The Digital Print Shop: Flyer Design: Brilliant Examples You Can Learn From

We see them everyday — in the mail, at work or school, on community bulletin boards, in store windows. Flyers.

That’s right, those bits of paper that often end up in the trash, trampled in the street, or buried under a pile of bills. But if they’re doing their job (read: have been designed well), flyers should catch your attention and maybe even get you to take action (attend this grand opening; use that coupon; buy tickets to this concert — you get the idea).

Maybe you’re a business owner and you don’t want your marketing efforts to end up in the recycling bin. Or maybe you need to advertise an event or fundraiser for your club or community organization. Whatever your needs, check out 50 stellar examples below with design tips that will get you inspired for your next flyer design project.

Keep It Simple

A simple, elegant design has impact of its own. As with this flyer from Valerie Jar, text is kept to a minimum and the design elements are spaced generously. The edge-to-edge background photo and clean white-and-orange centerpiece also help give the flyer an understated sophistication.

Image source: https://dribbble.com/shots/1416502-One-Beautiful-Meal

Blast to the Past

The handcrafted look is big right now (whether designs really are handmade or are just created to look like it). This screen-printed flyer from The Prince Ink Co. features whimsical, hand-drawn typography, which is very appropriate for a print company that runs all its prints by hand. Using a “form equals content” approach to design like this can be very effective.

Image source: https://dribbble.com/shots/552528-We-print-pancakes

Study Shapes

Like patterns, shapes are a great attention-getter, especially when applied creatively. This flyer by Justin Krout uses shape in both the text and the graphics. Notice how the tilting shape of the text makes for a unique and eye-catching title, while the mountain below is made up of triangles of all shapes and sizes, creating a multifaceted, almost 3D effect.

Image source: http://jkrout555.deviantart.com/art/Tacoma-Film-Festival-380754619

Pick a Color Scheme

Choosing a cohesive color scheme (maybe the colors in your company’s logo) and/or staying in the same color family or temperature (warm or cool) really pulls your design together. This folding flyer by Evan Travelstead sticks to cool blues and grays against bright white for a clean, polished look.

Image source: https://dribbble.com/shots/758948-Beach-Baptism-Info-Card

Rough It Up

Designs that are textured or a little rough around the edges can be a nice contrast to all those more slickly produced flyers out there. As with this hand-carved block print by Jack Daniel Bagdadi, sometimes designs (much like people) are all the more appealing and dynamic for their little imperfections.

Image source: https://dribbble.com/shots/1247225-Tinker-Tank-Poster

Find Balance

It can be tricky to make sure ornate designs are composed well and easy to read — but it can be done, and with impressive results — for instance, this hand-illustrated flyer by Joel Felix. If you’re considering a flyer design that features lots of details, good spacing, symmetry, and a plain, single-color background will help you go from busy to balanced.

Image source: http://www.joelfelix.com/#/craft-spirits-carnival/

Experiment With Layout

Getting creative with the layout of your design produces a more interesting visual experience and will make more people take notice of your flyer. For instance, this design by Oguzcan Pelit places the main text within the borders of an illustration, like it was scribbled there by hand.

Image source: https://dribbble.com/shots/1312363-Lastpush

Be Materialistic

Flyers can be printed on just about anything. Want to get really creative? Try printing on an unusual material. It could be something easy to find like handmade or recycled paper or, if budget allows, something more substantial like this laser-cut wood flyer by Robert Hellmundt.

Image source:https://dribbble.com/shots/448357-DEAD-DISCO-Flyer-Preparation

Line Up

Lines can be used in all sorts of useful ways in a design — to frame, emphasize, separate, etc. This flyer by Will Tullos features outlines and line patterns that form a whole illustration.

Image source: https://dribbble.com/shots/1782254-Evelyn-Brown-Flyer

Frame It

Frame the part of your design that you want to stand out. A frame can be a simple rectangle or circle or more elaborate, like the concentric circles and sunrays that surround the title of this flyer by Henry Hu.