On Marketing: Design Right

BY RENEE MARTINEZ

Published in the June 2012 issue.

Here are 10 tips for creating a winning print ad design:

1Size matters when it comes to your contact information. Large and accurate wins.

2Use contrast to get immediate attention from readers.

3Know what your competition is doing and try to differentiate yourself.

4Use only one font (or two at the most) in an ad as too many typefaces can be distracting and affect the readability of your ad.

5Don’t use type in ALL CAPS too much. The capital letters make it more difficult for the brain to process the text because they all look similar.

6Use white space to achieve an uncluttered feel. It also improves readability. Too much clutter is not appealing and is hard to understand.

7Achieve balance in all things. Placement of images, text and logos can appear random yet feel balanced.

8Pictures are worth a thousand words and can conjure the emotion you want readers to feel. Make sure they are interesting and large (at least a quarter of your space or more). Beware of small (or blurry) images; they’re downright distracting.

9Keep reading patterns in mind. Most people look at the top left first, then scan down to the bottom right — remember this when creating your layout.

10Include a call to action. What do you want the reader to come away with after reading your ad? Direct your reader to take a specific action, and he’s more likely to take it.