Yo, let’s talk about flyers. Physical collateral. If you have something that you can put in someone’s hand, it’s just a great way to command their attention, make them think, make them take action, make them join. Now for us, we have flyers and we put them a lot of places about regular issues. You can literally see we have a pre made flyer that you as a member you can make, you can edit, whatever, but we have like defaults for campaigns so that when you have something like a landing page, there’s something that people can scan and they can go and like actually interact with it right away. And this is something that you may learn to use as you make your own organization one day, right, or you work on your own local issues. So there are lots of places that you can put your flyers that think of coffee shops, grocery stores, libraries, laundromats.

These places usually have community boards and people who are interested will stop and look. You’ve also got places that have high traffic, like bus stops or street corners or outside stores that are popular. You also have events, you know, anything that’s happening, like a cultural event, a concert, a farmer’s market, civic event. When people go to these things, they want to do more things that are like it. You can also think of parks, playgrounds, apartment complexes, you know, anywhere where people live. If we’re talking about housing, their eyes light up and they’re way more interested. There’s also partner locations, you know, if we have local businesses or organizations that are supportive and this is totally what we talked about earlier, see if they’re willing to display flyers because that helps build our credibility.

So let’s talk a little bit about design. There are lots of ways to make a design. Right now we have a pre made Canva template so that you can make flyers and cards. The first thing that someone should see is a headline. We make these very simple, big, bold, easy to read from a distance, eye catching colors. We try to use bright colors, contrasting shades. We don’t use a lot of text.

When you keep it essential, it is clear, it is easy to skim. We also try to have a clear call to action that’s on the flyer. Join, scan, attend, tell people like really exactly what they can do next. We also include a QR code. This just makes sure that there’s an easy way for people to get in touch and learn more. Because people don’t like writing anything down. Especially you know, you’re out on the street, you might have a phone in your hand, you might take a picture of it, look at it, but that’s about it.

You can also think about visuals. If you can use an image that evokes emotion or relates to the issue, that’s great. A few things to remember. Think about labor relationships. If you can, like get a professional printer, that’s wonderful. There are black owned and union owned print shops all across the city. East Atlanta Copy center is one, Perimeter Printing Centers one in Stone Mountain.

There’s many, many. West Atlanta Copy Center. There are just so many places that you can go and it’s great to have relationships with any printer. Don’t cover up anybody else’s stuff. Make sure you’re not breaking any regulations and revisit the flyers once in a while. Because you know, flyers just like any kind of pollution, it doesn’t last forever. So if you like place a flyer, go check on it in a few months and if it’s ratty or unreadable or something, just get it, throw it away, replace it, don’t wait.

You’re not a political campaign, right? That makes a big difference in getting the message out. The more intentional we are, the better. Hopefully you’ve got some action items and you’ve got some tools and you’ve got some instructions and so hopefully you have a completely new perspective on design in the real world.