10 Free-to-use Missing Poster Templates To Search For Your Loved One
Suhith Kumar RN - March 23, 2022 - Leave your thoughts.
In the 21st century, digital platforms contribute significantly to tracing a missing person, a missing cat, or a missing dog. Digital is not the only medium to track down a loved one, but word spreads fast on social media, on messenger apps, and short messaging services (SMS). And in desperate circumstances, time is of the essence.
That said, missing poster advertising is an effective way to raise awareness about a missing person or pet. With a blend of relevant information and the right placement, posters enable people across localities to potentially identify the missing subject and reconnect them with their families.
The missing person or missing dog or missing cat poster offers several advantages for the families in desperation:
- Less time consuming to create (especially if a pre-built template is used)
- Easy to distribute
- Grabs people’s attention and triggers a rapid response
- Affordable
Examples Of Missing Poster
Here is a collection of posters to help you fast-track your search for a missing person or a missing pet.
Example #1: White Background Man Missing Poster Template
This is a typical missing person poster comprising all the essential details. It includes the person’s name, when they were last seen, and the costume they wore at the time. The contact number is provided to communicate with the family.
Example #2: Red And Blue Missing Person Poster Template
This poster has a two-column layout with the image on the left and the details of the missing person on the right. It includes hair and eye color, in addition to the age, height, and weight of the person. The last seen and contact details are also available, along with the alias of the missing person’s name.
Example #3: Young Woman Missing Poster Template
This is a monochrome missing person poster with bold typography and a side-on image of the person’s face. It uses words and phrases such as “missing” and “help us find” to instill a sense of urgency in people. The poster includes appearance and height and weight details to help search for the right person. Details of when the person was seen last and the color of their outfit at the time have also been included.
Example #4: Young Girl Wearing A Hat Missing Poster Template
This is a traditional missing person poster comprising all the essential, customizable details: name, appearance, age, height, and weight. It also mentions when and where the person was seen last. The contact information has been included at the bottom.
Example #5: Boy Wearing Pink T-shirt Missing Poster Template
Here’s a minimalist missing person poster that includes the name, age, and the time and location where the person was seen last. It doesn’t include details of appearance, height, and weight. The poster, however, makes up for it with a clear, front-facing mugshot image of the person’s face.
Example #6: Cinnamon British Shorthair Missing Cat Poster Template
This is a missing cat poster that comes with the customizable option of a cash reward for the person who successfully finds the cat and reunites with the owners. The poster copy includes the cat breed, the name, and the age to help with the search.
Example #7: Persian Tabby Missing Cat Poster Template
Here’s a missing cat poster that includes the name, sex, age, breed, and appearance. The poster also announces a cash reward for the person who reunites the cat with his owner, whose contact information is provided at the bottom.
Example #8: French Bulldog Missing Dog Poster Template
This is a missing dog poster that evokes a sense of urgency to help search for ‘Rio’, whose name, sex, and breed have been included. The poster also offers the editable option to announce a cash reward for the person who finds and returns him to his owner. The contact number is provided at the bottom.
Example #9: Labrador Dog Missing Poster Template
This is a poster to alert people of a missing dog, whose name, sex, age, and breed (Labrador Retriever) have been mentioned as essential details. A cash reward is included as an editable option along with the contact information of the dog’s owner.
Example #10: Beagle Dog Missing Poster Template
This is a minimalist dog missing poster comprising the name, age, and breed of the dog. The poster announces a cash reward and also comes with the contact details to reach the owner in relation to searching for and finding ‘Milo’.
What You Should Include In A Missing Poster
Missing posters are typically typography-based, but the poster’s layout and elements must be designed in a way that all relevant information is displayed prominently and clearly.
Poster Subject
The word “MISSING” or “HELP FIND”, or “HAVE YOU SEEN” must be positioned right above the image of the missing person (or pet). This piece of text communicates to people that someone is missing and triggers a response to search for or spread the word around further.
Mugshot Of Missing Person/Pet
The mugshot image of the missing person or pet is the most important piece of detail for this poster.
When using a photograph, you must:
- Avoid blurred images
- Avoid images with two people (unless both the people in the image are missing)
- Use a close-up image of the person’s face
WATCH: How to design a perfect poster
Features
Hair color and eye color are essential details that must be included in a missing person poster. In addition, mention whether the person has body tattoos, scars, identification marks, and so on. You might also want to include the health details of the person.
Name
Provide the full name (the first name, middle name, and surname) of the missing person and ensure it’s spelled right. Include nicknames too, if the person has any, to help people recognize easily.
Time And Location
Make sure you include the date, time, and location where the missing person or pet was seen last. This detail provides the authorities (or whoever is part of the search) the foundation for tracing the person and reuniting them with their family.
Contact Details
It might seem customary, but make sure you include the contact number that should be reached after the missing person has been found. You might also want to add a public helpline number or the telephone number of the agency that’s helping search for the missing person or pet.
Reward
You might want to show your gratitude to the person who helps reunite your family with your loved one. In the missing person poster, you can briefly include the prize that you’d be offering.
A History Of Missing Posters
Missing posters have come a long way, thanks largely to the advent, affordability, and accessibility of technology.
According to writer and visual artist Jelle Havermans, before computers and printers became affordable, missing posters were primarily produced by the local law enforcement.
That, however, changed with the increased affordability of computers and printers, which enabled people to create their own posters.
The emergence of color printers took it a step further by turning the hitherto black-and-white into color posters. These were an improvement on the “grainy” black-and-white version that was a common sight for decades.
LEARN: How To Create And Edit Designs In Picmaker
In the 21st century, the increased accessibility of the internet has led to missing person posters being produced and distributed online. The improvements don’t end there either.
Havermans writes: “Technological advances have led to large improvements in (digital) facial constructions. Sometimes digital technologies are used to create a so called age progression of the missing person, as to match their respective appearance in the current day.”
Social media, too, has helped power the spreading of missing person posters and because of its rapid and wide reach, it’s helped solve numerous cases of missing persons.
Conclusion
Missing posters help raise public awareness about a missing person or a missing pet by providing relevant information such as name, sex, age, appearance, height, weight, breed (in the case of missing cats and missing dogs), and more. This type of poster must include when the person was seen last and the outfit they wore to help detectives and the public to potentially trace them down.
It’s important to use phrases such as “MISSING”, “HELP FIND” or “HAVE YOU SEEN” in the poster copy to communicate the right message and convey a sense of urgency. While missing posters are mainly typography-based, their layout and design should aid the display and legibility of key information.
Picmaker’s ready-to-use templates offer the fastest solution to creating missing posters. The templates are easy to customize and, once customized, the poster can be seamlessly shared digitally with the single click of a button. Picmaker offers AI-powered solutions such as MAD Button and Background Remover that help fast-track the poster creation process even for those new to graphic design.
When searching for a missing person(s), time is really of the essence. And templates are a timely solution to drive the search for the missing person or pet.
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