Advertising Layout

Introduction

Advertising layout definition is the design or final arrangement of something that is laid out and waiting to be reproduced especially by printing e.g advertisement, magazine book etc. It lays out several graphic elements e.g color, body, headlines and establishes the overall appearance and importance and is usually prepared to explore different arrangements before the final layout.

Example of Ad Layout

Components of a good ad layout

1. Border. How do we separate the ad from the surrounding type with a border? Borders should complement the look that you are developing with your ad and should never be the most prominent part of your ad. Straightforward and simple is best.

2. Heading. Ad legend David Ogilvy stated once that “The headline is a key part of the sales message; no matter how well the ad is presented, it can’t succeed if it is not read. If your headline does not include a selling message, you may be wasting 80 percent of your dollars.” Following the headline, you’ll have subheads that either clarify or amplify the thought in the headline.

3. Illustrations. A highly effective way to draw the reader’s attention to an ad is with the illustration. Studies have shown that an ad with an illustration that takes up 50 percent or more of the ad space increases readership by as much as 37 percent.

4. Price– Price is an important (and often dominant) element in a layout. Many local advertisers build their ads around the price. You can accent price in several ways: (1) as part of the heading, (2) the core the ad is built around, (3) preceding the copy, and (4) in the text space.

5. White space. Use as much white space as you can afford to use. It minimizes distraction and draws attention to what matters most.

6. Body copy. Body copy expands benefits offered in the headline. The power of well written advertising copy is proven by the billions of dollars of sales directly resulted from great newspaper advertising. Benefits should be written as though you were making friendly, personal conversation.

7. Signature. The signature is often a logotype. Though often used synonymously with logo, signature means the name of the advertiser in any form, and unlike the logo, may change form from one ad to the next. Remember not to let the signature overpower other important aspects.

8. The one second test. The one second test is a way of determining whether a reader can tell at a glance what the advertiser is selling. You should be able to look at a layout for a second, then close your eyes and recall its sales message. If you didn’t get the message, you need to improve the layout. Another factor that affects eye appeal is concentration, grouping your selling points into display headings and text masses.

9. Color. Try to achieve contrast in layout by effective use of different size type, bold type and color. If you can, try to fit color into your advertising budget. Introducing color increases impact.

10. Creativity. Simplicity, focal point and sequence in mind, will be appealing to the eye. However, some ads are more visually appealing than others. The difference is in creativity.

The various stages in preparing layouts.

1.      Thumbnail Sketch

Most artists begin by making several thumbnail sketches, or miniature rough sketches, of possible layouts.  Ordinarily these rough sketches are one-eighth to one-fourth the size of the final product.  A thumbnail sketch offers artists an opportunity to try out a variety of ideas; later they can select the most promising ones and blow them up to actual size.  Where format remains much the same from one advertisement to the next, there is little need to make thumbnail sketches.

2.      Rough Layout

The rough layout will be the exact size of the final advertisement.  For example, if the advertisement is to occupy a full page in the Bulletin.  This is the standard size of the type page, not the size of the entire page. By paying an extra 15 percent an advertiser may purchase the entire, or “bleed,” page (the ad “bleeds” to the outside edges of the paper).

Some artists make many roughs, others only a few.  Some layouts are sent to the printer or to newspapers in very rough form, depending on how much service the media provide.  In a rough, headlines are often hastily lettered in and body test indicated only in pencil.  Those layouts in more final shape can be used to help all concerned visualise which of several alternatives provides the greatest promise of success:-

a.      Initial layout sketch

b.      Photograph of product with open space for insertion of art and copy.

c.       Airbrush art and photography that will be combined

d.      Assembled advertisement.  All elements are combined including type.  At this stage the board also shows corner crop marks and instructions for colour separations and printing.

3.      Finished Layout

When a selection has been made among alternative roughs, the “finished” layout can be composed.  The artist may complete this layout or may instruct a commercial studio to do it.  The illustration, lettering and the logotype will be drawn the way they are to appear in the final advertisement.  The test will be indicated by lines neatly rules in blocks of varying lengths to simulate paragraphs.  A finished layout, then, is almost a facsimile of the finished advertisement.

4.      Comprehensive

When the finished layout is carried one step further, the comprehensive, or comp, is the result.  If, for example, the illustration is to be a painting or a drawing, the artist will probably be asked to make the final illustration for the comprehensive.  The type will be set and a proof of it pasted on the layout.  In the case of a brochure, this will be a multi-page layout having the same number of pages as the final product.  The comprehensive must be painstakingly put together to look like the final product.