When looking at the two internet banner ads below, it is really not hard to decide which one you would rather look at. Although internet banner ads are relatively small and seem to be everywhere on the internet these days, it is very important they are designed correctly if you want them to have impact.
The mattress company banner ad has SO much information on it, I really can’t believe a company would publish this. The reader’s eye does not know where to look first, and most of the writing is so small, it is impossible to read. All of the different colors combined with different sections, overlapping images and variety of fonts makes the banner ad unreadable and very unattractive.
“Contrast is indeed fundamental to good design, and without white space, good contrast cannot be achieved. The leading cause of the lack of contrast is clutter. Too many layers of visual complication make contrast weak, if it even exits” (Reynolds, 2010, p 159). Because banner ads are small, it is important that they include white space so contrast is created and clutter is reduced. The mattress company banner ad has no contrast and is full of clutter, and I would have to believe that most readers just skip right over it when it appears.
I really like the organic life book banner ad and I think it does a good job using space to create contrast. Only one or two fonts are used, and I like the way the chicken heads at the bottom bring your eye to the “Buy it now”. It is a simple design, yet is very well done and I think if I saw this banner on an internet page I would definitely like to more about it. I like the imagery, colors and font used and I think it is a good example of how simplicity is best when it comes to banner ads.
Good banner ad: ![]()
Bad banner ad: ![]()
It is amazing that white space really draws the eye. In our book it spoke about how the mind will draw in the rest of the image when it is missing like with the two chicken heads at the bottom. I wonder what it would look like without the white border to see if my mind would imagine the entire chicken faster. Nice write up!
ReplyDeleteOdds are that the ad for the book was done by a professional designer (or at least someone with design experience). I find "local" websites and ads really stick out in such a way that it is clear they are not done by a designer. I imagine with a small budget, that is one area they skimp on. Certainly, the designer of the mattress ad just thought it would be best to cram in as much, and make it as graphically intensive to the eye as possible. It reminds me of the first PowerPoint I ever made, where I used all sorts of graphics, text, and animations JUST BECAUSE I COULD! Certainly, with the mattress ad, there is no evidence of Reynold's basic principles of "restrain, reduce, and emphasize". But it goes to show that just being mindful of these principles makes it easy to pick out the ad that was likely designed by a novice, from the ad that was probably done by someone with experience!
ReplyDeleteGreat point - I definitely agree that larger companies and corporations keep design in mind and small businesses just use up as much space as possible. The mattress ad was on our local newspaper's website - I sometimes wonder too if the newspaper designs the banners for customers who need it done?
ReplyDeleteSome advertisers try to present too much information. I think in attempt to cover as much as they can they lose the effectiveness of the ad. Even worse are those ads that pop up at you when you are on their site. I like some of the advertising on the web but a lot of it is too overwhelming, and I can’t say I click on many of any of the links. Occasionally the way Facebook ads work, I might see hiking gear from Backcountry so I venture to those types of ads. But they are small images with little type, which I think is more effective since you’re not being blasted with images and messages.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the organic ad is the most appealing since it uses good layout and color implementation in their design to get their message across.