Let Your Posters Tell Your Story
The purpose of a poster is to tell your story in as few words (and pictures) as possible. It needs to be clear and concise. It needs to get people interested in reading more of your project description, or coming to an event, or donating funds. If it's well designed, people will stop and read it for a few minutes before moving on with their day. They might put it up on their wall at work; they might even keep the URL for future reference. This can spread awareness about your project by word of mouth too - "Hey have you seen this? Have a look!"
It's surprising how many posters don't follow this principle or have a good design (or both). When your poster is boring, uninspiring, or badly designed it's a subconscious signal to people to move on without reading it. Of course you need to have an interesting idea to tell and you need to present it well, but the poster has an important job too - to be engaging. If it doesn't do that then there's little chance of people reading more about what you've got going on.
What Makes For A Good Poster?
Lots of things contribute: the typeface, the layout, the execution and overall design. But none of this matters if your project story isn't engaging enough for people not already familiar with it. So before you start trying to make a great poster, ask yourself some questions:
Is this interesting to people who don't already know about it? Will they care about your idea?
How can you reduce the information on your poster so that only the essentials are visible? Can you use diagrams or visual aids which are clear and easy to understand at a glance?
What sources of media can you use (photographs, audio, video) that are relevant and engaging for your audience? Consider how many words are necessary for each source.
What part of your project is most interesting or relevant to the viewer? Can you make sure they are drawn to it? And can you convey why they should be interested in it?
How can you make what you are saying as straightforward and brief as possible, while still being engaging?
Will your audience be able to understand what's going on quickly? Will it capture their attention for ten seconds or more without getting boring at the same time? If not, how can you pump up the story so that it does just that?
Why Is This Important For Your Poster?
Remember, a poster has a limited amount of room and has to tell a story in just one look. It needs to be visually appealing, but also clear. That's why it's so important for your poster to convey the story of your project in a compelling way. It's not just about putting up a pretty picture and writing some details underneath in small type - it's about drawing people in with a visual story.
The right poster can get people interested in what you're doing, even if they don't know much about it already. It can give them an idea of what sort of project it is and why they should care about it, even if you have only ten seconds to grab their attention (and they are busy). It can communicate a lot with just a couple of simple words. It can give them an image of your project that they will be able to recall later, even if they don't remember what it was. In other words, the right poster makes people care about your project and want to learn more.
How To Make A Poster
The best posters are usually short hand-outs that give the basics of your project in one or two pages. They tell the most compelling story possible about what you're doing and why people should care about it through imagery and graphics that are clear, concise, and vivid.
You're not trying to tell the whole story of your project, because that's what your website is for. The poster is supposed to entice people to read more about it, or come to an event, or donate money. It may even help you get a grant or funding if your poster is good enough. You need it to be engaging and brief enough to get people's attention quickly, but you also want it short enough so that they don't get bored before they move on. It needs to make people say "oh yeah I remember seeing this" later on when someone mentions your project by name - it needs a hook of some kind so that it stands out in their minds.
You need to be clear and concise, but don't forget that people have short attention spans too. Your poster needs to be able to get them interested and interested fast, but it has to be engaging too. If the human brain is designed to process information quickly the most important thing on your poster is the hook which grabs people's attention quickly and gets them moved along, then reads more about your project afterwards. Once again, it needs a simple design with lots of white space so as not be boring.
Before you start designing, check out some great examples from other projects here on Kickstarter. Some of these posters are so simple and beautiful they're almost like art. The ones that stand out most have a clear purpose, strong design, and a compelling story to tell. If you're struggling for ideas or just want some inspiration check out some of these examples below:
Check out the new backgrounds feature at the bottom of the project pages on Kickstarter here. This is one of Kickstarter's most exciting features yet! It allows backers to show off their project page on their own website or in their Facebook profile with a special "picture frame" displaying your background image, banner image and text.
Conclusion
Be sure to check out the new backgrounds feature when you're ready to launch your own project. It's a great way to get people talking and sharing your project with their friends!
Remember that making a great video is just one part of what it takes to make a successful crowd funding campaign. You need to have an interesting idea (of course), a compelling project story, and professional looking design, branding, and presentation across all of the details for your page. That's why we strongly recommend you check out our other articles on Kickstarter best practices like this one on how important design is for your crowd funding campaign: http://www.kickstarterbacker.