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While it may be tempting to hop onto the latest marketing trends, sometimes tried-and-tested marketing materials are the most effective. Take flyers, for example—these shiny, compact print ads handed out on the street still play a major role in today’s marketing campaigns. Flyers are tangible, cost-effective and incredibly versatile. When done right, flyers help small businesses reach the right audience with the right message at the right time—which is what marketing is all about! Read on for flyer design ideas and tips to help you create flyers with genuine impact.
Key takeaways:
- To attract attention with your flyer design, use vibrant colors or high color contrast, such as neons or light text on a dark background. Color can also be used to enhance your message, such as green for health and black for luxury.
- For an impactful flyer design, keep it simple but play by design rules. Minimalist designs with plenty of whitespace can help to focus attention on what matters. Adhere to key design principles, use obvious visual cues and focus on one key message.
- It can be a good idea to make your flyer seasonal or offer a promotion. This provides the recipient with an incentive to keep the flyer and follow the call to action. Make sure it’s clear what you want them to do next, whether that’s visit your store, download an app or follow you on social media.
- Playing with perspective, using playful graphics and doing something unexpected can make sure your flyer design catches the eyes of your target audience. You can also play with shape and size—an element of surprise will encourage the recipient to pay attention to what your flyer has to say.
- Ask a question, make a bold statement, state a clear benefit or use your flyer to inform the reader about how to use your product. You can also use the flyer real estate to promote all of your offerings so that potential customers know what you can offer them.
1. Go big with color
Attract people’s attention with vibrant colors and lively designs. Go for a bold red background or use contrast to your advantage with a neon accent on a dark base. You can also use colors to reinforce your flyer message, like greens or yellows for a health brand and primary colors for a kids company.
To make the best use of color in your flyer design, it’s important to understand how color psychology works.
Source: Neon green flyer design by tale026 via 99designs by Vista
Source: Red flyer design by –Hero via 99designs by Vista
2. Embrace the dark side
Sometimes going dark can attract as much attention as bright colors in flyer design. Black is particularly effective for luxury brands or exclusive events and for messaging—to communicate danger, mystery or nighttime, for example.
Source: Luxury brand flyer design by Lalitha via 99designs by Vista
Source: Black flyer design by Julia S. via 99designs by Vista
Source: Safe Life Defense flyer design by Adwindesign via 99designs by Vista
Source: Black flyer design by Adwindesign via 99designs by Vista
3. Keep it simple
You don’t need to go overboard and include every piece of information on your flyer. Decide on one key message and focus on that. Minimalist designs with plenty of whitespace—one of the key principles of design—can help to focus your target audience’s attention on what matters.
4. Play by the design rules
Clichés aren’t always a bad thing! Using familiar styles, colors and imagery will provide context and help customers understand what your flyer is advertising. Use obvious visual cues: blackboards and apples mean school, orchestras and script fonts equal classical music, while postcards and stamps communicate travel.
5. Fly into the holiday spirit
Tapping into seasonal events will ensure your message is relevant and timely. Seasonal flyer design ideas include advertising a holiday promotion, a special event or your products using a design element that ties into the time of year. Just make sure your flyer design stays true to your brand and its offerings.
For an impactful seasonal campaign, hand out custom stickers alongside your flyers. Take a look at these creative sticker marketing ideas for inspiration.
Source: Christmas flyer design by idea@Dotcom via 99designs by Vista
Source: Valentine’s flyer design by SilviaJordanova via 99designs by Vista
Source: Halloween flyer design by HOPE STUDIO via 99designs by Vista
6. Do flyer design differently
Include patterns or use graphics and typography in an unexpected way. A clever bit of design or an element of surprise on your flyer design will help to draw customers in to see what you have to say.
Source: Barbers flyer design by Mila Jones Cann via 99designs by Vista
Source: BabyList flyer design by Awesome Designing via 99designs by Vista
7. Play with perspective
Linear is boring! Try putting your headings on an angle and play with the perspective of typography and imagery to make your flyer stand out from the crowd.
Source: Off center flyer design by velvetdesign via 99designs by Vista
Source: Diagonal flyer design by tale026 via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by idoballyhoo via 99designs by Vista
8. Use photography
Beautiful imagery is a great way to draw your audience in and get people looking at your flyer. Just make sure the images you use are high quality and visually impactful.
Source: Flyer design by SilviaJordanova via 99designs by Vista
Source: Photo-driven flyer design by velvetdesign via 99designs by Vista
9. Go old school
Sometimes old is new. If you’re not down with the kids and in touch with the latest design trends, why not choose a vintage design that embraces retro fonts or color palettes?
If you’re not sure what font to use on your flyer, browse these flyer fonts for ideas.
Source: Vintage flyer design by tale026 via 99designs by Vista
Source: Retro flyer design by Awesome Designing via 99designs by Vista
10. Be playful
Cartoons and playful graphics are a fun flyer design idea that can help bring your message to life and build an approachable brand personality.
Our ultimate flyer design guide tells you everything you need to know about how to design a flyer.
