The really good billboard spots are expensive because they are in prime areas. You know this, so you call a billboard company and pick out the perfect billboard spot. You want it to be the most effective it can be, right? You’ve got to make the dollars you spend on marketing count.
There’s one huge mistake that a lot of inexperienced billboard designers make that will doom your billboard. Making your time too small.
While checking out your billboard you should not have to pull over to read it. Sounds like common sense. But many billboard designers make this very error.
The rules for type:
Text should be right around 3 feet tall, MINIMUM. This is for thirty foot or larger billboards. Smaller billboards can have smaller fonts but they need to proportional to the 3ft to 14ft ratio.
Don’t use any more than than 7 or 8 words. This applies to all billboard sizes.
Thin narrow fonts or fonts with flourishes will not work in most cases unless the words are so few that mistaking the letters isn’t likely.
Avoid all Caps when possible. Reader retention studies have shown that a capital letter followed by smaller letters or lower case letters are read easier and faster.
Contrast, contrast, contrast. Letters need to be visible in all light. Period. A good designer will know this.
If these rules are followed your message will get out there and people will react.
Here’s an example of a great billboard design.
Arizona Billboard Company will help you get the best and most effective design possible. But when planning the content on your billboard, remember these easy rules.
-by Brad Peterson, Oct. 17th 2014
