Make it striking, make it sell: Building a Better Billboard

From a designer’s perspective, a crosstown car ride can be maddening. The reason? Billboards which are (sometimes literally) towering monuments to bad design. If not for the really well done advertising out there, some of us (in spirit, anyway) would fear ever venturing out at all.

Designing good outdoor advertising comprises the difficult process of following two simple instructions: make it striking, and make it sell. Truly great outdoor ads create impressions so memorable that even seasoned designers forget the sweat they took to create. Truly bad ads are just remembered for being bad. Below are some examples of both, and a few comments to help make your designs work.

Heavy reading

Butch Wax and the Hollywoods may be one swingin’ band, but this billboard has a slim chance of getting them any new fans. (With this and all thumbnails in this article, click on the image to view a larger size.) Even advertising newbies may have heard the general guideline that more than seven words on a billboard is too many. This gem boasts over fifty, including many in magenta over black. Too many words, too small words, too little contrast. Thank goodness there’s a phone number for people to call and say, “Hey—I can’t read your billboard.”

In contrast, this billboard for United Health Services (Binghamton, NY) is an easy “grab,” at no matter what speed you fly by it. Good contrast and uncluttered art make it striking; branding consistent with this health care provider’s other marketing makes it selling.

But, you say, the purposes of these two boards are completely different. Well, not really. Often, outdoor advertising’s role is to serve as a support medium for other elements in a marketing plan. The United Health Services ad supports maternity information found elsewhere in more detail—in their newspaper ads (which share the same look), on the radio, and on their website. Similarly, these types of media are more proper places for most of the information on the Butch Wax billboard. There, a photo of the band, their name, a date, and a venue should be enough to support their other promotional marketing. In the role of a support medium, and with other marketing properly in place, the billboard should not even require a phone number.

This billboard for CFCU Community Credit Union (Ithaca, NY) is another good example of outdoor used as a support medium: no phone number, not even a website. The purpose of this billboard is not to get people to “do” anything. It’s purpose is to resonate with ads, radio spots, and other campaign elements where that information is more accessible to their audience.

The same can be said for this United Health Services bus wrap, which, as with the CFCU billboard, was designed to complement a host of other campaign materials, and strengthen the campaign as a whole.

Looks good on the screen, but...

You’ll see them on any highway, on any given day: billboards that are smash hits on the designer’s (and client’s) computer screen, but that bomb on the road.

As seen in this example, the chief culprit in these cases is often a lack of contrast. Gold type on a background of pastels look luxurious on screen. Purple type on black looks hip. But in the reflective world of roadside advertising, they’re simply too hard to read.

Here’s an easy experiment: Download this AdViewer pdf offered by Lamar (Outdoor) Advertising. Print it (at actual 8.5x11 size), cut out the proportioned rectangles, and view (at arm’s length) the “Regency on the Ravine” billboard through the 30-sheet-sized hole.

Tough to get the message, isn’t it?

Try the same exercise on this ESSA Bank & Trust billboard, where conciseness and contrast combine to make the message clear, even though the most important word on the billboard is (intentionally) partially obscured.

Billboards that create buzz!

Sometimes, agencies and company designers are able to really let their imaginations fly—often to heights where “striking” and “selling” magically merge into buzz-creating, memory making marketing miracles.

This Eskom billboard took no massive budget, no expensive production. In fact, it’s probably the least expensive billboard the company has produced. But from sundown til sunup, it’s just brilliant. Perfect harmony of intent, message and design.

On the other hand, this billboard for muffins is certainly memorable (and expensive). So it’s got “striking” going for it. One might quibble, though, that demonstrating how their muffins are heavy enough to crush a car might not be the best way to reach that “selling” goal!

You’ll find some of the best recent outdoor advertising at Billboard-Outdoor.com. And the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) features a library of award-winning designs that are both informative and fun to flip through. A web search of “good billboard design” will also turn up gems like this entry from Personal Weblog of Matt Thommes, which covers points made here and many more.

But now, armed with only a few pointers, you’re well qualified to cast a questioning eye at outdoor advertising, whether on your screen or outside your windshield, and ask those two simple questions: Is it striking? Is it selling?

If the answer to both is “Yes,” then good job. Good advertising.

(For a short primer on the advantages and limitations of billboards and similar advertising venues, check out "Spotlight on...Outdoor Media" in the Riger Knowledge Base.)