With Valentine’s Day out of the picture, it’s time to shift the design focus from red hearts to green shamrocks. St. Patrick’s Day may not be a major holiday, but many businesses hold themed events and promotions during the month of March. Naturally these celebrations require printing special marketing materials; flyers in particular are very popular this season. As graphic designers, it’s our job to put a fresh spin on this familiar motif. Stuck in an Irish rut? Here are some ideas to get your next project off the ground.
St. Patrick’s Day Symbols
While it’s ok to incorporate St. Paddy’s Day staples, try to use them alongside less common shapes or objects. Celtic crosses, harps, and horseshoes get the message across without appearing too cliché. Instead of using a standard leprechaun, put a green stove top pipe hat on top of an Irish Setter. Since the holiday falls in the spring time, feel free to play around with flowers, rabbits, fairies, and butterflies. The Irish flag is easy to recognize, and gives you an instant color palette to guide the layout.
Unconventional Colors
Speaking of color, green seems like the obvious choice. Still, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with the same old emerald. Create eye-catching contrast by mixing softer pastels in with kelly green, forest, and jade. Bolder lime and pale greens add a cheerful touch; just be careful not to overdue the brighter shades as they can detract from the message. Teal is another versatile option that works well for accents or as a background color.
Fun Fonts
Font choice should never be taken lightly, especially when it comes to flyer design. Be careful with Celtic style fonts because the elegance may render the text unreadable. Choose subtler scripts to avoid this issue. Another option would be to use a flowery font for the heading followed by a simple, clean typeface for the event details. This Leprechaun Hats font strikes a good balance because it’s cute without being too elaborate.
How do you make your St. Patrick’s Day flyers stand out? What are some of your favorite design inspirations? Share your tips and tricks with our graphic design community!