt font you should use 48-52 pt line spacing).
actComparision of backgrounds
Compare these three examples as regards their background before criticizing them. Poster A, Poster B
and Poster C.
Different types of posters
There are various possibilities to present content by means of a poster. The type to choose depends on
the resources available.
Roll-up poster
The most common poster type is the roll-up poster; it is most of the time printed in A0 format and can
be transported rolled-up (in a protective cover). This is the easiest and most appealing way, provided
that there is an appropriate plotter.
However, there is not always such a plotter. In addition, print-outs in A0 format can be quite expensive.
A few software applications therefore offer the possibility to create an A0 poster before printing it in 16
pages (A4 format). These pages then have to be glued or taped together. Compared to a poster in A0
format this is hardly appealing from up close but from afar the difference will be hardly noticeable.
Modular posters
A modular poster consists of different single pages in A4 or A3 format, arranged on a pin board. Its
advantages: such a poster can be easily created as well as transported. Additionally, this type of poster
requires well-structured text or image blocks. However, such posters give the impression of not being
very professional and are therefore no longer very common.
Fig. 15: Font sizes for a digital poster created in A4 format. Source: Norman Backhaus.
Fig. 15: Font sizes for a digital poster created in A4 format. Source: Norman Backhaus.
actLegibility
Look at the example poster with the font sizes on a screen from 1 m distance. Is it still legible?
Digital posters
Special types of posters are digital ones; they are not printed but projected. One will therefore not need
an appropriate plotter; however, there are still some things to consider. Not all projectors are suited to
present colors adequately. It is therefore necessary to increase contrasts as well as font sizes, due to a
projectors' low resolution. When using images, a digital poster can get very large which will complicate
transferring it to another computer. In order to minimize compatibility problems, it is best to create a
PDF file with implemented fonts.
In order to present colors as best as possible, one should use the (additive) RGB color space (red - green
- blue) for projected posters instead of the (subtractive) CMYK color space (cyan – magenta – yellow -
key (= black)), which is generally used for print-outs.
remark
Digital posters require a larger font size.
