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Guide to bus shelter poster design with BwD Advertising

These five tips will help make sure you get the most out of your advertising on our bus shelters.

Consider the viewing environment

Design for busy settings

Our bus shelters are situated in bustling environments, so your design should stand out amongst any environmental distractions; after all, our bus shelters are passed by over 25,000 drivers and passengers each day!

Consider your bus shelter poster placement and location

There is no right or wrong location for your bus shelter poster, providing it is visible to the intended audience. For example, if you are promoting a family-friendly event, consider booking advertising spaces near schools to maximise exposure of your event to families.

Similarly, many of our bus shelters have the option to book out both their internal and/or external panels. As a general rule, internal panels allow for more information, as people can read them as they wait for the bus; external panels are more likely seen by cars passing from the other side of the road, and so details should be compromised for impact.

Of course, internal panels will face cars that drive on the same side of the road as the bus stop – so avoid too many words in general!

Use large, legible text

Readability from a distance

Use large, bold fonts that can be read easily from several feet away, particular as lots of cars will be driving past. Use sans-serif fonts for clarity and ensure any text contrasts well with the background so your poster can be read quickly and easily.

Also, keep your text information to one general area, as opposed to information scattered all around your poster.

Spelling and grammar

Always assume graphic designers will use the exact same text that you provide them. Read and then reread your text, as well as have it proofread by a colleague or professional copywriter.

Branding – it’s more than just a logo!

Prominent logo placement

Ensure your logo is visible but not overpowering. It should complement the overall design while reinforcing brand identity.

Consistent style

As the cliche goes, a brand is more than just a logo. Maintain a consistent style in your brand’s colours and typeface that reflects your brand’s identity, whether it’s modern, playful, or luxurious. This helps build brand recognition.

Your poster is your signpost

Have your location/contact details prominent

You may have the best offer in the world, but it’s worthless unless your audience knows how to accept it – or where to find it. Whether it is your location or contact details, make sure they stand out.

Tell your audience what you’d like them to do

A Call to Action (CTA) is a small prompt of text intended to promote a response from the audience. For bus shelter posters, these will typically instruct your audience to visit your website, contact via email, scan a QR code or speak over the phone. CTAs are important to consider on your poster, as without them you risk losing sales/views/enquiries etc.

Some basic CTA examples may include:

You can expand upon these, for example

A large image should be front and centre

Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words

Shelterposter

Catch your audience’s attention with an image which can instantly inform what your offer is. For example, if you’re marketing a school open day, then a happy group of uniformed pupils from your school instantly gives passersby an idea of what you are promoting. It is important that you provide your designer with a high-resolution image (300 dpi) of your picture(s), or else they will appear washed out, blurred or pixelated on your poster.

All bus shelter posters need to be sized at 1100mm x 1800mm: printers will need a 1100mm x 1800mm with 3mm .pdf of your poster artwork to ensure the design appears correctly when printed onto poster paper.

All promotional campaigns that Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council lead on must include the Council crest on the poster.

Contact the Communications Team for a copy of the crest.

The bus shelter poster that we use in BwD Advertising is a good example of an effective and successful poster.

We chose yellow and black as BwD Advertising’s brand colours to create a sense of alertness, which is important when there is only a brief window of opportunity to showcase our offer.

Our logo (which incorporates the Council crest) is clear to the passerby, and the font is consistent throughout. There is no image with this poster depicting what we are selling, as what we are offering – advertising space on the bus shelter – is already literally in front of the audience.

Our offer is large and prominent at the top: “YOUR ADVERT HERE”. In an instant, a passerby understands the purpose of this poster and what we are offering. We haven’t included further details such as our prices and different locations: the key point is their business could book the space that this poster occupies with their own advert.

Whilst this poster has no CTA, this isn’t required, as the straightforward, no-nonsense, simplicity is part of BwD Advertising’s value proposition and brand identity that we wish to convey to our target audience. Instead, the bold prominence of YOUR ADVERT HERE and contact details serves as a self-explanatory CTA.

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