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How to Design Band Posters for Your Next Gig

By Melanie Doncas | Designer Tutorials

As a musician, you know that promoting your band is crucial for building a loyal fan base and driving ticket sales for your shows. One of the most effective ways to market your music is through eye-catching band posters. But designing these posters can be a daunting task, especially if you're not a graphic design pro.

Luckily, our Poster Maker makes creating stunning band posters a breeze. All you have to do is select a professionally designed poster templates and customize it with your own personal touch!

In this article, we'll explore why designing your own band posters is a smart move, plus we'll guide you through the process of creating a show-stopping poster using BeFunky.

band posters

Why Should You Make a Poster for a Music Event?

There are several compelling reasons why you should consider designing your own poster to promote your next music gig:

Cost-Effective

Hiring a professional graphic designer can be expensive, but with Befunky, you can create high-quality posters for a fraction of the cost. We even have plenty of free templates to choose from!

Total Control

When you design your own posters, you have complete control over the final product, ensuring that it perfectly captures the essence of your band.

Effective Marketing

Well-designed band posters are a powerful marketing tool, helping to attract new fans and promote your upcoming shows.

examples of band posters

Personal Touch

By creating your own posters, you can add a personal touch that resonates with your existing fans and helps to build a stronger connection with your audience.

Convenience

With BeFunky, you can design your band posters in just a few seconds, without the need for any specialized design skills or software.

Things to Keep in Mind When Printing Your Own Band Posters

When it comes to the technical aspects of designing your band posters, it's important to keep a few key considerations in mind, particularly in relation to sizing, print quality, paper material, and paper finish.

Ideal Sizing

Common poster sizes include:

  • 11 x 17 inches (Tabloid) - great for smaller promotional posters and easier to distribute.
  • 18 x 24 inches - a popular medium size, often used for indoor display.
  • 24 x 36 inches - a large format that is eye-catching and commonly used for outdoor advertising.

BeFunky’s premade poster templates are already perfectly sized at 11 x 17 inches. Our Smart Resize feature allows you to quickly and easily resize your poster design for your specific needs, without compromising on quality or layout.

Print Quality

Save your designs in a format that supports high resolution and CMYK color mode, such as PDF or high-resolution JPEG.

Paper Material

The weight of the paper, measured in GSM (grams per square meter), affects the durability and feel of the poster.

  • Standard Weight: 120-150 GSM - suitable for basic posters that will be displayed indoors for a short period.
  • Heavy Weight: 200-300 GSM - provides a more premium feel and is more durable, suitable for longer display periods and outdoor use.

Paper Finish

Generally, posters are printed in one of three paper finishes:

  • Glossy: Provides vibrant colors and a shiny finish, making your poster stand out. However, it may have glare issues under certain lighting.
  • Matte: Offers a non-reflective finish, giving your poster a sophisticated look with no glare. It’s better for detailed designs and text readability.
  • Satin/Semi-Gloss: A middle ground between glossy and matte, providing some shine without too much glare.
band singer

How to Make a Band Show Poster Using BeFunky

Ready to make your own poster for a music event? Head to the Poster Maker to get started!

Step 1: Select a Poster Template

Browse through our premade poster templates and click on the one that takes your fancy.

open a poster template

Then, click Use This Template to begin editing it.

use this template for band

Step 2: Swap Out the Existing Photo

The first thing you’ll need to do is to change the template’s existing photo (or photos) for one featuring your band. To do this, click on the photo you wish to change, then click on Replace from the Image Properties toolbar that appears.

add your own photo

This will open your computer’s own files, allowing you to select your own image to use.

Step 3: Customize Your Band Poster Text

With your imagery under control, you’ll then want to edit the poster template’s existing text to include your own information.

Double-click any text box you wish to change the text of, and you can simply type what you want it to say.

From the Text Properties toolbar which appears when you click on a text box, you can also adjust things such as the Font, Text Size, Text Color, Spacing, and more.

customize poster text

You can then make the text box larger by clicking and dragging its corners outwards, or inwards, if you wish to make it smaller. You can also reposition the text box, if you need to, by clicking it once and then dragging it with your cursor.

Need a new text box entirely? Just navigate to Text in the main menu on the left, then click Add Text.

add more text

Step 4: Customize It Even More!

Want to change the colors of any graphics that appear on your poster design? Just click the graphic or shape you wish to change, and a Graphic Properties toolbar appears. From here, you can add a cover overlay, tint, drop shadow, and more.

customize graphics

Step 5: Save and Print Your Band Poster

Once you’ve finished designing your band poster, all that’s left to do is to save it so it’s ready to print. Click Save at the top of the screen, then select Computer. 

save band poster

To maintain the highest quality for printing, we recommend saving your band poster as a PDF file in Print Quality.

print quality band poster

While you can print your band poster using your own printer at home, it’s recommended that you leave it to a professional printing company so they can get the size, colors, paper quality, and paper finish just right.

Final Results: A Head-Turning Band Poster in Minutes

Ta-da! No fancy design software or skills here; just a few simple tweaks within the Poster Maker and we’ve got an eye-catching band poster that rocks. 

final band poster design

Promote Your Next Music Gig With a DIY Band Poster

Next time you want to design your own band show poster to promote your gig, look no further than BeFunky’s Poster Maker. And if you’re wondering “What is the best app for making band flyers?”, you’ll be pleased to hear that we’ve even got a library full of eye-catching flyer templates that you can customize as much (or as little) as you want!

Ready to create stunning posters that effectively promote your music, attract new fans, and drive ticket sales for your upcoming shows? Check out the Poster Maker today! 

Create Posters That Draw a Crowd


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