What Makes a Successful Print Ad?

White Space. You want to get the most out of your advertising dollars, so it's tempting to squeeze as much information as possible into that small space. A sea of gray text won't get read. White space can actually lead your reader to the important information.

Research shows that ads with large photos or illustrations of merchandise get higher readership than ads with small illustrations or no art. Readers want to see the merchandise so they will recognize it in your store, or compare it with similar merchandise in your competitors' ads.

Since many more people will look at your visual than read your copy, make your photograph or illustration at least half your ad whenever possible.

Know how your readers read. Most people skim ads in a sort of reversed "S". They start at the left top margin, and work down to the right bottom margin.

Avoid headlines set in all capital letters. Typography Is The Key To Effective Communication tells us "Our eyes and brains are conditioned to identify lower case letters and words. Familiar looking words are glanced over with full comprehension." We also read words by the shape of the word, not by reading individual letters. Ascenders and descenders give distinctive shapes to words; all caps make most words look the same.

People expect to see certain objects in certain places, so they look for them there. Consistency in ads is important because most readers must be exposed to an ad seven times before they notice it or take action on it. Make sure you have consistent ads which place important information where readers expect to see it. Sagentic suggests consistency in:

• Logo

• Color

• Typography

• Margins and borders

• Layout

• Spacing

• Photographs and captions

Although Page Design Objectives examines design elements (contrast, balance, etc.) as they pertain to page layout, the same principles can be applied to ads. Probably the most important point of advertising design: "Does it communicate the main point, such as a single offer or main attraction, and the necessary time, date, phone number or address?"