People use flyers in all sorts of ways, including advertising a product, promoting a sale, providing information about an event, and advocating for a cause. Flyers can be distributed in lots of ways as well—by mail, hand, email, and posting them on a bulletin board or street lamp. But no matter what your purpose is or how you choose to circulate your flyer, you should know about some of the best practices of flyer design.
How to create a flyer with a PicMonkey template
PicMonkey has a wide variety of flyer templates that you can use to create your flyer. That way you can start with a solid design, then customize it according to your needs. Here’s how to get started with a PicMonkey flyer template:
Go to Templates and search the flyers.
Select the one you like.
Select the text you want to change. Click inside the text box and type your text.
Click any graphic or background to change the color, size, texture, and more.
Target your audience
When it comes to flyer design, you’ve got to keep your target audience in mind. People should be able to look at your flyer and with one glance know who the intended audience is. So if you’re throwing a Halloween party for adults, dark colors and references to drinking would be welcome. On the other hand, a Halloween party for kids should be less scary and more playful, with cartoonish pumpkins and a friendlier vibe.
Because flyers need to convey their messages quickly to the appropriate audience, feel free to utilize visuals that are immediately recognizable and provide easy visual cues. For example, if you want to promote an ice cream social, illustrations of sundaes, popsicles, and ice cream cones are probably a must. Likewise, cocktail parties could showcase martinis and Manhattans, Winter Holiday sales could highlight festive wreaths and snowy landscapes, and advertisements for mattresses could show fluffy white clouds and lots of zzzzzz’s.
Designing for easy viewing
Whether you’ll be posting your flyer on the side of a building, leaving it on someone’s doorstep, or sending it out via email, you want to make sure it’s super easy to read and able to get people’s attention. Probably the most important way to do this is to keep your design simple and only include necessary information and visual elements. Be sure to put the purpose of your flyer front and center. If you’re publicizing a book drive, furniture sale, or New Year’s party, make those words big and prominent. Include relevant information and key visual cues, and leave out anything extraneous.
One way to get your point across quickly and simply is through photography. If you’re promoting a beach clean-up, show a picture of a beautiful beach. If you’re having a shoe sale, include a photograph of a pair of shoes. You’ll find tons of great-looking, free photos in our Stock Photo collection. If you’d rather go for a more graphical look, search our graphics trove and you’re sure to find an image that works.
Choosing fonts and colors
The fonts and colors you choose for your flyer are critical. Since most flyers use a minimalist style, these elements will take on a much greater importance. It’s good to mix things up with different fonts, but sticking with two is a good idea to avoid your flyer looking too busy. It’s also wise to pick fonts that look good when they’re blown up big. Consider positioning your text at an angle to mix things up, or breaking up words and stacking letters to add variety.
Want some pro help with your fonts? Try our text layouts — you're sure to find a font combination that works for you.
Be mindful of the colors you choose as well, since your hues will definitely provoke certain feelings in people. Creamy pastels are just right for an ice cream party, while rich greens, oranges, and yellows evoke summer. And don’t be afraid to go the obvious route — orange and black for Halloween, red and green for Christmas, black and gold for New Year’s Eve — since these color combinations will instantly tell the viewer what your flyer’s purpose is.
Providing a call to action
If you’re creating a flyer, you probably want people to take an action, like attending an event, buying a product, taking advantage of a sale, or calling for more information. Therefore, your call to action needs to be presented clearly, so there’s no question about what you want people to do. For example, if you want people to visit your website or a landing page, don’t just stick your URL in a corner—give it a position of prominence. Or if the point of your flyer is to promote a sale or discount, put that “15% off” or “Free Shipping” front and center.
If you’re creating a flyer that will be distributed electronically, either through email or on social media, you can include clickable links right to your online store. Use social icons for Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and more so you can send people straight to your profiles. Or include buttons for Google Play and the Apple Store if you want them to download your app.
Maintain brand identity
If you’re creating a flyer for your business, make sure the look and feel are in keeping with your overall brand identity. Use your brand colors and fonts, place your logo somewhere on the flyer, and write content that maintains your brand voice. Even if you’re planning to print your flyer for real-world distribution, consider also using it in for a marketing email, placing it on your website, or creating social posts with it.
