Retractable Banner Design : 9 Ultimate Tips To Create an Attractive Display Banner

9 Tips on Creating a Unique Retractable Banner Design that Stands Out!

My intention for this post is to help entrepreneurs brand and advertise their products better than their competitors. With proper branding materials, you’ll stand apart and have buyers coming to you instead of you chasing after buyers.

Valuable Information to Consider Including in your Retractable Banner:

• Website Address
• Phone Number
• Social Media Pages & Website
• State how you or your products can help your audience
• What are you offering your audience now that you have their attention?
• State the Problem that Your Business Solves for Your Audience
• And finally, what do you want people to do after seeing your Retractable Banner Design?

Do you want your audience to call one of your sales reps?

Do you want them to visit your site or follow you on social media?

Ask yourself these questions to brainstorm and generate marketing ideas and get to get clear on your final message.

You generally want to pose a question in your copy that your customers are asking you on a regular basis.

This can help you craft a Headline that is relevant to what your audience is looking for. Another way to find your marketing message is to reverse engineer the outcome.

When you picture people walking by your retractable banner, what is the ideal outcome you would like to happen?

What feeling do you want to leave your potential customer with?

After they see your retractable banner what is the next step for the potential buyer and audience?

Banners, tablecloths, and good-quality t-shirts are an awesome way to promote your business. Try these tips when designing and printing retractable banners for your business or trade event that can help you make the most of these eye-catching advertising techniques.

60.8% of marketing professionals believe attractive design is a key factor in successful branding and advertising. Your business logo and the colors that you use can affect your potential customers emotionally in a positive or negative way. 

Just like the effect of seeing the color red while driving can subconsciously bring us to a stop on a street corner, or when you see red lights flashing in your rearview mirror.

Colors, logos, and shapes can be anchored subconsciously to a feeling or emotion you want your customers to have when they see your brand. 

We also make buying decisions based on how good the packaging looks. In the US we buy from companies that have established logos and color schemes that are aesthetically pleasing to the consumer.

If you’re 7 years old, you recognize and know about the Nike swoosh. We recognize McDonald’s from miles away by associating the big Yellow M with their french fries, burgers, and fast food.

A particular color association with your logo can be a very powerful way to distinguish your brand from competitors in your industry.

And so, when designing the retractable banner, you want to make sure to associate the right colors, shapes, and overall packaging that fits with your business brand.

At trade shows, conventions, and outdoor events Retractable banners are an excellent tool for grabbing the attention of potential customers.

But how do you create an effective Retractable Banner Design that will attract new customers and promote your brand?

Keep reading to learn more.

Our 9 Ultimate Tips for Pull-Up Banner Design

Ready to create versatile, effective banners for your next event? Here are our top 9 tips for designing your new retractable  banner:

1. Choose the Right Size

Retractable banners are a great reusable advertising tool. But you should consider the space you will be using this banner most often when selecting a size.

A good retractable banner design should be large enough to draw in potential customers from a distance.

If passersby can’t clearly see what you’re advertising, they won’t be inclined to stop and learn more.

Some conferences and tradeshows might have size restrictions for advertising material. But in general bigger is better! The standard standing banner sizes start at 2′ x 5’3″ ft tall and 2′.9″ x 6′.9″ tall.

These sizes give you plenty of space to display important information and high-quality photos or graphics that complement your design.

2. Start with Your Logo

The very first thing potential customers should see is your headline or your logo.

When designing your retractable banner, remember to design around your logo in the top section of your design to be at eye level.

In most cases, your logo should also be the largest piece of information on your retractable banner design.

However, be open and flexible to experiment with different logo placement and sizing to see what works best to get your message across clearly.

If you do not have a logo or distinct logotype, it is very important to create an identity for your business and organization that people can recognize and make a meaningful association to your logo and to separate it from other businesses in your industry.

3. Keep it Easy to Read

Along with your logo, you might want to include text, photos, or other graphics on your retractable banner.

When positioning these design elements, remember to treat your retractable banner like the page of a book or magazine.

Most potential customers will read your banner from left to right and top to bottom in the US.

Use a variety of font sizes to break up and organize any written content, but make sure each one is legible from a distance.

