No One Is As Interested In Your Advertising As You Are

How to design a billboard people actually notice

It takes just 0.22 seconds to physically travel the 6-metre width of a billboard at 60mph. That’s not a lot of time to get your message across.

And if you want someone to have two whole seconds to take in your billboard, they’d need clear visibility for more than 50 metres.

Two seconds. That’s it.

So when it comes to billboard advertising and outdoor advertising, how much information can you realistically expect someone to see, process and remember?

Not a lot.

And that’s assuming everything is working in your favour:

• The road angle is right.

• The billboard is facing the traffic.

• There’s a clear line of sight.

• The driver is in the right lane.

• The road isn’t curving.

• Nothing else is getting in the way.

• And, most importantly, the driver is actually looking at your billboard.

In those perfect conditions, you’ve got two beautiful seconds to communicate everything you want someone to know about your business.

So how much do you think they’re actually going to remember?

Billboard design is a bit like The Generation Game

Remember The Generation Game with the late, great Bruce Forsyth?

You’d watch the conveyor belt go past and then try to remember as many of the items as possible.

Now imagine that conveyor belt was travelling at 60mph and you had two seconds to look at it.

Good luck with that.

Billboard design works on much the same principle.

You have an incredibly short window to grab someone's attention, communicate a message and leave something memorable behind. Which brings me to one of my favourite battles in graphic design.

The stakeholder who wants to put War and Peace on a billboard. I get it. You have a lot to say.

You've got a great product, a website, a phone number, an address, an email address, a strapline, a list of benefits and about 14 other things that really need to be on there.

But the driver doesn't have time for all that.

How much text should be on a billboard?

This is where effective billboard design matters. Our job as designers is to guide people in the right direction using a combination of science, psychology, experience and, occasionally, a bit of common sense.

A billboard isn't a brochure. It isn't a website. And it definitely isn't the place to tell someone your entire company story. It's about getting one simple message across quickly.

Think about the noticeboard in your local GP surgery. There are probably 20 different posters fighting for your attention. You might sit there for 20 or 30 minutes waiting for your appointment, so you've got plenty of time to read them. And I bet you do. But how much of it do you actually remember? Probably very little.

You're only reading it because you're sitting there with nothing else to do. You're not necessarily interested in what it's telling you.

Now imagine you're driving a van at 60mph.

People aren't looking for your advert. They're driving.

No one is as interested in your advertising as you are

Sorry to break it to you, but no one is as interested in your advertising as you are. And that's okay.

You don't need someone to remember everything on your billboard. You just need them to notice something.

• Maybe they remember your colour.

• Maybe they remember a couple of words.

• Maybe they remember your logo.

• Maybe, somewhere down the line, they remember your name when they actually need what you sell.

That's what billboard advertising is really about.

Brand awareness. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Keep it simple.

My billboard design recommendation?

Distinctive brand colours.

3–5 words maximum.

Your logo.

That's it. Don't try to tell them your entire story.

Give them something they can actually see, process and remember.

Because when it comes to billboard advertising, less isn't just more.

Less is memorable.