It’s fairly simple to make a flyer. Though the imagery can be really important as far as grabbing someone’s attention, first and foremost is the importance to the details of the show. It does you no good to have an eye-catching image if information is missing, or is difficult to read, so keep in mind:
-Who is playing
– where are they playing
-if you can or cannot contain an address
-how much does it cost
-when is it
-and where can you find more information

The way I’ve been designing flyers is to first draw the image that I want to use. I like to use high-contrast black and white as my style, as printing black and white is cheap, and you don’t want details getting muddled in the transition from color to b&w. You could do something much more detailed/colored/cut and pasted, which a lot of people have done to good effect as well. Just make sure you have in mind where your text will be, and that it can be big enough to be legible.

I’ve started designing my text on a separate piece of paper, and then digitally editing the text and image together. Depending on your style, or access to digital editing, this might not be viable. There’s always the effective old school way of cutting, pasting and xeroxing at kinkos. It works well, and requires no major computer knowledge.

Some other tips I can throw in is, if the show or event is free, make sure that’s known! Not having to spend money is really enticing. If you don’t collect a specific amount of money, but do have touring groups to help out, it would be good to include that donations are taken, just so people can know to have a bit of cash on them when they show up. In this digital age, telling people a website or a keyword to search for to find more information is generally a good idea. I make sure to put DITKalamazoo.com on all of my flyers.

Lastly, keep in mind that this is a fun way of having a bit of visual expression. You don’t need to be a visual artist to make a good flyer. Ann Arbor flyer maker Shelley Salant’s style is to make the only imagery on the flyer the relevant text, done in bold magic markers. This is clear, concise, attention grabbing, and is a signature style.