20 Tutorials for Creating Posters in Adobe Illustrator

Posters are a great way to promote your event but they can also be used to promote your business or a cause. What’s more, they can be designed in many different ways and make use of illustrations as well as typography to convey all the necessary details.

In this roundup, we’ve gathered the best Adobe Illustrator tutorials for creating beautiful and attractive posters for a variety of projects and industries. Use them to pick up a few new tricks or to get inspired before you start working on a new project.

You might also like these Photoshop poster design tutorials, or these free poster mockup PSD templates.

How to Create a Bold Pattern Poster Design

Bold patterns are all around us. David Popov takes us through his journey in Paris to show us how to make our own bold patterns with his abstract form tutorial. Are you ready to start your own journey in bold pattern design?

How to to Create a Geometric Poster Vector Design

Use shapes instead of letters for your next poster! With this step by step tutorial you will learn how to use geometric shapes put together to make letters, and then transform into your next poster.

Number Poster Design (Envato Elements Template)

Save time making your number poster designs with this template. Ready for immediate use on A4 and A5 sized paper with a 300 DPI resolution. Feel free to adjust colors to your liking and edit the text with your text tools.

How to Create a Hand-Lettered Textured Poster

Need to unleash your inner creativity with some hand lettered posters? Then get your coffee ready and dive in with this step by step tutorial that will show you how to bring your hand lettering to life!

How to Create a Geometrical Abstract Poster (Video Tutorial)

With this video tutorial you will be able to take a simple pattern and transform it into an abstract geometric poster. You will see how to make use of swatches to create a 3d randomized pattern that you transform into a full fledged poster.

Music Poster Promotion (Envato Elements Template)

How to Create a Daft Punk Poster in Illustrator

Want to make your own Daft Punk inspired artwork? Then you’ll enjoy this step by step tutorial showing you how to make a Daft Punk poster using Adobe Illustrator. You’ll then finish off the design in Photoshop.

How to Create a Retro Poster with Astronaut Child

Were you ever inspired by the art on the VHS covers? Intrigued to see what that art work was? Well, join us with this video tutorial to learn how to create your own artwork based on that long gone cassette type.

How To Create a Retro VHS Cassette Poster (Video Tutorial)

Were you ever inspired by the art on the VHS covers? Intrigued to see what that art work was? Well, join us with this video tutorial to learn how to create your own artwork based on that long gone cassette type.

Summer Poster Bundle (Envato Elements Template)

Jump straight into summer season with this warm summer poster template bundle. They are easy to edit, print ready with .25 bleeds and safety marks, and come in an A3 size.

How To Create a Geometric Collage Poster (Video Tutorial)

By combining the capabilities of Illustrator and Photoshop; you will be able to follow along with this video tutorial to create a collage poster reminiscent of album or abstract posters.

How to Create a 1950’s Advertisment Poster

Travel back in time with this step by step tutorial to create a 1950’s style poster. You will be drawing everything using basic shapes and tools and then transforming them to give it an aged look.

How to Create a Bright & Colourful Vector Poster

In this abstract tutorial, Ben the Illustrator takes you through the journey of creating your own colorful vector poster. He highlights the use of his favorite tools and how to incorporate them into the poster design.

Photography Poster (Envato Elements Template)

This gorgeous photography poster template features a minimalist and modern design. Designed in an A4 format, the template comes with smart shapes and includes a link to the free fonts used in the project.

How to Create a Colorful Retro Poster

Creating a colorful retro poster is as easy as finding a photograph that you love, and using Photoshop and Illustrator to change small portions to create a whole new image. Learn how with this step by step tutorial.

How to Create a Colorful Spring Poster (Video Tutorial)

Spring into this video tutorial and learn how to use Illustrator to make a simply divine spring themed poster. You will be transforming simple shapes into colorful leaves and wildlife in no time.

How To Create a Colorful Abstract Poster

Colors and geometric shapes are all it takes to create this wonderful poster. Learn how Chris used a series of tessellating shapes created with the help of Illustrator’s Pathfinder tool, then added color swatches and gradients to bring the design to life.

Creative Poster Vector Templates (Envato Elements Template)

How to Create a Creative Anaglyphic Poster

An anaglyph is the overlaying of images of complementary colors to achieve a three-dimensional look and feel. With this tutorial, you will be able to recapture a long forgotten process to bring your next text based poster to life.

How to Create a Desert Landscape Flat Design Poster (Video Tutorial)

Ever wanted to create your own desert landscape? Now you can, with this video tutorial. You will learn how to make use of the flat design, simple patterns, and basic shapes to create your own desert landscape.

How to Design a Geometric Pattern for a Poster

Want to create a randomized pattern that just pulls you in like the 1950’s book covers did? Then prepare yourself for this tutorial by Simon C. Page as he shows you how to easily and quickly design beautiful geometric patterns.

How to Create a Retro Theatre Poster

When you follow this step by step tutorial you will learn how to make a vintage looking theatre poster. By combining clipping masks, vector brushes, basic shape tools, and great typography, you’ll be able to apply your new skills to any poster design project that comes your way.

How to Create a Soda Pop Vintage Poster

Everything old is new again, and with this tutorial you’ll be able to bring to life your inner child having soda during summer. Learn how to transform a simple sketch into a poster of a cheery cartoon quality of the 1950’s.

How to Design a Vintage Travel Poster

With this tutorial you will rediscover the golden age of travel posters. You will learn how to capitalize on Illustrator’s drawing tools and then leverage Photoshop’s brushes and blending modes to make vintage looking posters.

Poster design can make or break your event, cause or campaign which is why it’s important to get the poster design just right. With the help of the tutorials on this list, you’ll learn how to create attractive posters for all kinds of projects and campaigns.