I saw a poster outside a local store the other day which actually stopped me in my tracks. It was nothing impressive at all, just an effective graphic, some text and good color coordination. On the other hand, I have seen lots of posters full of text without even sparing a second glance for them.

This made me realize how complicated it is to design a poster. The problem is that you need to provide enough information but at the same time not overload the entire poster with texts, otherwise no one would understand what the poster is trying to convey. Maybe this is where the purpose of the poster comes into play? I've come across custom poster design service while looking at different design options, but I'm curious about the creative side of things.

When you see a poster that looks really good, what usually catches your eye first? Is it the colours, the headline, the image, or the overall layout? And if you've ever designed one yourself, did the finished result look anything like your original idea?