Designing Your Pull-Up Banner/ Poster Prints - Fonts

Working on a design for your next pull-up banner/ poster? We all know how visuals play a huge role when it comes to drawing attention to your banner. However, more often than not, we use words to convey our key message; which is why the copy on your print should be made easy to read. Here are 3 pointers to help you achieve just that!

1. Deciding on the font(s)

The font(s) you pick should match the nature of the business/ event your print will be used at. For example, if you’re designing for a bridal company, you can make use of more cursive and fancy fonts. However, those fonts wouldn’t work if it was used for a company that’s in the tech industry. So, pick a font that is appropriate. Most of the time san serif fonts work great!

The next question you might have is when do you use san serif and when do you use serif fonts. Serif fonts end the alphabet with stems that are also known as “feet” whereas san serif fonts don’t. Refer to the photo for a comparison of the two fonts.

San serif fonts like Arial, Futura & Helvetica are the easiest for one to read, especially from a distance. You should use these fonts to convey your key message. Serif fonts on the other hand can be used to convey a secondary message or if you need to include more details in your banner. Popular serif fonts include Times New Roman, Minion Pro & Century.

2. Font Size

Another common question you might have is how big should your font be. Is it going to be legible enough from a distance? We’ve got a rule of thumb for you. It’s a popular guideline used when it comes to determining how big the fonts on your pull-up banners/ posters should be. 

The rule recommends that for every 10 feet (approx 3 metres) of viewing distance, your font size should increase by at least an inch which is 72pts. 

So, say if your banner is designed to be viewed from 10 meters (approx 33 feet) away, your font should be 3 inches (216pt) tall. There are many sites online that provide free calculation from inches to pts so don’t worry about that!

Of course, this rule is based on the ideal viewing distance so your font can still be read from slightly further away. Don’t worry too much about having to stick to it strictly. However, do note that you should not adjust the width of the fonts. If you adjust the font to be thinner, despite following this rule, you will find that the copy in your banners will still be tough to read. 

You should also avoid using too many fonts. Using a variety of fonts will make your design appear messy and a lot harder to read. Generally, you should not use more than 2 in one design. 

Last tip before we end today’s blog -

3. Stay away from using all UPPERCASE letters.

As far as you can, you shouldn’t use words with all uppercase letters in your copy as it is much harder to read.

“When text is set in all capital letters, reading speed is slowed about 13 to 20 percent (Breland & Breland, 1944). Reading speed is optimal when uppercase and lowercase letters are used (Poulton, 1967; Rickards & August, 1975). When extra emphasis is needed, bold has been found to be a better cue than uppercase (Coles & Foster, 1975).”

If you need to use it to draw emphasis on a certain word, limit it to one word in a sentence.

That is all from us today. Let us know if you have any other questions and we’ll follow up with another blog post. Head over to our Pull Up Banner product page to for more information on the sizes and prices of our banners.

Till the next one, cheers!