You have to first understand what information the flyer is meant to convey (an event, sale or promotion), and then you need to coordinate the layout & style in a way that emphasizes it. Knowing the goal of what the flyer should advertise and the audience it is meant to appeal to will provide a starting point for the style of how the flyer should look.

Proper size and placement of your flyer’s headline is important. The headline should be large and should be one of the first things viewers notice when looking at the flyer. Placing the headline at the top or middle is a common area that people expect to look.

The font style for the headline should be one that contrasts with the body text (for example: a serif header font with sans-serif body text). Placing ornamental elements around the headline can also help draw attention and create a luxurious appearance.

As a designer it is your job to understand how to guide the audience’s eye from each point of interest in your flyer by order of importance. You can establish a clear visual hierarchy not only with varying sizes of sections from small to large, but also by the amount of contrast in each area of your design. Visual perception is based on edges or points of contrast. The brightest and highest contrast areas will be spotted first. Try looking at your own flyer after you design it and notice where your eye lands first, second, third, etc. Do these areas match the order of the points of the message your flyer is meant to get across?

An appealing, professional photograph can really make all the difference in your flyer design. Making sure the photo is clear, high resolution and well lit (ideally taken by a professional photographer), will really add to your design. For instance, when designing a flyer for a restaurant to advertise a menu item, the photograph of that menu item should be the most noticeable area of the flyer when the goal is to show off the appearance of the food.

For headline text it is fine to use script like fonts that have a lot of character. This should always be complimented with body fonts that are clear and easy to read. Since body text will be smaller than your headers, you wouldn’t want to use a script font and force the audience to squint in order to read the body copy. Classic fonts like Arial or Garamond are great for body text.