Billboard Design

What is a sight common to all cities? Highrises, skyscrapers, traffic, the crowds for sure. But another thing that takes up most of the space on these big buildings and lines the flyovers are billboards.

How do you exactly define a billboard?

A billboard, also sometimes known as a ‘hoarding’, is a massive outdoor board used to display advertising. Billboards are designed to display products/services offered by a company with the main purpose of selling to the masses. These billboards are mostly located in busy parts of the city and on highrises, where they are most likely to be seen by the maximum number of people.

Billboards are an excellent method of grabbing people’s attention in an unusual kind of way, through large ads that are:

• Easy to read
• Have a clear message

Billboard advertising is a great way to raise brand awareness and get your company (or product or campaign) in front of as many people as possible. Hence, it is very important to get it done the right way.

There are some key rules to follow while designing an impactful billboard are:

• The primary role of a billboard is to provide information to your target customers. In order to create a successful billboard design, simplicity is the answer. Keep your billboard design simple, short and easy to read. Less is more.
• Use bold, non-serif fonts in your billboard design. Use typefaces that are broad and easy to read. Thin lines often appear to fade or break up at 500 feet. Avoid decorative, italic, or serif fonts. Upper and lower case sans serif fonts, in general, are the easiest to read.
• Make the text large so that it is visible even from 500 feet away. Apply a thin, dark stroke around the text to distinguish it from the content. Even the best design is useless if it cannot be read from afar.
• Stick to only one message or idea. I’m sure you have heard the phrase, ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’. Similarly, trying to add as many as possible ideas and messages in one giant billboard only serves the purpose of confusing people and making it hard for them to focus on one clear message. Ensure that your billboard design makes an impact on your target audience within 5 seconds or so.
• To easily draw attention to your billboard, use bright colours or a bold image in your design. Contrasting colours inside the design will also increase the effect.
• Use high-quality images that aren’t too complex, maximum 3 elements. Remember to set all files in RGB format for digital billboards and CMYK format for printed ones. Place your company logo strategically alongside the message on the billboard design.

Billboards are designed in such a way that they easily reach people who need those products most. The bold, colourful ads used to design billboards are made to stand out in the crowd, especially to persuade your potential customers to go buy your products/services instead of choosing your competitors.