How to Design a Banner Ad

There are a lot of reasons as to why people want to design banner ads. Some people use them for marketing. Some people use them just to have some eye candy for their websites. Whatever the case, there are certain elements that must go into the way you design a banner ad.

Background

The background is where it all begins. The colors here are crucial to the success of the banner ad you are designing. Whatever the color or graphic, the visitor must be able to read the font that is placed over this background.

Neutral colors work great as background fonts in banner ads. However, they do not stand out from the rest of the webpage. If you find a neutral color will not do the job, you might want to look at using black. Or, use that neutral background with some sort of graphic to the side of the text.

Font Color

Font color over the background color will make or break the design of a banner ad. The font needs to be legible, regardless of color. To get a good mix of colors, use colors that accent off each other. Red and black, black and white, brown and green, blue and yellow – there are thousands of color variations that you can use. Just don’t use light brown and yellow.

Call to Action

Once you have your colors down, it is time to move on to the most important aspect to design a banner ad – the call to action. Ultimately, your goal with your banner should be to get people to click on it. You do this by including words that make them take action. “Click Here” “Hurry” “See more” are all calls to action.

As you can see, there are only a few steps involved in the design of banner ads. Go ahead and try your hand at it, before tasking it out to some one else.