Creating a perfect banner is an art. It takes a lot of patience, practice, and a logical understanding of how the human mind works. Banner printing companies will often have their share of tips and recommendations, but they cannot fix your entire banner after you have brought it to hit the printing press. When plotting the layout of your banner, the first and most important consideration you need to make is:
- Create a Great Tagline or Headline
Studies have revealed that the headline of an article, banner, or any piece of content accounts for as much as 80% of its success. Get the tagline wrong, and your whole banner advertising strategy will become a big bust.
The headline should be engaging while also supporting the tone of your brand and giving the reader a glimpse of what the rest of your banner content will be about. Most copywriters recommend devoting as much as half of your banner brainstorming time to the tagline alone.
- Write Great Content
Capture the attention of people by giving them the most important details first, and then provide less important details (such as any dates, locations, times, etc.) afterwards. Tell the reader what your message is about, why they should care about the message and how it will help or benefit them. Throw in a call to action, and then provide the necessary contact details.
- Remember: Less is More. This is particularly true for banners when space is at a premium. The fewer words you can use to convey your message, the better.
- Embrace White Space
White space is a key element ofbanner design. It provides visual breaks and can even draw attention to pertinent pieces of information better than any image or picture could. Plan your banner out so that there is white space around images and information. The advertisement won’t look “busy” and become visually overwhelming.
- Don’t Use the Whole Rainbow
Colour needs to be used wisely when planning your banner. Not only is an abundance of different colours distracting, but it can also be overbearing and annoying to your reader.
Another important consideration is the message that the colour may be conveying to your reader. Depending on the tone or the message that is written on the banner, choosing the colour “red” for a set of text may not evoke a sense of romance, but rather aggression or anger.
Speaking of the colour red, many banner and advertising experts strongly recommend that you do not use the colour red for your banners. Most recommend, unless red is part of your brand colour, that safer tones and hues of green, yellows and blues should be used.
- Choose Quality Graphics
Now is not the time to scour the web for free images and graphics. The graphics and images included on your banner should:
- Be of high quality (i.e. images not taken with your smartphone)
- Be clear
- Make sense
For example, if you have a pet store that sells small animals and does not sell kittens or puppies, including an image of kittens or puppies would be misleading.