4 Features that will make your Billboard Design look Amateur

Anyone can make billboard artwork, but not everyone can make good billboard artwork. The principles of billboard design are simple but there are many of them. Here are 4 tips that will help your billboard artwork look less like an amateur’s work and more like a professional’s.

Too Much Text

It can seem counter-intuitive but in reality, the more text on the billboard the less is communicated. Professional billboard artists know that the less text on the billboard, the more effective the message will be because the viewer can focus on the most important elements before they drive past.

Stretched Text

When editing the size of text, it’s easy to accidentally stretch the text. This gives the whole layout a cheap, unfinished, and unprofessional feel. When making artwork in Adobe Illustrator be sure to hold down the shift key when you enlarge any text so that it enlarges proportionally and isn’t warped. In Adobe Photoshop be sure not to hold down any keys and the text should properly enlarge automatically.

Grainy Visuals

When creating billboard artwork, having high-quality visuals is a must. Whether it’s a logo, a product image or a background, if it is grainy that can be distracting to the viewer and seem sloppy. As often as you can, use vector graphics so that they won’t become grainy when enlarged.

Low-contrast Elements

Neutral or complimentary colors can look very nice on other types of smaller ads, but billboards are all about contrast. The text and background must contrast to be readable and high-contrast images will make a striking impression.

Here are some examples of artwork that uses all four tips!

This billboard designed by the Oregon coast aquarium uses dominant visual elements to attract attention and communicate rather than a lot of text, and it has high contrast between the red octopus and the blue water.The Burrito Boy artwork designed by our own Meadow team has only 4 words and one number, all the text is proportioned correctly. It has highly contrasting colors and a cute extension.

Even if you’re not a full-time billboard artist, Meadow swears by these four principles, that and are guaranteed to help elevate your amateur design to the next level!

If you are interested in advertising on one of our billboards call us at 800-221-4114 or email us at meadow@meadowoutdoor.com!