The ads are adding up! Nearly 350,000 Americans work as professional advertising managers, and the industry will grow by 10% between 2021 and 2031.
One reason why is banners and signs. They are becoming a popular way to advertise your business, especially at trade shows and conferences.
However, you shouldn’t start printing banners just yet. You need to know how to make a banner design that helps you stand out from the competition.
What should your banner feature? What colors and text should go on your banner? How can your banner encourage someone to support your business?
Answer these questions and you can become a master of sign designs in no time. Here is your quick guide.
Include Your Company Logo
A company logo can help with brand recognition and customer loyalty. Many customers are willing to buy products just because they are from companies they know and appreciate. Your logo can indicate to customers who don’t know your company what your work is about.
If you have not designed a company logo yet, you should do so before you design a banner. Think about what your company mission is and create a bold visual that encapsulates your values.
Use interesting colors, textures, and images. Make sure your logo is distinct from your competitors and do not use features from the logos of major companies, such as McDonald’s golden arches.
You can put your logo anywhere on your banner design. However, it should be noticeable from a distance.
Use Bold Colors
Colors can communicate different messages and generate emotions in your viewers’ minds. Red indicates warning and power. If you’re informing your audience about a new product or an issue that can affect their lives, you should use red.
However, you should keep in mind that one color can have many different cultural connotations, especially if you are marketing to an international audience. Red is associated with blood and death, and some people find it morbid.
Do your research on the cultural values associated with different colors. Then select colors that have the values you want to attach your company to.
You should also select colors that create interesting juxtapositions. A strong contrast between a dark color and a bright color can grab someone’s eye. It can indicate a difference between two features on your banner, encouraging a person to get closer to it.
Keep Your Banner Design Simple
One of the most common banner design mistakes is clutter. If you’re designing a banner for a booth and you want people to know who you are, you can put your logo in the center of the banner and write the name of your company underneath it. You should have an interesting background and font for your company name, but you don’t have to do anything else.
If you’re advertising your products, your products should be front and center. You can have a photograph of the product in the middle of your banner.
Try to find a photograph of your product in action. If you sell vacuum cleaners, you should show someone using the vacuum cleaner to clean up a mess. This indicates how the viewer can use your product to improve their life.
You can leave some white space on your design. This can isolate features like your company logo and give your viewer a visual break.
However, your white space should be meaningful. If you have too much white space in your design, you need to reduce the size of your banner or add new features.
Consider Vertical Banners
When people think of banners for business, they often think of horizontal designs. It’s okay if you want a horizontal banner, but a vertical design can help you stand out if other businesses are using banners in your area.
Vertical banners have an isolating effect. You can make one advertising yourself, featuring a photograph of yourself and a short text explaining who you are and what you do. You can make a banner for one particular product, showing an image of it and then describing what it does.
Many people look at a vertical design from top to bottom. The very top of your banner needs to have something noteworthy, like your company logo or the name of your business.
Make sure you can hang your banners properly. At a trade show, you can mount them on a stand or hang them from the top of your booth. You can also drape them down the sides of your building or hang them from posts.
Feature a Call to Action
A call to action motivates your viewer to do something after looking at your banner. Something as simple as “get in touch” or “register here” can encourage your viewer to go up to you and interact with you.
Your call to action should be four words long at the most. Make it visually stand out on your banner. You can give it a special background, or you can put it in a different font.
Avoid generic calls to action like “buy now.” Use a different action verb so your viewer feels more of a motivation to reach out to you and thinks of you as a creative professional.
Create a Good Banner Design
A great banner design will have a few important characteristics. It will feature your company logo and use an appealing combination of colors. It will be straightforward, using white space meaningfully and avoiding clutter.
Your banner should stand out from competitors and show that you run an important business. You can make a vertical banner, and you should use a call to action that your competitors are not using.
If you’re new to banner design, you should get help from experienced professionals. Big T Printing makes banners for businesses in St. Petersburg. Contact us today.