If you are using large format printing then there is a good chance that you are doing so for promotional purposes which might mean you’re creating a poster, you’re creating an advert, or you’re creating a banner. Large format printing allows you to make big images that can be seen from a distance and that thus are ideal for catching attention and bringing people over to find out more. However just being ‘big’ is not enough to necessarily catch the eye. If you want to really catch the eye you need to employ psychology and you need to be clever in the images you create. If you use large format printing you need to employ these strategies in order to make the most of the money you’ll be spending and to get the results you desire. First of all you need to make sure that you use large format color printing to make sure that you can use vibrant and eye catching colors.
While black and white can be engaging, color tends to catch our eye more when you scan the environment and this can be what we need to draw people in. You should also make sure that the large format color printing is high quality so that the colors look bold and bright and not faded and less obvious. Now you need to think of your color scheme. Decide right away which colors you want as your background and which you want as your foreground and make sure that they contrast enough that they stand out and that they aren’t at all confusing. Using colors that are opposites on the color wheel is a good way to do this, and that will then help to make the writing more legible. Some colors to avoid though are green on red, red on blue or colors that are too light such as yellow. Think black on red, white on black, or bright orange on white. Next you need to think about the font and what you want to say. The font should of course be bold so think IMPACT or some other large typeface.
It doesn’t necessarily always have to big all the way through though – use the large font to catch the eye, and then consider using smaller font. This can help to make us curious enough to look closer, or even to want to approach in order to find out what it says. The way you phrase the text can also have an impact on the reaction it gets. If you make a bold and controversial statement for instance then people are going to stare, while asking a question is a great way to engage someone and to get them thinking about the answer. Images are also crucial for effective large format color printing and the better the image you use, the more likely you are to catch the eye and the attention. Think of using images we are naturally drawn to – we are programmed for instance to look at faces. Meanwhile anything that’s either cute or better yet ‘sexy’ will have us turning our head.
