A Random Ad Walk

For fun today I picked a random page in my local newspaper and checked out the ads.  This was not a bad page: six ads in the culture section.  Some thoughts:

(1) Color.  Color is a two edged blade.  One ad using color was vivid (a Nursery used an appealing green - and - purple mix) with highlight colors.  I was drawn into an ad which otherwise had issues (dense text, too many fonts, a muted message).  Another ad showed an actress who was a ghastly shade of yellow/orange against a brown background.  Two other ads used slight touches in color, one of which (a play) worked well, another (heating/AC) used color in a strange place (a small text box).  I would test market color on a second or third set of eyes and consult a graphics professional!

(2) Text density.  Some ads try to do too much with text.  One ad I looked at for a cook-off event used so much text that it was confusing trying to understand what was going on at the event.  What is the minimum amount of verbage needed to convey the critical idea without abusing the eye?

(3) White space.  Generally, this is a technique poorly exploited.  An ad for a play used a generous amount (the same one with a gentle splash of red in one place) and achieved a vivid and enticing effect.  Look at other ads when designing one: notice how powerful empty space can be in creating an electrifying ad!

(4) Images.  Two ads needed pictures of performers, out of necessity, and that was just fine (except one discolored an actress as noted in #1.  The heating/AC company wasted space on a boring photo of a generator box with no size context.  Too bad: the message (a pitch for a standby generator) probably could use the information on size of installation as a sales point.)  Images can boost eye contact but must be selected with some care.

(5) Fonts.  For heaven's sake, people!  One does not need to use more than two fonts in an ad.  One ad on the page used five, as far as I can tell.

Overall, ads are risks.  They cost a good deal and can do harm unless designed with a reasonable amount of care.  As noted before, I recommend obtaining feedback before committing.