Bauhaus Poster
Make a poster in the Bauhaus style with your own words. Pick one of six compositions of plain geometric shapes (a circle, square and triangle; shapes stacked on a line; a module grid of shapes; quarter circles on a grid; bars and a circle; half circles over blocks) in red, yellow, blue and black, or one of five other palettes. The grid, quarter-circle and bar layouts are drawn from a seed: press New layout for another arrangement, or type a seed to get the same poster again. Your headline, second line and details are set in a bold sans, flush left, in a text area at the bottom, top or left that the shapes never cross. Pick a poster size from A5 to A1 or US Letter to 24 × 36 in, then download a PDF at the real size, a proof on US Letter or A4, a PNG or an SVG. Nothing is uploaded.
100% private — everything runs in your browser. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
The poster-size PDF is the real size you pick (print it at 100% on that paper, or send it to a print shop). The proof fits the whole poster on one US Letter or A4 page with a 2 cm check bar. PNG at 72, 150 or 300 DPI; SVG in millimetres.
Bauhaus-style poster
Your text
Poster size
Proof PDF
Runs in your browser with our own code: nothing you type is uploaded or saved. The circles, squares, triangles and bars are plain geometry we draw ourselves (no logo or emblem), the type is a bold sans set flush left, and every word on the poster is yours. You may use what you make here, including commercially, with no credit needed.
How to make a Bauhaus-style poster
- Pick a preset, or a layout and colours.
- Type your headline, a second line and up to six lines of details.
- Put the text area at the bottom, top or left; for the grid, quarters and bars layouts press New layout until you like the arrangement.
- Pick the poster size and orientation; the type is sized to fit its area.
- Download the PDF at poster size, a Letter / A4 proof, the PNG or the SVG.
What you can use it for
- Exhibition, open-studio and workshop posters
- Design-class exercises in shape and colour
- Talks, lectures and club notices
- Wall prints in primary colours
- Album, zine and book covers
- Social posts from the PNG
The 14 presets
| Preset | Layout | Colours | Size | Text area | Default headline | Headline size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Circle, square and triangle, A3 | Circle, square and triangle | Red, yellow and blue on cream | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Bottom | Form and Colour | 92.7 pt |
| Trio on black, A2 | Circle, square and triangle | Primaries on black | A2 (420 × 594 mm) | Bottom | Form and Colour | 129.6 pt |
| Stacked shapes, A3 | Shapes stacked on a line | Red, yellow and blue on cream | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Bottom | Open Studio | 125.7 pt |
| Stacked shapes, text on top, Tabloid | Shapes stacked on a line | Primaries on white | Tabloid (11 × 17 in) | Top | Form and Colour | 87.2 pt |
| Module grid, A3 | Module grid of shapes (seeded) | Red, yellow and blue on cream | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Bottom | Shape Lab | 133.6 pt |
| Module grid, muted, 18 × 24 in | Module grid of shapes (seeded) | Muted brick, ochre and slate | 18 × 24 in | Bottom | Form and Colour | 142 pt |
| Quarter circles, A2 | Quarter circles on a grid (seeded) | Red, yellow and blue on cream | A2 (420 × 594 mm) | Bottom | Form and Colour | 129.6 pt |
| Quarter circles on blue, A3 | Quarter circles on a grid (seeded) | Red and yellow on deep blue | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Bottom | Print Fair | 133.6 pt |
| Bars and a circle, A3 | Bars and a circle (seeded) | Red, yellow and blue on cream | A3 (297 × 420 mm) | Bottom | Colour Theory | 108 pt |
| Bars, text on the left, landscape A3 | Bars and a circle (seeded) | Red, yellow and blue on cream | A3 (297 × 420 mm), landscape | Left | Form and Colour | 121.9 pt |
| Half circles, US Letter | Half circles over blocks | Red, yellow and blue on cream | US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) | Bottom | Form and Colour | 68.4 pt |
| Half circles on white, A4 | Half circles over blocks | Primaries on white | A4 (210 × 297 mm) | Bottom | Design Talk | 92.7 pt |
| Black and greys, 24 × 36 in | Module grid of shapes (seeded) | Black and greys | 24 × 36 in | Bottom | Form and Colour | 192.6 pt |
| Trio, A1, capitals | Circle, square and triangle | Red, yellow and blue on cream | A1 (594 × 841 mm) | Bottom | Form and Colour | 150.9 pt |
Presets change the layout, colours, text area, seed and size; your own text stays as you typed it.
The six layouts
| Layout | What is in it |
|---|---|
| Circle, square and triangle | A large circle, a square overlapping it, a triangle and two black bars |
| Shapes stacked on a line | A triangle, a square and a circle stacked on a thin line over a base bar |
| Module grid of shapes (seeded) | Square-ish modules, each with a circle, square, triangle, half circle or bar, some on a coloured cell |
| Quarter circles on a grid (seeded) | Every module a quarter circle turned to one of four corners |
| Bars and a circle (seeded) | Seven bars of different widths and heights with two circles |
| Half circles over blocks | Three half circles on blocks of rising height, a small circle and a base bar |
Module grid by size
| Size | Art area (text at the bottom) | Modules | Module size |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 210 × 199 mm | 4 × 4 | 52.5 × 49.7 mm |
| A3 | 297 × 281.4 mm | 4 × 4 | 74.3 × 70.4 mm |
| A2 | 420 × 398 mm | 4 × 4 | 105 × 99.5 mm |
| US Letter | 215.9 × 187.2 mm | 5 × 4 | 43.2 × 46.8 mm |
| 18 × 24 in | 457.2 × 408.4 mm | 4 × 4 | 114.3 × 102.1 mm |
The art area is split into whole modules about a quarter of its shorter side, so the grid always fills it edge to edge.
