Tips for ‘working’ Billboard Advertising

Billboards are everywhere and they can have a powerful impact on brands. Outdoor advertising remains competitive even in the digital age. That's why it's important to know how to design your advertising so that it’s as effective as possible.

Seven words or less

There are some billboards littered with phone numbers, addresses, websites, etc. A billboard is a secondary advertising medium for a quick message, which means that it’s ideal for creating a brand and supporting a campaign, but not for detailed information about a product or brand. A billboard advertising should not be cluttered or illegible. Keep in mind that people are usually on the go when looking at billboards, so you don’t have much time to display your advertising message – you have no more than 3 to 5 seconds depending on the location of the billboard, whether it’s in an urban or suburban areas.

Many billboard design professionals recommend that a billboard should contain no more than 7 words. You can make an exception by adding a few more words, depending on their length and readability, but as a rule, the fewer the better.

Pay attention to the size of the logo

One of the most common requests customers make when advertising is, ‘Make the logo bigger!’. The reason for this is easy to understand. The customer pays a lot for advertising a brand and wants consumers to remember that brand, imprinting itself permanently on their memory. However, there has to be a balance. An oversized logo is distracting and can leave the message behind.

The colours and the images

Use bright colours or bold images in your design to effortlessly draw eyes to your billboard. Contrasting colours in the design will also create an even greater impact, helping the eye linger on your advertising message.

But for your design to be effective, you need to keep your background clean to ensure that the foreground will stand out. Stick to one large image or photo. This will have a much greater impact on consumers than a number of small images that will unnecessarily distract.

Use good contrast

Always use large, legible fonts. Avoid decorative or italic and cursive letters. At large distances, thin lines (text) are optically blurred. Strong contrast is necessary when creating a visual appearance. Be aware that shading and outlining of the lettering itself impairs its visibility, so should be avoided. As a general rule, fonts without shadows offer the best legibility.

Try it out

So you’ve followed all the rules and designed a fantastic billboard. It is interesting, clean, concise and has contrasting colours. But will it be seen? Will it be read and understood?

Here’s a quick test to make sure you’re not wasting time and money. Print out your billboard advertising in A4 size. Now take 5 steps back. Can you still clearly see everything you saw on your 27-inch monitor? If not, go in and refine it. Everything should be noticeable. Remember that you have no more than 5 seconds to be seen.