Banners in Action - A High School Marching Band

Banners can be effectively used to promote a variety of bands. If you are stuck for some ideas on how to implement a banner for your band, this example of a hypothetical marching band should be of assistance. We'll walk you through each step, from the initial design phase to display.

Our high school marching band is in need of a banner for an upcoming band competition. Before they begin designing their banner, they begin to get some ideas from the other schools in the competition. By taking the time to see what the other banners will look like, this school can be assured that their banner will stand out.

Once they have gathered this information, it should be compiled into a list of features. After the desirable features have been separated from the undesirable, the school can begin to decide what they want their banner to look like.

Since this is a high school banner, the school's colors will need to be used. This school's colors are black and red and their uniforms reflect this color scheme as well. Now, a decision will have to be made on the background color of the banner. Which color should they use? It is recommended to design two identical text banners, one with a black background and one with a red background, using alternating text colors for each one.

At this point, they will be able to get an idea of which background color is more appropriate. The band uniforms can also be helpful in this process. If they are primarily black, a red banner will stand out from the uniforms well, and vice versa. Since a banner for this type of band is typically displayed at about waist high, if the background color of the uniforms is the same as the banner, it can be hard to see.

The school decides on a red banner with black text, since their uniforms are primarily black. This will allow the people in the bleachers to easily see their banner, and the name of the school. Now they will move on to the design elements. The school logo is in line art, and looks well in bold.

The school's name will be placed in the center of the banner, and two logos will be on either side of this text. Since this school won last year's competition, a short message in white will be displayed above the school's name to point this out. A third color is recommended for this type of message to separate it from the rest of the text.

Now that the design process is complete, the banner is ready to be made. Now it is time for the school to figure out how to make it easy for two band members to carry the banner. Two short poles will be used, one on each end of the banner.

The banner will be secured to these poles tightly, to avoid any sagging in the middle. Two people will be elected to carry the banner, using the poles to stretch it tight.

This is just one example of how a banner can be used for a band. Take some time to brainstorm and you'll be ready to implement your own idea in a very short time.