Five Tips for Ordering Online Ads
1.Logos and Images
- Send logos that have good resolution. Vector artwork in Adobe Illustrator or .EPS format is preferred because these files can be scaled to any size without loss of clarity.
- If this is not possible, at least make sure that the logo you submit is not too small for the specific design you need.
- When ordering animated ads, limit the number of images to avoid blurriness. Ads should only have three or four images because any more than that will mean downgrading the image quality, which can be noticeable.
2. Look and Feel Communicate how you would like your design to look in general. Other information that is useful is your brand colors or preferences for overall color schemes and main images to feature (or send images or reference samples). For example, "We are an exclusive jewelry maker and this ad needs to look very upscale. Please use icy blues and silvers."
3. Copy Write the copy exactly the way you would like to see it written in the ad. So if there if there are punctuation marks, include them. If a certain word or phrase should be in all capitals, state that. Indicate the main headline and differentiate it from the minor copy. If you are sending in a document from which text should be lifted, be specific on which copy needs to be included, ignored and included if there is space. This helps a designer to prioritize what is important to you. But remember that designers are not copywriters. They see text as blocks of information to be moved around to create space and can't edit for you.
4. Animation
- Let us know the elements you would like to see in the first, second, third frame, etc.
- Draw storyboard if you can (but it is not required)
- Tell us how you would like the animation to flow from one screen to the next. In other words
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- Please start off the animation with the image of the car entering the frame.
- While keeping the car on the screen, the next frame should have the logo along with the main headline.
- Next bring in the sale price of the vehicle with the original price crossed out in red.
- The last screen should be the logo again with all the contact information: phone number, address and website.
- If you are referencing one of your previous ads, indicate the information to include and to leave out.
5. Other Elements Explain what elements, fonts and colors the designer can or cannot use. To illustrate: "Please use one or two heart elements in the same pink shade as the logo." or "We do not want any fancy fonts in this ad."
Things to Avoid Refrain from giving directions are not very specific or can be interpreted in different ways:
Bad: "The ad does not flow."
Better: "The flow of the animation needs to be the logo, the image of the bike, the headline, the minor copy and the contact information along with the website."
Bad: "The background needs to be green.
Better: "Specify what kind of green you would like. If you can include an image with the particular color you have in mind or specify the color swatch number in Photoshop, that is even better.
Bad: "The text needs to be eye-catching."
Better: "Please use a bolder font for the main headline and make the word "free" in all caps and red."
Bad: "The design needs to pop."
Better: "Please make the logo stand out more compared to the rest of the background. The sale price also needs to be more noticeable, as well as the ‘Click Here' button."
Remember that less is more and keep it simple.
- File sizes are limited on the web.
- Space is small.
- People will see your ad for little time.
- The less text the better, so focus on what is most important
Have you been successful providing instructions to designers?
What tactics have been especially effective for you? If you design, what are the worst instructions you have received for a project? We'd love to compare notes!
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