With summer season nearing, get ready to create a vintage farmer’s market poster with our guide! This poster is perfect for promoting summer events, such as farmers’ markets, picnics or barbecues. Suitable for relative beginners to InDesign, this tutorial will lead you through the steps of creating your flyer layout, editing typography and graphics, and exporting it ready for printing or circulating online.
As well as using InDesign, we’ll also briefly dip into Illustrator to edit the rooster graphic and use Photoshop to edit a vintage overlay texture, so make sure you have this trio of programs to hand.
What You’ll Need to Create A Vintage Farmer’s Market Poster
You’ll need access to creative programs like InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.
To create the flyer design, you’ll also need to download the following images and fonts:
Vintage rooster illustration (make sure to download the vector EPS version), Old paper texture, Vintage overlay texture, Adhesive Nr. Seven font, Heavyweight font, Lemiesz font, Cooper Hewitt font, Next Rust Sans font
Install the font files onto your computer and save the images to an easy-to-locate folder. Then you’re ready to start designing!
How to Set Up The Basics of Your Flyer
Step 1
Open InDesign and go to File > New > Document.
Choose Letter (or US Letter) from the default page size presets, and make sure the orientation is set to Portrait. Uncheck Facing Pages too.
Add a Margin of 8 mm, and a Bleed of 5 mm to all edges of the page.
Then click Create.
Step 2
Expand the Layers panel (Window > Layers) and double-click on the Layer 1 name. Rename it Background and click OK.
Choose New Layer from the panel’s drop-down menu. Name this second layer Paper and click OK.
Then create two more new layers in this order—Type and, at the top of the sequence, Rooster.
Then lock all layers except the bottom layer, Background.
Step 3
Expand the Swatches panel (Window > Color > Swatches).
Choose New Color Swatch from the panel’s drop-down menu. Name the swatch Pale Pink, set the Color Type to Process and Color Mode to CMYK. Set the percentage levels to C=3 M=33 Y=13 K=0. Then click Add and OK.
Repeat the process to create seven more CMYK swatches, with the following names and percentage values:
Pink – C=15 M=50 Y=16 K=0
Jade – C=81 M=23 Y=43 K=7
Pale Green – C=59 M=20 Y=45 K=3
Mustard – C=5 M=39 Y=96 K=0
Blue – C=78 M=44 Y=0 K=0
Orange Red – C=10 M=82 Y=91 K=1
Rich Black – C=84 M=86 Y=49 K=70
Step 4
Working on the Background layer switch to the Rectangle Tool (M) and drag across the whole page, up to the edge of the bleed on all sides.
From the Swatches panel set the Fill Color of the shape to Pale Pink.
Step 5
Lock the Background layer and unlock the layer above, Paper.
Switch to the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) and create a frame shape across the whole page, as before. Go to File > Place, navigate to the paper texture image you downloaded earlier, and Open. Allow it to fill the whole frame.
With the image frame selected head up to Object on the top main menu, and Effects > Transparency. Bring the Opacity down to 35%, to bring through some of the pink color beneath.
How to Format the Typography For Your Flyer
Step 1
Lock the Paper layer and unlock the layer above, Type.
Zoom into the top section of the page. Switch to the Type Tool (T) and drag to create a long, narrow text frame across the top of the page, just below the top margin line.
Set your type cursor into the text frame, and from the top Controls panel set the Font to Adhesive Nr. Seven, Font Size to 40pt, and text to Align Center.
Then open the Glyphs panel (Window > Type & Tables > Glyphs). Choose the glyph that looks like a very simple, straight ribbon (pictured below), and double-click on it seven times to fill up the text frame.
Highlight each ribbon with your cursor and adjust the color to alternating Blue and Pale Green from the Swatches panel.
Step 2
Use the Type Tool (T) to create another larger text frame below the first.
Type in ‘SPRING HAS SPRUNG!’ and from either the top Controls panel or the Character and Paragraph panels (Window > Type & Tables > Character / Paragraph), set the Font to Heavyweight, Size 81 pt, and flush the text to Align Center.
From the Swatches panel set the Font Color to Jade.
Step 3
Create another text frame below the ‘SPRING…’ frame, typing in ‘COME ALONG TO THE’.
Set the Font to Cooper Hewitt Bold, Size 47 pt and increase the Tracking (letter-spacing) to 160. Adjust the Font Color to Mustard.
Create another text frame below this, typing in ‘ANNUAL ORGANIC’ (or whatever text you prefer) and setting the Font to Lemiesz, Size 52 pt, and Font Color to Blue.
Step 4
Create a shorter text frame below this, positioned to the right side of the page.
Type in the location of the event, and set the Font to Heavyweight, Size 102 pt, and text to Align Right. Switch the Font Color to Rich Black.
Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste this text frame below, and change the text to read ‘FARMERS’’. Reduce the Font Size a little, to around 100 pt.
Paste the text frame again, positioning below and changing the text to ‘MARKET’. Increase the Font Size to 199 pt. Make sure all three frames are lined up neatly on the right side, using the margin line as a rough guide.
Step 5
Create a long text frame below ‘MARKET’, typing up some additional info about the event, such as what things visitors can expect on the day.
Set the Font to Cooper Hewitt Heavy, Font Color to Orange Red and adjust the Font Size to suit the frame’s width.
Step 6
Select the text frame at the very top of the page (the one containing the ribbons), and Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste. Move the copy down below the orange-red text frame.
Adjust the colors of the ribbons to alternate between Pink and Orange Red.
Step 7
Create a square text frame below the ribbons, to the left side of the page.
