Designing Ads? Remember The Reader

 Designing Ads? Remember The Reader

Summary:
Help the reader respond to your offer


Article main part:

When creating an advertising design for a newspaper, magazine or direct mail piece, what do you think is one of the most important considerations?

If you answered the question about readability, congratulations! Fancy graphics may get the ad noticed, but readers need to be able to actually read the words. This elementary concept sounds so simple, but is often ignored. If they can not read it, they will not understand enough of your offer to respond.

With today's sophisticated and virtually unlimited graphic computer options, it's easy for the commercial artist to be fooled into believing that what's on the screen looks like a true work of art!
Here are some questions to ask yourself when designing advertising:

1. Do you want your ad to look different? Look at some past issues of the publication in which your ad will appear. Often publications create their own ads ("pub-set"), and they often look similar. See if you can recognise them. Then try to develop a graphic that stands out from the other ads. Make your ad stand out from the others by using a different font family that is easy to read.

2. Is the ad legible? In their quest to be different and stylish, some of today's magazines make it difficult to read.

Here are some common problems. White lettering on a light pastel background. Or light pastel font on a slightly darker background of the same color. Or colors that do not contrast well when viewed in black and white, such as dark forest green type on a fire engine red background.

It is better to set the headline in a large, light-colored font on a much darker background.

3. Are you trying to cram too much information into a small space? One of the biggest problems is trying to fit too many words and terms into a small space.

In this case, small space is actually your friend. It forces you (or the author) to put your ideas into simple words and concepts. Remember, the goal of many ads is to get a request, not to tell the whole story.

Readers often pay attention to the details to find out if they want to take action. The font in which these details are presented should be large enough to be readable and understandable for people with visual impairments. The font in color really needs to be 10 point, if not 11 point, in order to be read by the entire population.

For black and white newspaper advertisements, a font size of only 8 point can be used as the black type on newsprint makes it easier to understand. In magazines, black type with only 4 points (on a white background) was used. The clarity is amazing, but many people need a magnifying glass!

To summarise, ignoring these three aspects can spell disaster for the reader trying to understand the advertising message. A good ad design creates graphic effects that emphasise the author's words and contribute to the overall success of the ad.