# Meetup event graphics: posts and slides for community nights [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/meetup-graphics) A meetup happens every month, run by volunteers with day jobs. The graphics should take ten minutes, not an evening. Here is a kit that does. ## The short version - Meetup event graphics work best as a repeatable kit: one numbered event card, one cover for event pages, a short slide deck for the night and a recap post. - Number every edition, such as #14, so the series builds a sense of history and regulars can tell one month from the next at a glance. - Keep the background, typefaces and layout fixed and change only the number, date, venue and talk titles each month. - A five slide deck covers most community nights: welcome, house notes, hosts and sponsors, one slide per speaker and a closing slide with the next date. - Post the recap within a day or two and end it with the next date, because the recap is the best advert for the following edition. The best **meetup event graphics** are a kit you reuse every month, not a fresh design each time. A recurring community night needs the same five things over and over: an event card for social posts, a cover for the event page and Discord, a few slides for the evening, a story or two on the night and a recap afterwards. Build them once in a look the community recognises, then change only the edition number, date, venue and talks. Organisers are volunteers; the kit should save them an evening, every month. ## Why a recurring meetup needs a series look A single event can get away with any poster. A meetup that runs for years is building something closer to a small brand: regulars, sponsors, speakers who come back. A fixed look makes the series feel established, which helps when you ask a company to host or a speaker to travel. It also makes the monthly post instantly recognisable in a busy feed, which matters more than any individual design choice. [Brand consistency](https://gradiently.design/guide/brand-consistency) explains why repetition builds recognition. - Late night cyan on deep navy: `radial-gradient(circle at 80% 20%, #22d3ee 0%, #0e7490 35%, #082f49 80%)` - Terminal green on near black: `radial-gradient(circle at 20% 80%, #a3e635 0%, #3f6212 40%, #1a2e05 85%)` - Warm paper to orange: `linear-gradient(140deg, #fff7ed 0%, #fdba74 55%, #ea580c 100%)` - Violet glow on ink: `radial-gradient(circle at 70% 30%, #c084fc 0%, #6b21a8 40%, #1e1b4b 85%)` Four directions for a series background. Pick one and keep it; changing it every month resets the recognition you have built. ## How to design a numbered meetup event card The event card is the post you share on Instagram, LinkedIn, X and in group chats. Lead with the edition number and the date, then the talks, then the venue. The number does real work: "#14" tells newcomers the series is established and tells regulars this is a new month. Keep talk titles to a line each and put speaker names after them. A portrait meetup card for Frontend Night number 14 on Thursday 9 April at 6:30pm, hosted at Northbank Studio The Instagram and LinkedIn portrait card: edition, date and time, one line on what happens. The same Frontend Night number 14 card in a wide 16:9 format for X The same card at 1600×900 for X and Bluesky, where wide images show in full in the feed. Next month, you change the number, the date and perhaps the host. Everything else stays. If your talks come from a sign up sheet, a spreadsheet of editions, dates and talk titles can produce a whole season of cards in one pass with [bulk create](https://gradiently.design/guide/bulk-create-from-spreadsheet) on Pro. ## Covers for event pages, Discord and link previews Most meetups live on an event page (Luma, Meetup or your own site) and in a Discord or Slack community. Each shows a cover in its own shape, so design with the title centred and plenty of background around it, then check each platform's current guidance before uploading. When people paste your event link into a chat, the preview image is the 1200×630 Open Graph frame, which [link preview images](https://gradiently.design/guide/link-preview-image) covers. - Instagram post 1080×1350: 1080 × 1350 - X post 1600×900: 1600 × 900 - Link preview 1200×630: 1200 × 630 - Discord server banner 960×540: 960 × 540 - Slides 1920×1080: 1920 × 1080 The five shapes a meetup uses every month, to scale. Once your server reaches Boost level 2 and unlocks a banner, it is worth updating with each edition's date; [Discord banner size](https://gradiently.design/guide/discord-banner-size) has the details. The announcement text matters as much as the image. Keep a template you paste each month so the details are always in the same order: ```text Frontend Night #14 Thursday 9 April, doors 6:30pm, talks from 7pm Northbank Studio, 12 Quay Street (lift on the left) Talks 1. Shipping a design system with three people, by Sam Okafor 2. What we learned from removing our build step, by Lena Brandt Free, but please register so we can order enough food. Code of conduct: example.org/conduct Register: example.org/fn14 ``` A monthly announcement template. Swap the details, keep the order, and regulars will know where to look. ## Meetup slides template for the night A meetup needs a few organiser slides around the talks, all at 16:9. They make the evening feel run rather than improvised, and they put housekeeping on screen so the host does not have to remember it. Keep them in the series look and give speakers a matching title slide if they want one. [Slide design tips](https://gradiently.design/guide/slide-design-tips) covers readable sizes. | Slide | What it says | When it shows | | --- | --- | --- | | Welcome | Edition number, name, wifi details | On screen as people arrive | | House notes | Code of conduct, toilets, fire exits, photo policy | Before the first talk | | Thanks | Host and sponsor logos, one line each | Before the first talk | | Speaker intro | Name, talk title, where to find them | Before each talk | | Next time | Next date, call for speakers, the community link | At the end, and left up during drinks | Five organiser slides that cover almost every community night. Duplicate the speaker slide as needed. A 16:9 closing slide announcing the next meetup on 14 May and inviting people to propose a talk The closing slide stays up while people chat, so it is the one most likely to be photographed. Make the next date the biggest thing on it. ## Stories on the night and the recap post On the night, a couple of 1080×1920 stories are enough: one as doors open, one during a talk. Afterwards, post a short recap carousel within a day or two: a thank you to speakers and host, three or four photos, links to the slides if speakers share them, and the next date on the last slide. Ask before photographing people who prefer not to appear. [Event recap posts](https://gradiently.design/guide/event-recap-post) has more structure. ### Avoid - A new style every month - No edition number - Venue address buried in the caption - Recap posted a fortnight later - Sponsor logos larger than the meetup's name ### Do - One look kept for years - "#14" on every card and slide - Venue and access notes in the same place each time - Recap within two days, ending with the next date - Sponsors thanked clearly, at a sensible size ## How to make meetup graphics quickly The real test of a meetup kit is whether a fellow organiser can make next month's card without asking anyone. Keep the files in one shared place and write a short note on what changes. Gradiently helps in two ways here: its backgrounds keep the words legible wherever the date lands, so nobody has to nudge a layout, and organisers who already work in ChatGPT or Claude can ask for the month's designs in a chat and open them in the Studio, as described in [design with Claude](https://gradiently.design/guide/design-with-claude). For a sister series or a student group, [student club posters](https://gradiently.design/guide/student-club-posters) adapts the same approach. ## FAQ ### What graphics does a meetup need? An event card for social posts, a cover for the event page and Discord, a few organiser slides for the night, stories on the evening and a recap post. ### What size should a meetup event card be? 1080×1350 for Instagram and LinkedIn and 1600×900 for X and Bluesky. A 1200×630 version covers link previews. ### What size is a Discord server banner? 960×540 pixels, available once the server reaches Boost level 2. Many communities update it with the date of the next meetup. ### What slides should a meetup organiser prepare? A welcome slide with wifi details, house notes with the code of conduct, a thanks slide for hosts and sponsors, a speaker intro for each talk and a closing slide with the next date. ### Should I number meetup editions? Yes. A number like #14 shows the series is established and helps regulars tell each month apart at a glance.