The Elements Of Design 

How to Design Works That Bring You Customers

  The advertising design information on this page should help you to understand
more about effective communication, and how your customers interpret your ads.

 
Attention Is Always First

 This one is simple. If people don’t notice your ad, your chance of success is
exactly zero. Your advertising design absolutely must get attention first.  

 Research indicates that 85% of ads don't get looked at, no matter how much
they cost to produce. You have to be seen if you want action. Just imagine losing
85% of your customers because your ad doesn't stand out from the crowd. Or
think about increasing the response to your ads by SIX times because they do
get noticed.

Imagery

 Strong imagery is the best attention getter. A picture is truly worth 1,000 words
when it comes to getting attention. Ads that feature large visuals [60%-70% of
the ad is the photo] score the highest for stopping power.

 But you need to make sure that you get the right kind of attention. A big,
beautiful, full colour picture of a naked model will get you a lot of attention, but
not the kind you want. Don’t let a great picture dictate your advertising design. It
is critical for your imagery to match your message. Your pictures have to match
your copy, and together they must convey your intended message.

 This is probably the most common mistake in advertising design. The pictures
don’t have much to do with the product or service, or they don’t convey the right
message. If the photo sells lust or humor, and you are selling security, the mental
contrast will confuse all but the most determined readers. People will pass you by
because the reason they were attracted to your ad [the picture] does not match
what you are selling. You have attracted the wrong attention with your advertising
design.

 
Contrast

 If imagery is the first way to get attention with your advertising design, then
contrast is definitely the second way. Your ad must contrast with the other ads on
the page. That is why it is critical for designers to see the actual medium you will
be advertising in. If your ad just blends in with everything else on the page, you
are wasting your money. If your graphic designer doesn’t care where your ad
appears – fire them.

 Even worse than blending in, your customers might mistake your ad for your
competitor's ad. You want your advertising design to give your company a unique
look that contrasts with the other ads around it.

Be Different

 If imagery is first, and contrast is second, then being different is the third way to
get attention with your advertising design. 

 People are attracted to unusual, new, funny, different things. You need to push
your advertising design as far away from your conservative side as your
willpower will let you. It may be hard, but do not listen to that little voice in your
head telling you to do a quite, calm, conservative ad. This is about results. Get a
little crazy with your advertising design.

 If you live in North America, then you have seen the very best advertising in the
world. Americans are subject to the highest quality advertising ever created –
every day. Judge your own advertising design by the absolutely brutal
competition that you face. Your ads must come out on top. Professional
Advertising is about getting results, and being a little different is definitely part of
the formula.

How Many Customers Do You Really Need?

 Do you really need to reach everybody, or just enough people to keep your
business growing stronger every year?

At advertising design agencies, it is often said that the best work ends up on the
cutting room floor. Businesses often want their ads to be on the conservative
side. Not too loud, not too risky. Loud, attention-getting ads are cut. But there is a
trade off made with this decision.

 Conservative ads don’t get attention. They are conservative. They will, in the
long run, make your business look highly professional and traditional. But the
conservative strategy of advertising design is about the most expensive path you
can choose.

 Do you really need to be thought of as conservative? Even IBM now has dress-
down Fridays. Dell computer uses a loud teenage spokesperson. Merryl Lynch
uses a bull in a china shop. Maybe, [maybe], if you are a bank, a hospital, a non-
profit, or a funeral home, conservative advertising design is the way to go. But
conservative ads don’t get attention. And you need attention.

Ask yourself, how many customers do I need? If my loud-happy-funny-sexy-

strange-bright-weird shaped-purple and pink ad gets the attention of half of the
people out there, maybe that’s all I need. If you leave some of the conservative
people behind with your advertising design, that’s OK.

 By getting attention with your advertising design, you will maximize your
advertising dollar. Conservative advertising is very, very expensive. Don’t go
crazy, and always keep your target market in mind, but stretch to get attention
with your advertising design. S-T-R-E-T-C-H to get ATTENTION!

Using Photos And Illustrations

 This one is also easy. Pay for the best, most appropriate photo or illustration
available. Buy it, own it, keep it, and use it forever. Maybe it costs $100, or even
$300 dollars. It is absolutely worth it.

 There is an endless supply of fantastic photos available to you. There is a

perfect photo out there for your business. Find the right one that conveys your
message, and you are half way to a highly effective ad.

 Alternatively, if you use a poor photo, you have just cut the effectiveness of your
advertising design in half. Remember, companies that cut corners on advertising
design production are wasting a huge percentage of their advertising budget. Pay
for high quality production up front, and use it forever. The cost of production is
trivial in comparison to the cost of the media. Don’t waste your money by
skimping on good advertising design.

 And of course there is a question of photo reproduction quality in the

media you choose. Every newspaper is printed on a different type of press.
Every press is different, and every printer is different. It’s your designer's
job to know how to get the best quality photo reproduction from the
specific press that is being used. You don’t want your photos to look like
mud in the newspaper.

