A poster is designed on a given theme within a set sitting, judged on message, composition, colour and lettering.
Poster Making is a solo, off-stage art item in which each entrant designs a poster on a theme set by the organisers. The poster has one job: to put a message across quickly to someone walking past. Entrants combine an image, a short slogan and a colour scheme on a single sheet, and nothing is performed on stage, so the finished poster is the whole entry.
A round runs as a supervised sitting. Entrants work in the same room, the theme is announced, and they have the time the festival allows, which is two and a half hours in most of the formats that carry the item. Sheets are normally numbered before marking so the panel judges the work and not the maker. Paper, colours and brushes or markers are usually the organiser’s call; some festivals supply the sheet and ask entrants to bring their own materials.
What separates a poster from an ordinary drawing is communication. A strong entry has a clear focal point, a slogan short enough to read from a distance, lettering that is legible and consistent with the artwork, and a colour scheme that supports the message instead of fighting it. A beautifully painted picture with a muddled or unreadable message usually scores below a simpler design that says one thing clearly.
Organisers run it because it brings a topical, campaign-style strand into the art section for very little cost: a room, an invigilator and paper. Themes such as environment, health or road safety also give the finished posters a use after the festival, since they can be displayed around the venue.
Where Poster Making is run
Poster Making appears in six university youth festival templates in the dataset, covering a Kerala university festival, a Mumbai university festival, two Punjab-region university and technical zonal festivals and a Gujarat university zonal festival that offers it separately to three college groups, plus one further community festival template. It is run as an individual item open to both genders, scored out of 100. Sitting length is 150 minutes in the Kerala, Mumbai and one Punjab-region format and is not fixed in the Gujarat format.
- India – Kerala, Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra (university and college youth festivals)
Key facts
- Individual entry only: none of the templates that carry it has a team version.
- Off stage: the finished poster is marked afterwards, not watched live.
- Open to both genders competing together; no language is fixed.
- Sitting length is 150 minutes in the formats that set one, and the Gujarat zonal format sets no limit.
- Scored out of 100 in every template that carries it.
- Listed as ‘Poster Designing’ in school-level templates; that is a separate catalogue item for younger entrants.
On eTalenter, Poster Making is filed under Art, Off Stage and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 7 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Poster Making is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 10–150 minutes where a limit is set.
What judges look at in Poster Making
What a Poster Making panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- The message: one clear idea tied to the set theme that a passer-by understands within seconds.
- Composition: a definite focal point, good use of the sheet and a balanced layout of image and text.
- Slogan: short, memorable and adding to the image instead of describing it.
- Lettering: legible from a distance, evenly spaced and in keeping with the artwork.
- Colour: a scheme with enough contrast to read and a mood that suits the theme.
- Finish: a complete, clean sheet with no unfinished corners when time is called.
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Poster Making under Scoring Setup, or start from the full drawing & painting judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Poster Making
How entrants and their teachers usually get Poster Making right on the day:
- Practise on common campaign themes (environment, health, road safety, social causes) so you already have ideas ready when the theme is announced.
- Settle the slogan first: a short line fixes the layout and stops you running out of space for the lettering.
- Plan the sheet in light pencil, with the focal image, slogan area and border marked, before any colour goes down.
- Time yourself against a 150-minute sitting and allow a final stretch for tidying edges and checking spelling.
- Use bold, high-contrast colours and practise block lettering that stays readable at arm’s length.
- Check the rules on materials in advance and bring paints or markers that will not bleed through the sheet.
Ready-made event templates that include Poster Making
Open any template to preview it in eTalenter and install it as a live, editable event.
| Template | Category | Score label | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|
| GNDU Zonal Youth Festival | Art | Marks | 1 |
| Gujarat University Zonal Youth Festival | Art | Marks | 3 |
| Kerala University Youth Festival | Art | Marks | 1 |
| University of Mumbai Youth Festival | Art | Marks | 1 |
| Panjab University Zonal Youth Festival (Punjab, India) | Off Stage | Marks | 1 |
| PTU Zonal Youth Festival | Art | Marks | 1 |
| Yuvajallosh (Diocese of Vasai) | Art | Marks | 1 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Poster Making judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
Is Poster Making the same as Poster Designing?
They are separate entries in the catalogue. Poster Making is used by university youth festivals for college entrants; Poster Designing appears in school-level and other templates for younger groups. An installed template carries only the one it lists.
How long does a Poster Making round last?
In the templates that set a limit the sitting is 150 minutes, and one zonal format sets no fixed limit. Organisers can set their own.
Is Poster Making judged individually or as a team?
Individually. Each entrant produces and is scored on their own poster.
Can I use a computer or printed images?
The catalogue entry describes a hand-made poster produced during the sitting. Whether digital tools or pasted images are allowed is for the organiser’s rules to say, so check before the day.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full drawing & painting judging criteria guide, or browse every art competition item.
Try Poster Making in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Poster Making, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
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