Common Pitfalls of Ad Design

In a time where all you hear is web this and online that, it’s important to remember that print is still a valuable medium to focus your advertising efforts. While a good web presence backed up by focused social media is a great start to guiding potential customers your way, sometimes a finely crafted print ad running in a targeted publication can go a long way as well.

Make my logo bigger!

It’s tempting. You see your logo on the ad and think, “Man, that should be bigger. It needs to be the first thing people see!” Nope.

What people need to see first is your message, not your logo. Your message isn’t “Hey, look at my logo!”. Your message is why people need your product or service. A good question to ask regarding your logo is: “Can you see it and is it legible?” If the answer is yes, leave it alone. 

Include all 5 of my phone numbers and 10 paragraphs of my bio!

I get it; it’s logical. You want people to get a hold of you and know all about you and your business. Here’s the thing though, you really only need one, maybe two methods of contact in your ad: a web address and a phone number. If you have a physical address and welcome walk-ins, then an address is ok too. (There’s no point in offering a physical address up if it is by appointment only.)

There is usually no reason to have more than one phone number in an ad. It’s confusing. “What if the line is busy or I can’t get the call?” Voicemail. You want to make the line of contact as simple and stream-lined as possible.

“Yeah, well what about my bio? How will people know where I’m from, where I was educated and what I’m about?” Website. Once people are interested in your product or service, they will visit your website or give you a call where you can provide this information.

Use all my photos!

You have a lot of great photos that you paid a photographer to take and want to show off as many as you can. (or  you have a bunch of photos on your cell phone you took; yikes). Using amateur photos instead of professional photos is a topic for another blog, so let’s focus on the volume of images here.

I’ll address this issue with a question: What is easier to process? A stop sign or collage of different road signs? One is a visually simple, cohesive message. The other is a barrage on the senses with no clear message.

While a design utilizing multiple photos can sometimes work depending on your message, using a bunch of photos for no other reason than you have them available is not a wise choice and damages the impact of your ad and your message.

It doesn't stand out enough, make it red!

I hate to single out the color red here. It’s a lovely color and quite useful, and for the purposes of this point, it can be interchangeable with any color really. My point is, a designer creates the color palette of your ad because it ties all the elements together visually. Throwing in an arbitrary color simply because it will stick out can ruin the visual aesthetic of the ad. You want your message to stand head and shoulders above the competition and that neon pink sale notice that totally clashes with the rest of the ad will win you no fans.

There are many other methods of calling attention to something such as scale, negative space, orientation to the other objects in the ad, etc… Basically, ruining your ad with a clashing color shouldn’t be the first or even last option. 

Go ahead and get started; we can bang out the details later!

This is a time-tested and proven strategy to waste your time and money. You are paying a professional to craft a visual representation of your company in order to attract new business. This thing needs to pop, be memorable and illicit a call to action in a matter of seconds.

…and you are asking them to guess and craft a design and idea based on the unknown.

Providing all the assets to your designer and giving them concise instructions on all copy and ideas you want in the ad from the very beginning is key. No one wants to have to go through 8 drafts of an ad. No one wants a beautifully designed ad to end up a visually cluttered mess because of all the last-minute copy that ended up in there. No one wants to see a designer cry. At least I don’t think you do… 

Ok, ok, I get it…

In a nutshell, you hired a professional for a reason. We know what we are doing and any suggestions we offer that may seem like utter madness are offered for a reason. We do what we do because we love it and we are passionate about it. We love to see our clients succeed. These suggestions are simply a way to help your project go as smoothly as possible and turn your marketing dollar into new customers and clients! Let Sundaram design your next killer print ad.