Attention is the currency of the 21st century. There are countless social media platforms, phone apps, games, ads, and more, all vying for attention. Where that attention is placed determines who the victor of success is.

Billboard Design Tips

Billboards are another platform that requires attention to be successful. It’s a good thing we know a lot about billboards and what it takes to make yours stand out among the plain Janes scattered out on the streets.

By understanding the three vital elements—the seven-word rule, high contrast design, and humor—any billboard or ad is destined to win the attention of all. 

The First Element: Seven-Word Rule

If you haven’t heard about this before, it’s all in the name. The whole point is to keep wording on billboards and ads short and sweet, ideally seven words or less. This is to ensure readability, an especially important aspect of a message.

Pedestrians and drivers passing by may only have just a glance or a moment to absorb a message, so keeping it concise but impactful is important. Longer messages are more likely to get half-read or not read at all. Who wants to read an essay while out and about?

Use strong verbs and nouns, making your message strong, prominent, and impactful. Think “Just Do It” by Nike. This message is straight to the point and extremely memorable, aided by its three-word structure.

The Second Element: High Contrast Design

Still on the theme of readability, high-contrast design is essential for ensuring your message gets across easily and effortlessly. For example, never mix yellow text with a white background, as that would be a low-contrast design.

If it takes you more than a second seconds for a message’s words to process and be understood, then you may be struggling with a low contrast design. Use light and dark colors or shades to ensure you have a readable message.

Not only does high contrast beck attention but it has also been revealed to improve recall by up to 38%. The proof is in the pudding, so let’s not muddle your message with washed-out colors but ensure your ad is full-powered and doing what it needs to.

The Third Element: Incorporating Humor

Everyone loves to laugh! Humor is an underused ad messaging tool due to the fear many advertisers and companies have of saying the wrong thing. Though there is a possibility of humor to be unintentionally misused, as long as you keep the humor simple and universally well-liked, you should be in the clear.

Humor allows viewers to build a positive connection with a message and brand, greatly increasing recall in the long run. This is an underutilized tool that has a great effect on viewers, especially in this age, as younger audiences like Gen Z show strong favor towards brands that use humor.

It also opens up the possibility of virality as a humorous quip or creative message delivery can be instantly shared online and go nationwide or worldwide in moments. Humor is more than making one laugh; it’s about developing and maintaining a powerful connection through joy.