BB&O Guidelines for preparing printed publicity material – 1ssue 1

Printed publicity material for specific events, or generic fliers are very important. Design themso people want to pick them up. Make them modern and inspiring.

Asimple, striking image has impact. You can pick up lots of images from the internet but check whether they have copyright or whether you have to pay to use them. Generating your own image avoids this issue – BUT make it a good image, not a photo of an arrangement taken against a poor background.

Background – ideally plain in a pale colour. If you do have a background that includes a wallpaper make sure it doesn’t dominate – the information needs to be readable

Fonts – You could use a striking font for the title, but stick to simple, readable fonts for the information. Avoid too many fonts and colours – one for the heading and one for the rest is enough. Choose colours for the fonts that harmonise with other features on the flier. Avoid pale text on a pale background as it tends to be difficult to read.

Include a summary/explanation of the event or what your club does. Do not assume the reader understands what the organisation is about. Eg using heading ‘NAFAS’ or BB&O’ means nothing to the general public (or even some members). ‘Demonstrations’ could be demonstrating how to use power tools! So make sure the reader knows it is all about flowers.

Include all relevant information:

  • Key words to summarise what the event/club is about
  • When, where, how much, how to get tickets (if appropriate)
  • Any other relevant information, eg if proceeds going to a charity. If the flier or business card permits free entry to your clubthen state the limitations (eg every month except January and November)

Size – Posters are best A4 or larger. Handouts are best A5 or smaller. Business cards or A6 work well for general club fliers

Make fliers look professional. Colour printing at home tends to be expensive and produce variable results. If you prepare your own artwork you can get cheap, good quality, speedy printing on line, egHelloprint, SoloPress, Vistaprintor others. You can get 1000 A5, double sided, colour, 135gsm fliers for about £35. If you do opt for printing at home make sure the ink doesn’t run out (best on a white background that doesn’t use too much ink). Also if printing at home ensure the cutting is neat – poor trimming looks very unprofessional.

Consistency – make publicity material for your club consistent. Don’t have batches printed on different coloured paper. Don’t have an entirely different style for fliers, business cards etc. Choose a style, image, colour etc and stick with it.

Shirley Sexton

0118 941 2329, email:

Last updated: 18 Feb 2017