Nothing makes more of an impact than a strong, single still image, and a black-and-white photograph is often more powerful than a full-color one. A contrast to the full color used in many posters, black-and-white imagery has been used on posters because it's more clearly defined. The black-and-white image can be even more striking when framed in color or has color around it. Conversely, a color image works best surrounded by black-and-white text. An image should be in the center of the poster and the heading the poster's major component.
The correct utilization of color requires careful thought. Garish colors attract attention but mostly in a negative way. A poster should have a combination of colors that will pull people in. Colors and shades that work well together, for example, are yellow and green, orange and blue, red and black, dark and light blue, and black and white. A poster shouldn't be drab, but it shouldn't be created using color in a clumsy way, either.
As with color, text should be used in a subtle way. Interesting, decorative fonts are good to use, so long as the text is legible from a distance. Also, just a few words in big letters often have a powerful impact. Text alone on posters requires a creative use of fonts, and altering the sizes of fonts throughout can make the poster look more interesting. But avoid using many fonts. No more than three is normally necessary, as individual fonts have a lot of flexibility regarding size, color and thickness.
A poster should be designed in a way that will appeal specifically to its target group. Some poster designs only need to be very basic; this has been especially true of posters advertising music acts at a venue. Design is not so important here, because regular venue goers will study a poster to see who is appearing regardless of how the poster is designed. When trying to appeal to the general public as a whole, a poster should be more eye-catching.