Type in the number of stalls/vendors at the event, and set the Font to Nexa Rust Sans Black, Size 100 pt, and Font Color to Blue.
You can frame the number with text frames above and below, as shown below, set in Lemiesz, and an Orange Red Font Color.
Step 8
Create a large text frame to the right of the vendor number, and adjust the Font to Adhesive Nr. Seven, Size 190 pt.
From the Glyphs panel (Window > Type & Tables > Glyphs) choose the ribbon glyph pictured below and double-click to insert it.
Highlight the glyph and set the Font Color to Orange Red.
Step 9
You can start to layer text frames on top of this ribbon, describing the date and time of the event.
Set the Font Color of all these frames to [Paper] (white) for contrast.
Start with the date, setting the Font to Nexa Rust Sans Black and setting the ‘TH’, ‘RD’ or ‘ND’ to Superscript from either the Character panel menu or the top Controls panel.
Build up the day (set above the date in Lemiesz), time (set in Nexa Rust Sans) and month and year (set in Heavyweight) until the ribbon is filled up.
How to Add a Vintage Rooster to Your Flyer
Step 1
With your typography formatted, it’s time to add the finishing touch to your flyer—a cute and quirky rooster!
Lock the Type layer and unlock the top layer, Rooster.
Then File > Save your work so far and briefly minimize the InDesign window.
Step 2
Open up the vintage rooster EPS image in Illustrator.
Expand the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) and select New Swatch from the panel’s drop-down menu.
Name the swatch Rich Black, and set the CMYK levels to C=85 M=86 Y=49 K=70. Click OK.
Then apply this new swatch to the Fill of the rooster and the sparks framing it too.
Select and delete the white background from the image, before heading up to File > Save As. Choose Illustrator EPS for the file format, and name the file ‘Rooster Black.eps’.
Step 3
Exit Illustrator and head back to your InDesign document.
Working on the Rooster layer, use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create an image frame to the left of the black heading.
Go to File > Place, and Open your ‘Rooster Black.eps’ file, allowing it to fill the frame nicely.
How to Edit an Overlay Texture for Your Flyer
Your flyer is looking fantastic, but adding an extra layer of texture to your design will really help give it that desirable vintage look. Here, we’ll edit a JPEG texture and invert the color from dark to light to brighten up the design.
Step 1
Open up the vintage overlay texture JPEG in Photoshop.
Expand the Layers panel and duplicate the Background layer, before switching off the visibility of the bottom Background layer.
Go to Select > Color Range, and click somewhere onto the central white area of the image, to pick up the white color. In the window that opens slide the Fuzziness slider up to around 145 to pick up as much of the white as possible.
Click on the Refine Edge button in the Controls panel at the top of the workspace.
Check Smart Radius, and adjust the Radius and Shift Edge sliders to pick up as much of the white area as possible, while preserving the subtle edges of the dark texture.
Click OK, and then Edit > Copy, Edit > Paste the selection onto a new layer above, Layer 1.
Step 2
Use the Rectangle Tool (U) to create a rectangle shape across the whole page, setting the Fill to a black or dark color, and moving the rectangle below Layer 1.
Click on Layer 1, and then choose Invert from the Adjustment Layer menu at the bottom of the Layers panel.
This will reverse the color, rendering the textured parts of the image as a light image.
Click on Layer 1 to select it, and then go to Select > Color Range, as before. This time, click on the dark part of the image (in the center) to select the black elements of the image.
Click OK. Then click on the Refine Edge button at the top of the workspace, and check Smart Radius, as before. Adjust the Radius and Shift Edge sliders until you’re happy with the accuracy of the selection.
Click OK and then hit Delete on your keyboard to get rid of the dark selection.
Step 3
Go to File > Save As, and name the file ‘Overlay_no bg.psd’, choosing Photoshop (PSD) for the Format.
Then you can minimize the Photoshop window.
Step 4
Head back over to your InDesign document. Working on the Rooster layer, use the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) to create an image frame across the whole page, extending the edges up to the bleed.
Go to File > Place, navigate to your ‘Overlay_no bg.psd’ file, and click Open.
Double-click inside the frame to select the texture image directly, and Right-Click > Transform > Rotate 90 Degrees CW.
Step 5
With the image frame selected, go to Object > Effects > Transparency. Choose Screen for the Mode and click OK.
To add even more texture to your flyer, Edit > Copy and Edit > Paste in Place the image frame, to double the impact of the texture.
How to Export Your Flyer for Circulation
Your flyer artwork is finished, awesome job! All that’s left to do is to export it to a usable format, ready for circulating online or in print format.
If you want to share a version of your flyer on social media or over email, simply go to File > Export and choose JPEG or PNG from the Format options. To export for professional printing, follow the steps below:
Step 1
Go to File > Export, name your file and choose PDF (Print) from the Format drop-down menu at the bottom of the window. Then click Save.
In the Export PDF window that opens choose [Press Quality] from the PDF Preset menu at the top.
Step 2
Click on Marks and Bleeds in the window’s left-hand menu.
Check both All Printer’s Marks and Use Document Bleed Settings.
Then click Export to create your print-ready PDF. You can send this file directly to your local print store or online POD (print-on-demand) service. Great work!
Conclusion: You’ve now finished creating your vintage farmer’s market poster!
Your vintage-inspired art is ready for circulating, and the countdown to the day of the big event begins!
If you’re on the hunt for more cool graphics for your poster designs, make sure to check out this collection of fantastic retro illustrations, which are sure to give your print designs a vintage twist.
