Online Advertisement Essentials
Online Ad Design
With the days passing by, advertisement specially, urge for reaching to mass through different available mediums are increasing day by day, it could be a ‘concept’ or a ‘physical form’, we just want to SELL it. During different design exercises, I have come across a few ‘essentials’on online advertisement design, I also found some articles on net on the same. Today evening, I jotted down all the ideas and writing this blog.
Readers are welcome to post their messages to me.
Essential #1: Curves and Organic Shapes
In writing this article, I looked at, analyzed and considered several hundred online ads. In nearly three-quarters (and possibly even more) of those ads, some form of curves or other organic shapes featured. Big name companies such as TISSOT or even TITAN Raga collections, use organic shapes -- arcs, circles, and rounded edges, for example -- to appeal to target audiences. The recent proliferation of these particular shapes is a sharp contrast to the hard-edged, square styles favored previously. In an effort to appear more comforting, approachable and appealing to their target audiences, companies have used the current economy to shed their "hard" styles in favor of these "softer" images.
Essential #2: Colors
Anyone who has spent any time online in the past few years will have noticed the vast usage (and in some cases, success) of the color combination of orange and blue. Recently, these colors have come to be associated with tech and computer firms. And in online ads, these colors seem to be just as popular as their layout-based counterparts. Through my research, several shades of blue and orange showed up, but they maintained the combination, usually with only the addition of neutrals (black and white).
Essential #3: Imagery
Many popular ads have moved from the extensive-copy-and-image format to heavy usage of stock photography that shows their "customers." An ad may show happy children playing, a satisfied mother, or a productive looking office -- any combination of upbeat images that showcases the intended customer reaction to their product.
In this example image, T-Mobile shows customers that instead of spending too much time inside (in corporate cubicle hell), that they should be doing things that they truly enjoy.
Essential #4: Deals and Copy
Online ad copy is currently focused on a tradition that marketers have followed for years. The copy in most ads I ripped apart focused on these "Big Three" principals:
Essential #5: Interactivity
Ever since animated GIFs gained support in mainstream browsers, people have made "interactive" banner ads. These range from the Punch-the-Monkey ads to more complex formats that feature simulated form fields. The main drive of animated ads is to gain clickthroughs.
With the invention and mainstream acceptance of Macromedia Flash.A new class of ads popped up. Hewlett-Packard was one of the first companies to jump on the bandwagon, enticing customers to check out its music software via an ad that featured a piano layout that allowed you to create your own tunes. The company continues this tradition today with audio-driven ads that explain and teach potential customers about HP's fotoimaging technology, and basically function as mini-presentations.
Along the same lines, more and more companies have thrown their hats into the ring with Flash overlay ads. These ads (usually of gargantuan file size) overlay the text of Web pages and entice customers to view much more than can typically fit into a banner ad. Currently, these behemoth ads are only available in Internet Explorer, but other browsers are now building in support for these overlays. However, even though many users find them annoying at best (confusing at worst), these overlay ads are reported to achieve clickthough rates up to a 50 times better than traditional banner ads.
Essential #6: Sizes And Layouts
Still the most common and most-used ad size, the banner ad is measured at 468x60 pixels. This ad size has become so popular that it's a preset in recent versions of Adobe Photoshop. Also popular are "skyscraper" banners, which weigh in at 120x600 pixels. Lots of ads don't fit a pre-defined size, such as all the Flash pop-over ads which have become more popular in recent months.
Many banner and skyscrapers ads follow a "thirds" formula. Two-thirds of the ad contains a picture and the main advertising points; the remaining third is devoted to minimal copy and clickable buttons.
In the examples provided here, both Carnation and Microsoft use similar layouts for vastly different products and markets.
Essential #7: Fonts And Their Usage
It seems as if the growing shift from serif fonts to sans-serif fonts online is now projecting itself into online advertising. Nearly all the ads I examined used sans-serif fonts, often in addition to the company's "signature" font.
If you're new to font selection, and are used to using any old thing that happens to be in your font list, here's a quick overview. Serif fonts, pictured in the upper-half of the example above, have "tails" that are used as decorative touches to the letter. Times New Roman and Garamond are two common examples of serif fonts. Sans-serif fonts, pictured in the lower half of the example above, are absent of the "tails," and frequently have much cleaner lines. Verdana and Arial are examples of common sans-serif fonts.
What NOT to Do
If you're tired of reading the same standard marketing fare and technical how-tos, and are looking for a refreshing perspective on online advertising, check out BrandSuicide. This blog is subtitled "Ads that Suck" and features some of the most annoying, confusing and poorly put-together ads online. Akin to Vincent Flanders' book Web Pages That Suck, this site is a how-not-to guide to online advertising.
For a more in-depth look at the acceptance by Web users of various online ad formats.