Font size above 100pt in Photoshop or Illustrator should work well from a distance when designing your banner.

If you want to know what a 100-point font will look like and see if it’s legible from 5 feet away, you can run a quick test by typing a short sentence in Microsoft Word or Photoshop.

Adjust the font size to 100 pts, and print on an 8.5″ x 11 sheet. Print this out with the test sentence and that will be the minimum size we can go before the letters start looking small and fuzzy from a distance.  

Tape the 8.5 x 11 sheet to a wall and step back to see what size would work best for the retractable banner design. You can also download our 2.9 x 6.9-foot Retractable Banner Template below. You can design accordingly within the space of the banner.

Download Advertising Banner PDF Template Here.

4. Less is More

Don’t overcrowd your pull-up banner design with unnecessary information.

The purpose of a pull-up banner is to draw in potential customers.

Once their interest is piqued, you can deliver more information through face-to-face conversations, pamphlets, and more.

Filling your pull banner design with too much text or too many images can make it hard for potential clients to understand what you have to offer.

Pick one marketing message and 2-3 images if you plan on using visuals that support your message and story.

Think about the one thing you would like to leave your potential customers with and include a strong call to action within the banner to get a response from your audience. 

5. Include a Call-To-Action

The Center or eye-level part of your pull-up banner is a great place to include a call-to-action (also called a CTA).

Call-to-actions are short phrases that encourage potential customers to do something.

Your call-to-action might include encouraging potential customers to take a product sample, check out your website, follow your brand on social media, and more.

Your call-to-action should be one of the last things on your retractable banner – You can place this at the bottom or the center of your design.

After your logo, this piece of content is one of the most important, so don’t be afraid to devote a large section of your banner design to it!

6. Take Advantage of Color

While you can design a with an entirely white background, this doesn’t mean you should.

Adding color to your retractable banner design will help you stand out at conventions and tradeshows and draw the attention of potential customers.

If your brand does not have a set color scheme, pull colors from your logo or other advertising materials that you like but don’t steal.

Take the extra time to match these colors exactly. All reds, blues, yellows, etcetera are not created equal, especially when blown up to the size of a retractable banner. Matching these colors will help you present a cohesive brand image to your customers.

If you’re including digital graphics on top of a color background, make sure the graphic’s background is transparent. Having copy-and-pasted white squares around your images is not a good look for any brand!

7. Beauty as an Anchor

Any graphics or photos used in your retractable banner design need to be high-quality. Blurry, pixelated images make a brand seem unprofessional, inexperienced, and sloppy.

Keep in mind when designing the look of the banner to have 2 to 3 image options to choose from that will best tell your story.

A vast majority of people will respond better to a retractable banner design with an attractive face than they will to written words or a logo.

We remember Images and Pictures a lot better than we do words. We can anchor emotions to images.

The goal is to get attention anchor a good emotion to your potential buyers and visually expose them to your message about your products and services.

Sex, youth, and beauty are some of the most popular ways major brands get our attention. However, other brands have done well without exploiting beauty to grab attention, so thinking differently can be your advantage over most major brands.

The recommended image quality for print is at least 175 dpi. This quality will ensure a clear, crisp printed image.

8. Promote Your Social Media

Even if potential customers aren’t ready to make a purchase that day, you can ensure they think of your brand in the future by asking them to follow your social media accounts.

Social media logos, like the Facebook “F” and Twitter bird, are instantly recognizable graphics that tell your customers where to find you online.

Include the logos of your brand’s most-used social media accounts (as well as your account name!) in your retractable banner design’s call-to-action or in their own designated section.

9. Be True to Your Brand

Whatever photos, graphics, and text you choose to include in your retractable banner design, it is important that the final product is a true representation of your brand. And to also have original images.

The last thing you want is for your retractable banner design to have the same look as your competitors.

Potential customers should be able to look at your Retractable banner and instantly know it belongs to you or your company.

Bring Your Retractable Banner Design to Life

Now that you know the basics of good pull-up banner design, it’s time to start designing and printing!

If you’re unsure about your retractable banner design, don’t hesitate to reach out to your company’s preferred graphic designer or our own professional design team.