The Psychology Of Color In Advertising

 Understanding how your customers interpret color in your advertising can be
very important. First, different cultures interpret colors in different ways. Yellow
represents jealousy in France, sadness in Greece, happiness in the United
States, and is sacred in China. The moral, of course, is know your target
audience.

 Red is for excitement in advertising design. It is commonly used for automobile

and food advertising. Red is passion and sex, danger, velocity, and power.

 Yellow is a great attention grabber in advertising design. It is sunshine, warmth,

and happiness. It is the first color your eye processes.

 Blue represents reliability, trust, security, and technology. This is why

businesses often use blue, green, teal, or gray in their advertising. Blue is also
coolness and belonging.

 Black represents sophistication and strength. It is elegant and seductive. For the
right product, black is a great color. Black on white is your ultimate contrast.

 Green is a cool, fresh color. It is nature and spring.

 Purple is royalty. It is dignified and refined.

 Pink is soft and feminine. It is security and sweetness.

 White (white) is for cleanliness and purity in advertising design. It is youthful. But
that doesn’t mean it is for young people. Young people [teen and tween] prefer
more trendy colors, like mauve and teal.

 There is also white space to consider in advertising design. Without white space,
you can’t read the text. Photos lose their impact, and the ad loses balance. White
space may be the most important component of your advertising design.

 Gold is expensive and high class.

 Orange is playful. It is autumn leaves, warmth and vibrancy.

Silver is prestigious. It represents cold and science.

 Don’t forget that every season has its’ own colors, and fashion changes [every
few minutes]. If you are trying to be trendy with your advertising design, then you
have to keep up with the trends.

 Is all of this important? Everything in advertising design is important.

 When color is used correctly, it adds impact and clarity to your message. When
color is used incorrectly, it can compromise your message and confuse your
target audience.

 Color can draw attention, lead the eye, and add emphasis. It can be used to
show continuation and relatedness, or it can differentiate. Color certainly
generates emotions and associations. Color has meaning for people, and you
need to make sure that your colors say the right thing to your customers. Don't let
poor advertising design destroy your marketing campaign.

 Here’s a quick example. In finance, the color red means loss. In engineering, it
means hot or danger. In the medical field, it means danger or emergency or
health. You want to make sure that you don’t send the wrong message by using
the wrong color. A high quality graphic designer will know the difference.

 
The Elements Of Design

 The elements of advertising design are the components of an advertisement that

the graphic designer plans. The following list will help you to better understand
graphic terminology.

 Color - Colors are considered in terms of intensity and brightness. As seen

above, how color is used in your advertising design can have a big impact on
how it is interpreted by your customers.

 Value - Value describes the lightness or darkness of a color.

 Line - A line is exactly what you think it is – a continuous mark connecting two
points.
 Shape - Shapes are two dimensional, or flat. A shape is height and width only in
advertising design.
 Form - Forms are three dimensional – height, width, and depth. You get volume
and mass with form.
  Texture - Texture describes the surface of an object. The artist renders the
object to give an idea of how it would feel to the touch.
 Space - In advertising design, space describes the distance between and
around objects.

 Balance - Balance describes the equality of objects in your ad. With

symmetrical balance, both sides of your ad are the same. With asymmetrical
balance, each side is different but equal. Radial balance means the ad is
balanced around a focal point. Another form of balance is called
Crystallographic Balance. This kind of balance is also known as "all over"
balance. Within a grid-like composition, certain variation is introduced to direct
the eye throughout the design, with many focal points. Some familiar examples
would be quilt design or a game of checkers in the middle of the game.

Once your page is balanced, you will no longer notice the

elements as being individual. Your whole page will become
one piece and the viewers’ eyes will flow from one element to
the next seamlessly.

Everything fits together into a recognizable whole, but at the

same time there is enough variety to keep things interesting.

 Contrast - Contrast describes the degree of difference between objects. It gets

attention and adds excitement.
 Emphasis - Emphasis and contrast are really the same thing in advertising
design. The artist creates a focal or emphasis point in your ad by making it
contrast with the other parts of the ad.
 Proportion - Proportion describes how the individual elements of your ad relate
to each other and to the entire piece.
 Pattern - A pattern is exactly what you think it is – something repeated over and
over again.
  Rhythm - Rhythm gives your advertising design the feeling of movement or
action. The artist places objects or creates patterns so that the eye follows a
path. The path the eye follows in advertising is very important, because you want
the reader to end up at your call for action [like at your phone number]. If the
reader's eye stops at the wrong place in the ad, your call for immediate action
may be seen too soon, or not at all.
  Unity - Unity describes how the whole advertisement works together as a
complete unit.
 Variety - Variety describes the complexity of a work. In advertising, especially
direct mail, a large amount of variety keeps the reader engaged and involved
with the piece. The longer the reader is engaged, the better the odds of
delivering your message are. That’s why some ads are rather busy – they keep
the reader involved.