Newspaper Ads
Newspaper ads are interesting projects to design. More often than not, you don’t know what section of the newspaper the ad will end up in, where on the page the ad will be placed, or what the content of the page will be. With these variables in mind, I’ve set up a few guidelines that I feel helps maximize the visual impact of the ad as well as its overall effectiveness.
- High Contrast – This has two potential uses. When designing on color, I’ll choose two or three solid contrasting colors. I’ve found that a combination of blues, oranges and reds works particularly well when printed on newsprint paper. When designing an ad that will be printed in black and white, I stick to exactly that; black and white. Gray tones tend to get lost on newsprint and and as a result, decreases the visual impact of the ad.
- Directness -In order for a newspaper ad to work well, it has to divert the readers attention away from the article they are reading and explain in a few short seconds what the ad is about. A reader should know exactly what the ad is about with a simple glance. Being direct takes away all of the guess work for the viewer and increases the effectiveness of the ad.
- Highly Visible Offer – If people have to work to understand what is being offered, they will simply go back to the article they were reading, or turn the page. The offer should be designed in such a way that it attracts people attention and clearly illustrates what the offer is.
Here are a few samples that I’ve put together over the last few months:
Holiday Sale Newspaper Ad
Red Tag Sale Newspaper Ad
Labor Day Sale Newspaper Ad
Mountain Photography
I took this photo last weekend while spending the day climbing in the Wasatch mountains here in Utah. What caught my eye in the particular image is how the light and shadow play off of each other to create some interesting lines.
Pfeifferhorn, Wasatch Mountains, Utah
