Adobe Creative Suite 4

Choosing design and text elements for an advertisement can be challenging. Using color schemes, alignment and style effectively are key elements that should be considered. Catching the consumer’s attention is the goal for any advertisement. Making your advertisement appealing will result in positive feedback. Realize that advertising requires a lot of research, time and patience. Having prior knowledge of art and design concepts will improve the outcome of an advertisement.

Design for Advertising

1. Step 1

   Use imagery to attract attention. Choose pictures or art that match your advertising message. Get the attention of people by choosing an image that dominates the advertisement.

2. Step 2

   Incorporate value and tone into your advertisement by adding shading and lighting. Make your advertisement look realistic by sticking to traditional design elements used in creating artwork.

3. Step 3

   Research the psychology of colors. Pick colors that will create a mood change among the target audience. It is known in the world of psychology that red creates excitement and yellow creates attention and happiness. Try using different colors before sticking with your original color choices.

4. Step 4

   Design advertisements with different color schemes and decide which advertisement is appealing. Ask yourself if the color scheme is easy to read, relates to the product and is aesthetic. Use complementary colors, two colors opposite from each other on the color wheel, to create interest. Focus on studying color schemes and designs used in successful advertisements.

5. Step 5

   Create contrast in the advertisement. Leave white space in an advertisement to keep it from looking cluttered. Contrast adds emphasis and interest to an advertisement by spacing and sizing elements according to what you want to stand out in the advertisement.

6. Step 6

   Add rhythm and movement in the advertisement to keep the reader’s eyes moving.The Z-line used in advertising keeps the reader’s eyes moving by creating a headline in the left upper corner and placing a logo or graphic in the right lower corner. Using the Z-line moves the reader’s eyes in the shape of the letter Z, which ensures they will see the entire advertisement at just a glance.

7. Step 7

   Balance the advertisement. Make sure there is an even amount of space between graphics and text. Familiarize yourself with various balance and unity techniques.

8. Step 8

   Use consistency throughout the advertisement. Stick with the same font, color, and shape choices. Keep the layout simple and uncluttered.

Text for Advertising

9. Step 1

   Try to choose a font that is easy to read. Buy a font or download a free font from the Internet that matches the style of your advertisement. Make sure the font is big enough to read. Design certain words to stand out from the text in order to create a lasting impression.

10. Step 2

    Pick fonts that suit your business and conveys your message. Try using a creative and exciting font for a day care business, instead of a bold and serious font, such as times new roman.

11. Step 3

    Stick with less than four different fonts in your design. Using too many fonts will create clutter in your advertisement. Try to avoid fancy fonts because they are hard to read. Never use all capital letters in a block of body text because the reader will not be able to read your message.

12. Step 4

    Choose between a serif or a sans serif font when creating an advertisement. Use sans serif fonts for titles or headlines. Use serif fonts in large block of text because they are easier to read. Serifs are fonts that contain small lines at the ends of the letters, which makes them appear more detailed. Sans serif fonts are without serifs.

13. Step 5

    Make a decision on the right font size for your advertisement. Body copy in print ads tend to use an 11-point font size. Design headlines in a larger font size and allow for space between text blocks to create unity.