Shop window posters: signs that stop people walking past

Good window poster design is mostly subtraction. Someone walking past sees your window for a second or two, through glass that reflects the street, from a couple of metres away. In that time they can read one short line and notice one strong colour. So give the poster one line in large type, one small detail underneath, and a background bold enough to beat the reflections. Everything else belongs inside the shop.

One line, readable from the pavement

Write the line first and the poster second. It should make sense on its own to someone who has never heard of you: "Fresh bread from 7am", "Half price winter coats", "Walk ins welcome". If the line needs the detail underneath to make sense, rewrite it.

• Two to five words for the main line. Each extra word makes the type smaller.
• One detail, smaller: a date, an hour, a direction. Not three.
• No paragraphs, no lists, no small print on the glass. Put terms on a card by the till.
• Your name small, unless the poster's job is to introduce a new shop.

Window poster sizes

Choose the size from the window, not the template. A small pane of a café door suits A4. Most shop windows suit A3 or larger. In the US, 18×24 inches is one of the most common poster frame sizes. Design at 300 dpi so the type stays crisp up close.

For more sizes and the arithmetic behind them, see poster sizes. If you print at home or at a copy shop, remember most printers can't print to the edge, so leave a margin or ask for borderless printing.

Designing for glass, light and reflections

A window is a hard place for a poster. In daylight, the glass reflects the street and the sky, which washes out pale and mid tones. At night, the inside of the shop lights the poster from behind or not at all. A design that looks balanced on your screen can vanish in the window.

Placement: where people actually look

1. 1

   Main line at eye height

   Put the poster so its headline sits roughly between waist and eye height for someone on the pavement. Too high and people walk under it; too low and displays hide it.

2. 2

   Near the door

   The pane beside or on the door is read by everyone deciding whether to come in. Use it for the poster that answers that decision: open, offer, welcome.

3. 3

   One poster per pane

   Several posters side by side compete with each other and with the display. One large poster beats four small ones.

4. 4

   Check from across the street

   Walk past at normal speed, in daylight and after dark. If you can't read the line in one stride, make it shorter or larger.

Window poster ideas to rotate

Regulars stop seeing a poster after a while, however good it is. A simple rotation keeps the window feeling alive. Keep the same background for every poster so the shop stays recognisable, and change the words.

• The offer: this week's sale or bundle, with the end date.
• The new arrival: one product, named, with "in store now".
• The invitation: a tasting, a workshop, late opening, with date and time.
• The reassurance: walk ins welcome, dogs welcome, card only, gluten free options.
• The hiring poster: "We're hiring" plus the role. See we are hiring designs.
• The season: a quiet seasonal message that changes four times a year.

Each poster can double as a post. In Gradiently, design the A3 poster from a template, then resize the same design to an Instagram post or story, so the window and the feed say the same thing in the same look. Pro adds print PDF export with bleed and crop marks for a professional printer. The Mark keeps a calm area behind the words at every size, so the headline stays readable on glass and on a phone. For more ideas, see poster ideas, sale post design and small business branding.