Source: Music theatre flyer design by tale026 via 99designs by Vista
11. Rethink size
Beyond the flyer design and content, consider the flyer size. Most flyers tend to come in a standard size, so think about what you can do to make yours different. Try going smaller to make the flyer pocket-sized or go big for an impressive high-end marketing material.
Source: Flyer design by blue spin via 99designs by Vista
12. Be a shapeshifter
Great flyer design is if you can get people to keep or even use the flyer after reading it. Think outside the box and get creative with shape, maybe even turning your flyer into something that can be repurposed. Design a flyer that doubles as a door hanger or a postcard. Or perhaps an interactive design that inspires the customer to fold or play around with it, transforming its shape!
Source: Flyer design for Maddington Farms by jay000 via 99designs by Vista
Source: Odd-shaped flyer design by tadaam via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design for Goats Milk by M. Arief via 99designs by Vista
13. Ask a question
Asking a question, even a rhetorical one, can engage the prospective customer and get them to pause long enough to consider what you have to say.
Source: Flyer design for Citrus 2 Grow by istasik via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design for iTEXT by Stanojevic via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design for 914 Insider by Stanojevic via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by idea@Dotcom via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design for guitar lessons by roberto615 via Source: Flyer design by roberto615 via 99designs by Vista99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by roberto615 via 99designs by Vista
14. Make a statement
If your brand allows it, dare to take some risks and be provocative. Make a bold claim, be overdramatic, use humor and maybe even be playful with words where appropriate.
Source: Flyer design by Julia S. via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by FuturisticBug via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by tale026 via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design for a craft beer delivery service by AZ™ via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by Awesome Designing via 99designs by Vista
15. Educate and inform
Why not use the real estate on the flyer to teach the user something? Show them how your product works or give concrete tips—make your flyer useful so that the customer is more likely to hold onto it.
Source: Flyer design for AllStride by Alina’s via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by Coloseum27 via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by Luz Viera Studio via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design for FreshFry by idea@Dotcom via 99designs by Vista
16. Showcase the product
Don’t be too clever. If you make juice, advertise that juice on your flyer! The same goes for potholders, earrings or cookies. Put your flagship product center stage—don’t make the customer search to find out what you sell.
Source: Flyer design for The Tea Factory by tale026 via 99designs by Vista
17. Promote all your offerings
Another good flyer design idea is to show your full range of products or services to demonstrate the options available, helping you to appeal to as many customers as possible.
Source: Media studio flyer design by Fi2 Design via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design for a cupcake company by GreenCherry via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by pallabip via 99designs by Vista
18. State a clear benefit
Answer the big question “What’s in it for me?” right away by telling customers what you can do for them clearly in your flyer design. Your business likely addresses a need or problem, so make the benefit explicit and use imagery to reinforce the message.
Source: Dental company flyer design by tale026 via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by Adwindesign via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by charlim888 for Eden via 99designs by Vista
19. Offer a promotion
What else can you offer customers? A great flyer design idea is to use your flyer as an opportunity to give customers a discount code, a coupon or any other special promotion, like a prize draw or even a free gift.
Source: Flyer design for a dog grooming company by Yaw Tong via 99designs by Vista
Source: Coupon flyer design by Bence Balaton via 99designs by Vista
Source: Promo flyer design by Adwindesign via 99designs by Vista
Source: Promo flyer design by Rose ❋ via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design with a special offer by GreenCherry via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design with a discount code by FuturisticBug via 99designs by Vista
20. Make them drool
If you’re in the food business, flaunt your stuff with high-quality images of the most decadent items on your menu. The customer’s stomach will lead them straight to your store.
Source: Flyer design by isuk via 99designs by Vista
Source: Flyer design by Joabe Alves via 99designs by Vista
21. Get social
Pull more people into your circle by encouraging them to follow your business’ social media accounts or, even better, tag you as they share their pictures online. You can also use your flyer to ask existing customers to review your product online.
Source: Flyer design for Hula Delights by SilviaJordanova via 99designs by Vista
22. Inspire customers to take action
You don’t want to spend money on flyers that people take one look at and then forget. What’s the specific action you want them to take? Do you want them to visit your store, download an app or attend an event? Make this clear so people don’t have to guess what their next move should be.
Source: Flyer design idea for loyalty app Memberoo
Source: Welcome back flyer design idea for Farm Fresh to You
Flyer design FAQs
What are some creative flyer design ideas?
Creative flyer design ideas include using bold colors or eye-catching graphics and playing with perspective or size. You can also design a flyer that doubles up as something useful, like a door hanger, checklist or postcard.
What to include on a small business flyer?
A flyer should include your key message, contact information and a clear call to action. Adding high-quality photos of your product can help convey your message more effectively. Make sure the recipient of the flyer knows what your business can offer them by making a bold statement or stating a clear benefit.
Can you create a flyer without design experience?
Absolutely! Free flyer templates are available online to simplify the design process. Platforms like VistaPrint offer flyer templates with customization tools, so you can change the layout, colors and text to align with your brand.
How to attract attention with a well-designed flyer?
To attract attention, use a compelling headline, vibrant colors and high-quality images. Place your most important information at the top and keep your layout clean and easy to read. Using contrast and whitespace strategically can also make your flyer stand out.
