Crafting compelling digital ad designs

Digital ad design best practices

1. Align with brand identity: Ensure your digital ad design is cohesive with your overall brand aesthetic, including colors, fonts, logos, and messaging.
2. Keep it simple: Overly complicated designs can confuse your audience. Aim for simplicity and clarity in both your visual elements and copy.
3. Use high-quality images: Low-quality or pixelated images can harm your brand image. Always use high-resolution, quality images.
4. Mobile optimization: With the majority of users accessing content on mobile devices, ensure your digital ad designs are mobile-friendly.
5. Include a call to action: Every ad should drive your audience to perform a specific action. Make sure your CTA is clear and compelling.

Do’s and don’ts of digital ad design

• Use consistent layouts: Consistency in your ad design helps reinforce brand recognition and allows your audience to immediately recognize your content.
• Don’t overcrowd your ad: Space out your text and visual elements. An overcrowded ad can be visually exhausting and may dilute your message.
• Test different designs: Split testing different ad designs can provide valuable insights into what works best for your audience.
• Don’t neglect the text: While visuals are crucial, so is your ad’s text. Make sure it’s readable, engaging, and aligned with your visuals.

Storyboarding in digital ad design

Storyboarding is an often-overlooked aspect of digital ad design that can greatly enhance the overall effectiveness of your ads. It involves creating a visual narrative, frame by frame, to outline the flow of your ad. This is especially important for video ads or animated ads where motion and progression are involved.

Storyboarding allows you to:

• Map out the narrative of your ad, ensuring a logical progression from beginning to end.
• Visualize how your message will unfold and how your audience might react at each stage.
• Ensure consistency and coherence in your visual elements and brand messaging.