Poster That Reads at 3 m and 30 cm
You are designing an A2 concert poster (420 x 594 mm) that will also be printed as an A6 flyer (105 x 148 mm). The lineup has 14 artist names of wildly different lengths, plus a headline, date, venue, and a QR code. The client wants the poster to 'feel energetic' but readable from across a room, and the flyer to be readable in hand. Your first draft uses a script headline at 120 pt, 14 names set solid in one column, and a QR code placed over a busy photo. The printer warns that the A6 version at 300 ppi will look 'muddy' if you just scale the A2 down.
1. Diagnose the readability problems and propose a hierarchy fix.
Read the worked answer
The draft has three separate failures:
- Script headline at 120 pt: scripts have thin joins and swashes that vanish at distance. Replace with a high-contrast sans or a bold display face at large size.
- 14 names set solid in one column: no grouping, so the eye cannot find the top acts. Establish tiers: headliners large, support acts smaller, and use consistent leading (roughly 1.1-1.3x type size for display, more for small text).
- QR over a busy photo: scanning fails when contrast is low. Place it on a solid panel with quiet zone around it.
Hierarchy fix: headline > top three acts > remaining acts > date/venue > QR. Use size, weight, and space rather than color alone to separate tiers. At A2, the headline should be readable at 3 m; at A6, the smallest text must still clear about 6-7 pt.
2. How do you adapt the A2 layout to A6 without a naive scale-down?
Read the worked answer
Redesign the small format rather than shrinking it:
- Keep the grid, change the content density. A6 cannot hold 14 names at readable size in the same arrangement. Reduce to the top acts plus a line like 'and more', or set names in two tight columns.
- Re-set type, don't scale it. Scaling A2 to A6 cuts a 120 pt headline to about 30 pt and body text below legibility. Set A6 sizes from scratch: headline maybe 36-48 pt, body no smaller than 7 pt.
- Simplify the image. A busy photo at A6 becomes noise. Crop tighter or drop it for a flat color field.
- Re-place the QR. Keep it large enough to scan (commonly at least 20 mm square) with clear margin.
Use a shared master (same colors, same logo placement, same tier logic) but two artboards with independently set type.
3. The printer asks for a PDF. What output settings and checks matter for these two sizes?
Read the worked answer
For print-ready PDFs:
- Bleed and marks: A2 and A6 both need bleed (typically 3 mm) plus crop marks, so backgrounds don't show white edges after trimming.
- Color: convert to the printer's CMYK profile; keep blacks for text as rich black only for large areas, plain black for small type to avoid registration fringing.
- Resolution: raster images at 300 ppi at final size. The A6 file needs its own image placement, not a downsampled A2 image that was already compressed.
- Fonts: embed or outline. Check the preflight report for missing fonts and low-resolution images.
- Overprint and transparency: confirm the QR panel and any dark overlaps are handled so they don't knock out unexpectedly.
Request a proof, especially for the A6, since small type and the QR are the risk points.