The colours
| Colours | Ground | Red | Yellow | Blue | Black | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red, yellow and blue on cream | #efe9dc | #d62828 | #f2b80c | #1f4e9c | #151515 | #151515 |
| Primaries on white | #ffffff | #e2231a | #ffcc00 | #0057a8 | #111111 | #111111 |
| Primaries on black | #151515 | #e2382c | #f5c518 | #2f6fd0 | #efe9dc | #efe9dc |
| Muted brick, ochre and slate | #e9e2d3 | #b5523b | #d9a441 | #3d5a80 | #2a2a2a | #2a2a2a |
| Black and greys | #f2f2f2 | #111111 | #8a8a8a | #c4c4c4 | #111111 | #111111 |
| Red and yellow on deep blue | #1f3f7a | #e2382c | #f5c518 | #9fc2ea | #f4efe4 | #f4efe4 |
Poster sizes and safe area
| Size | Poster | Safe area (each edge) | PNG at 150 DPI | PNG at 300 DPI | Proof on US Letter | Proof on A4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A5 | 148 × 210 mm | 7.4 mm | 874 × 1240 px | 1748 × 2480 px | 112.4 % | 120.7 % |
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm | 10.5 mm | 1240 × 1754 px | 2480 × 3508 px | 79.5 % | 85 % |
| A3 | 297 × 420 mm | 14.9 mm | 1754 × 2480 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 56.2 % | 60.1 % |
| A2 | 420 × 594 mm | 21 mm | 2480 × 3508 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 39.7 % | 42.5 % |
| A1 | 594 × 841 mm | 29.7 mm | 3508 × 4967 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 28.1 % | 30.1 % |
| US Letter | 215.9 × 279.4 mm | 10.8 mm | 1275 × 1650 px | 2550 × 3300 px | 84.5 % | 82.7 % |
| Tabloid | 279.4 × 431.8 mm | 14 mm | 1650 × 2550 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 54.7 % | 58.7 % |
| 18 × 24 in | 457.2 × 609.6 mm | 22.9 mm | 2700 × 3600 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 38.7 % | 39.1 % |
| 24 × 36 in | 609.6 × 914.4 mm | 30.5 mm | 3600 × 5400 px | use 150 DPI or the PDF | 25.8 % | 27.7 % |
Browsers cap a picture at about 16.7 million pixels, so the biggest sizes stop at 150 DPI as PNG; the PDF has no such limit and is drawn as vector shapes and text at the real size.
What you can download
| Download | What is in it |
|---|---|
| PDF at poster size | One page the size of the poster (real size), vector shapes and real, selectable text |
| Proof PDF | The whole poster fitted on one US Letter or A4 page, with a thin trim line and a 2 cm check bar |
| PNG | The poster as a picture at 72, 150 or 300 DPI |
| SVG | Vector shapes and text in millimetres, to edit further |
Which tool to use
| You want | Use |
|---|---|
| Primary shapes and flush-left sans type on a poster | Bauhaus Poster (this page) |
| A seamless repeat of Bauhaus-style tiles | Bauhaus Pattern |
| A column grid and a baseline grid | Swiss Style Poster |
| Diagonal bands and bold type in red and black | Constructivist Poster |
| Any poster from a photo and your text | Poster Maker |
Other tools: the Poster Maker lays out a poster around your own photo, the Color Palette Generator finds colours that go together, and Poster Sizes lists every standard size.
More free tools
Posters, colour and print?
Design tools that run privately in your browser, with no sign-up and no watermark.
Frequently asked questions
What does the tool draw?
Only plain geometry: circles, squares, triangles, half and quarter circles, and bars, in a few flat colours on a ground colour. There is no logo, emblem or copied lettering, and every word on the poster is yours.
What does the seed do?
The module grid, quarter circles and bars layouts choose their shapes and colours from a seeded random sequence. The same seed always gives the same poster, so you can note it and come back to it; New layout picks another seed. The other three layouts are fixed compositions.
Can the shapes run into the text?
No. The poster is split into an art area and a text area (bottom, top or left), and every shape is cut exactly at the edge of the art area. The tests check that the two areas never overlap and that no two lines of type touch.
How is the type sized?
The headline takes the largest size that fits its part of the text area in up to three lines (five in the left area), without breaking a word, and never below 4 % of the poster’s short side. If the second line and details then do not fit, the headline gives up some room. If it still does not fit, the tool asks you to shorten the text instead of cutting it.
What is the safe area?
A border of 5 % of the poster’s short side. No type comes closer to the edge than that, so trimming never cuts into a letter. Shapes may run to the edge and are cut exactly at the trim.
Which sizes can I print?
A5, A4, A3, A2 and A1, US Letter, Tabloid (11 × 17 in), 18 × 24 in and 24 × 36 in, portrait or landscape. The PDF page is the poster at its real size.
Why is the PNG off at 300 DPI for big posters?
Browsers cap a picture at about 16.7 million pixels. Use 150 DPI for the PNG, or the PDF, which is vector and prints sharp at any size.
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit; the note under the tool says how you may use what you make.
Is anything uploaded?
No. The poster is drawn by JavaScript in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved when you close the page.