20 eye-catching examples of flyer design

With more and more media competing for eyeballs than ever before, it's a real challenge to grab people's attention these days. And the art of flyer design is a great place to get inspiration.

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A brilliant flyer design can do wonders to help promote an event or product and get people excited about it. Artwork and printing are key factors in its effectiveness, of course, but the overall design, especially use of colour, needs careful consideration in order for it to achieve its purpose. Here are 20 examples of flyer design that got it right: which one is your favourite? 

01. Monster Hands

You can't get much more eye-catching than this brilliant flyer design, aimed at educating people about the importance of cleanliness in stopping the spread of bacteria. We just love how the hands have been transformed into this menacing yet cool looking character. Genius. 

02. Room for rent

When a friend of art student Jimena Gamio was on the hunt for a flatmate a couple of years ago, Gamio created this cool typography flyer for her to distribute around town. A cool design and a refreshingly original alternative to the many generic, dull ads online.

03. Mikro 

This beautiful, abstract flyer design was created by motion, screen and print designer Mellow for a club night called Mikro. The design is so detailed, it takes a few minutes to notice the lizard that forms the base of the illustration. An extremely talented creative, Mellow has developed numerous flyer designs for various events, all of which feature in an awe-inspiring online portfolio.  

04. Craft fair flyer

This craft fair flyer by designer Suji Allen is a brilliant example of how to advertise an exposition of all things homemade. Featuring classic colours and retro type, this design is sure to catch the eyes of people interested in arts and crafts. 

05. Mokka Cuka

Plugged in and turned on, this cool flyer was designed by Hungarian graphic designer Karoly Kiralyfalvi for the Mokka Cuka - a leading outdoor underground venue in Hungary. The retro design features a custom-made font and eye-catching colour choices, finished off with graphics of microphone, earphone jacks and USB cables, leaving a claer indication of the type of event the flyer promotes.

06. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu

This standout flyer promotes Tokyo-based singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's debut album. She started out as a blogger and model, and then proceeded into a music career. The flyer is as striking as her personal style and music videos.

The prominent visual, a freaky looking hairstyle on a floating head, immediately commands the viewer’s attention because people are attracted to faces. The illustrations and hand rendered typography are playful and visually striking in high contrasting colours. This layout has an energetic vibe, suggesting that's we can expect from her music.

07. Shop Spotlight

Shop Spotlight are proud owners of a shiny new shop - they design colourful typographic table decorations for weddings, and this flyer was designed to promote a bunch of new products; popping with colour, the layout boasts the use of type as image in overlays that give them a tactile letterpress aesthetic.

08. Baby Jupiter

This nostalgic psychedelic flyer is for the ‘In the Basement’ event held at Baby Jupiter, Leeds, UK. For some people this venue is reminiscent of a weird little bar you might stumble across in Amsterdam, for others the atmosphere reminds them of classic telly programme. All we know is this mesmerising flyer seems to come from a groovy place. The layout incorporates warping typography within a illustrative frame. A real product of craftsmanship; A real trip.

09. Øya Festival

The four day, four stage festival, Øya Festival, kicks off on the 6th of August 2013. We love the whole identity of the festival this year, particularly the flyer. The tri-colour design makes a winning statement alongside beautifully overlayed typography with knowing confidence. The Øya Festival lineup is also arguably their strongest to date with artists such as Blur, James Blake, Alabama Shakes and Tame Impala heading the bill.

10. The Fly Magazine party

We love this flyer design for UK new-music magazine The Fly's party at legendary London venue the Camden Barfly. Deceptively simple and devastatingly effective.

11. Notting Hill Carnival

Graphic designer and digital artist Kevin Roodhorst recently created this gorgeous flyer design to promote the 2012 Notting Hill Carnival in London. The simple but beautiful illustration perfectly captured the essence and fun of Europe's biggest street festival.

12. Morph

It was hard to choose from the many flyer designs that art director and graphic designer Ed Price has created for Morph, Bristol's popular techno night, but this one just pipped it for us. We love the splash of colour in amongst the clean black type and neutral woman's face. 

13. United Students 

Italian freelance graphic designer and illustrator Marco Oggian created this simple but brilliant flyer design for a party hosted by United Students, the largest student association in Switzerland. A series of parties took students on a journey through the major capital cities of Europe, including London, Berlin and Barcelona.

14. Penguin Rider

We couldn't not include this cool skiing penguin flyer design in our list. Creative agency Zim & Zou were the brains behind this concept for a snowboard and skiing contest in France. The team used models to create an Antarctic environment and then added Georgia and their own custom font to create the cool design. 

15. Kolor

Silkscreen art on rough cardboard works beautifully for these gorgeous flyers for Kolor bar in Budapest. The design was by Budapest-based graphic designer, illustrator and typographer Eszter Laki.

16. Forevergreen Festival

We're loving the simplistic design, clever use of type and cool graphics on this Forevergreen Festival flyer design, created by Giovanni Montuori. The quality and bright colours of the illustration immediately draw your eye and the simple, clean type provides all the information needed clearly.

17. Chameleon

This eye-catching illustration was created by Dutch graphic designer Martijn Van Dam aka Super Silo for a Chameleon club night. The octopus attacking a ship filled with candy cargo was produced using Photoshop and Illustrator.

18. HQ Drum & Bass

This club night flyer is unlike all the others. No glossy paper, bright colours or big typography, just a simple but appealing design. The cool central graphic is reminiscent of an optical illusion, and the whole thing is printed on 100% recycled pulp board. Awesome work by graphic designer Ross Gunter.  

19. Riscopriamo Il Borgo

Riscopriamo Il Borgo is a traditional festival held in Airola, created to celebrate the country's history, roots, popular culture and traditional cuisine. These stylish flyers by graphic designer Giuseppe Fierro are a great example of how well a simple, clean design and superb typography can work together.

20. Stampede

Stampede is a rock night that takes place in Soho, London, every Monday. To promote it, creative project assistant Michael Higginson created this cool, grungy flyer design featuring an elegant, yet powerful horse composed of a series of different sized circles.  

Words: Kerrie Hughes and Aaron Kitney

Aaron Kitney is a freelance graphic designer and art director based in London and Vancouver. He specialises in branding, identity, web design, publication design, packaging and book design.

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Have you seen any great examples of flyer design? Let us know in the comments box below...