Ad Design Fundamentals

It's a contradiction, but designing simple, effective ads is anything but simple. This is especially true for novice advertisers. You can spend hours looking at print design ads in magazines and news papers without isolating which work and which don't, much less finding the common elements of effective ads. Don't fret, though, I've got a few tips that can get you on your way to an attractive ad that won't get lost on your viewing public.

It's a contradiction, but designing simple, effective ads is anything but simple. This is especially true for novice advertisers. You can spend hours looking at print design ads in magazines and news papers without isolating which work and which don't, much less finding the common elements of effective ads. Don't fret, though, I've got a few tips that can get you on your way to an attractive ad that won't get lost on your viewing public.

Keep It Simple: For an ad to be effective, you need both your product and your headline to stand out. In an effort to get the most out of their space, though, a lot of first time advertisers will fill any empty space in an ad layout with what amounts to useless clutter. Not only does this distract your potential customer's attention, it may confuse of muddle the message you are trying to get across. A good rule of thumb is to allow one fourth of your ad layout to be empty space.

Create Flow: Ideally the flow of your ad should mirror the natural flow of the viewer's eyes. That being, from the top left to the bottom right. Arranging your ad with either your headline followed by your image or your image followed by your headline, leaving your offer and your contact information for last. This not only catches the viewers eyes, but helps ensure that they don't lose interest and miss out on the details of your offer.

Focus Your Image: Like with the text, it is equally easy to create clutter with images. Having an image, either as a product display or as an attention grabber is essential (there's reason why TV has surpassed the newspaper as people's preferred source for news), but having too many images can make your ad appear unappealing and unprofessional. Its also important to ensure that the image you've chosen is clear and sharp. A blurry or grainy image can make even any ad, regardless of its cost, seem cheap and second rate.

Look at the Big Picture: Try to put a bit of distance (physically and creatively) between yourself and the ad layout and try to put yourself in the shoes of a potential customer viewing your ad. Critically look for flaws outside of the basics. Is the ad lopsided? Is all of you text too centrally focused? Does the color used in the ad compliment the colors of your chosen image? Is the font too small to easily read or is it too large and a waste of valuable ad space? All of these are questions you should ask yourself as you step back. If you can't be objective yourself, invite an unbiased viewer their opinion.

All ads aren't created equal. Some will fail and others will be big money earners. You don't have to rely on trial and error or blind luck to design an successful ad, though. Following my advice will put you on the right path. You just have to walk it.

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Charen Smith writes articles about Internet Marketing. She has an extensive knowledge and experience when it comes to business strategies, techniques and business solutions.