In order to be effective, all advertising media places high demands on the designer.
Determining the target group is the first step in designing the poster visuals. According to the characteristics of the target group, the other elements of the poster are determined and formatted so that the communicated message brings expected results.
Poster viewers may be pedestrians or drivers/passengers in passing cars.
The content and message of the billboards must be easily understood by the viewers. This means that:
- the text and image content should be reduced to what is essential. Create them according to the KISS formula (Keep It Short and Simple)
- short slogans and clever titles are more suitable than long sentences
- it is best to use just one textual and visual message
- focus on few, easily readable fonts
- graphic elements must attract attention
- logo, product name or brand must be immediately noticed
- place the most important messages in the upper part of the poster to avoid visual clutter
- clearly state the benefit for the consumer
- viewers will remember what personally interests them
Colours have a great impact on the aesthetic experience and consequential actions (impulse buying):
- red is exciting
- orange is vitalizing
- yellow is stimulating
- green is refreshing
- brown is calming
- blue is serious, sharp and fresh
- purple is mystical and disturbing
- gold is dominant and powerful
- silver is technical and neutral
In order to determine the advertising effect of billboards before setting up and assessing the design, we recommend pre-tests. Test subjects are shown the poster elements and asked about its communication effect.
- Is the billboard noticeable enough?
- What is the message?
- Do you recognize the advertiser?