With the days passing by, advertisement specially, urge for reaching to mass through different available mediums are increasing day by day, it could be a ‘concept’ or a ‘physical form’, we just want to SELL it. During different design exercises, I have come across a few ‘essentials’on online advertisement design, I also found some articles on net on the same. Today evening, I jotted down all the ideas and writing this blog.
Readers are welcome to post their messages to me.
Essential #1: Curves and Organic Shapes
In writing this article, I looked at, analyzed and considered several hundred online ads. In nearly three-quarters (and possibly even more) of those ads, some form of curves or other organic shapes featured. Big name companies such as TISSOT or even TITAN Raga collections, use organic shapes -- arcs, circles, and rounded edges, for example -- to appeal to target audiences. The recent proliferation of these particular shapes is a sharp contrast to the hard-edged, square styles favored previously. In an effort to appear more comforting, approachable and appealing to their target audiences, companies have used the current economy to shed their "hard" styles in favor of these "softer" images.
Essential #2: Colors
Anyone who has spent any time online in the past few years will have noticed the vast usage (and in some cases, success) of the color combination of orange and blue. Recently, these colors have come to be associated with tech and computer firms. And in online ads, these colors seem to be just as popular as their layout-based counterparts. Through my research, several shades of blue and orange showed up, but they maintained the combination, usually with only the addition of neutrals (black and white).
Essential #3: Imagery
Many popular ads have moved from the extensive-copy-and-image format to heavy usage of stock photography that shows their "customers." An ad may show happy children playing, a satisfied mother, or a productive looking office -- any combination of upbeat images that showcases the intended customer reaction to their product.
In this example image, T-Mobile shows customers that instead of spending too much time inside (in corporate cubicle hell), that they should be doing things that they truly enjoy.
Essential #4: Deals and Copy
Online ad copy is currently focused on a tradition that marketers have followed for years. The copy in most ads I ripped apart focused on these "Big Three" principals:
- Get something for free
- Save money
- Make life easier
Essential #5: Interactivity
Ever since animated GIFs gained support in mainstream browsers, people have made "interactive" banner ads. These range from the Punch-the-Monkey ads to more complex formats that feature simulated form fields. The main drive of animated ads is to gain clickthroughs.
With the invention and mainstream acceptance of Macromedia Flash.A new class of ads popped up. Hewlett-Packard was one of the first companies to jump on the bandwagon, enticing customers to check out its music software via an ad that featured a piano layout that allowed you to create your own tunes. The company continues this tradition today with audio-driven ads that explain and teach potential customers about HP's fotoimaging technology, and basically function as mini-presentations.
Along the same lines, more and more companies have thrown their hats into the ring with Flash overlay ads. These ads (usually of gargantuan file size) overlay the text of Web pages and entice customers to view much more than can typically fit into a banner ad. Currently, these behemoth ads are only available in Internet Explorer, but other browsers are now building in support for these overlays. However, even though many users find them annoying at best (confusing at worst), these overlay ads are reported to achieve clickthough rates up to a 50 times better than traditional banner ads.
Essential #6: Sizes And Layouts
Still the most common and most-used ad size, the banner ad is measured at 468x60 pixels. This ad size has become so popular that it's a preset in recent versions of Adobe Photoshop. Also popular are "skyscraper" banners, which weigh in at 120x600 pixels. Lots of ads don't fit a pre-defined size, such as all the Flash pop-over ads which have become more popular in recent months.
Many banner and skyscrapers ads follow a "thirds" formula. Two-thirds of the ad contains a picture and the main advertising points; the remaining third is devoted to minimal copy and clickable buttons.
In the examples provided here, both Carnation and Microsoft use similar layouts for vastly different products and markets.
Essential #7: Fonts And Their Usage
It seems as if the growing shift from serif fonts to sans-serif fonts online is now projecting itself into online advertising. Nearly all the ads I examined used sans-serif fonts, often in addition to the company's "signature" font.
If you're new to font selection, and are used to using any old thing that happens to be in your font list, here's a quick overview. Serif fonts, pictured in the upper-half of the example above, have "tails" that are used as decorative touches to the letter. Times New Roman and Garamond are two common examples of serif fonts. Sans-serif fonts, pictured in the lower half of the example above, are absent of the "tails," and frequently have much cleaner lines. Verdana and Arial are examples of common sans-serif fonts.
What NOT to Do
If you're tired of reading the same standard marketing fare and technical how-tos, and are looking for a refreshing perspective on online advertising, check out BrandSuicide. This blog is subtitled "Ads that Suck" and features some of the most annoying, confusing and poorly put-together ads online. Akin to Vincent Flanders' book Web Pages That Suck, this site is a how-not-to guide to online advertising.
For a more in-depth look at the acceptance by Web users of various online ad formats.
posted by Magicframe | 8:16 AM
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