Rate This Ad allows a billboard designer to rate a random piece of billboard artwork using the following scale: 1 (not good), 2 (below average), 3 (average), 4 (very good), 5 (great). Then the designer talks about what they may have done differently for outdoor advertising. This week’s rating is provided by Greg Callaham (www.gregcallaham.com) who has over 30 years of experience in outdoor advertising design. Insider uses and endorses Callaham’s services.

James Madison University

Rating: 3 (Average)

• The ad pictured here promotes an online degree from James Madison University. The visual of the iconic bell tower is positioned next to a large badge for the U.S. News & World Report Best Award.
• The majority of the ad is JMU violet with high-contrast white text.
• The award badge is overly large and competes with the photo of the belltower.
• The background colors of the photo also make the badge blend in, diluting the reason for it to be so large.
• The ad earns a 3 (average).

As always, I do not know the details of the art request or components of the campaign this ad may or may not have been part of. But looking at this challenge with the eye of an OOH graphic designer and through the lens of the target audience, I would have urged the advertiser to run the ad pictured below to promote the same message using a similar style. To make the message clearer and easier to read, a more colorful photo is positioned on the right, the headline is larger and bolder and positioned in the primary location for a selling message, the logo is larger, and the badge is smaller with the overlapping corner standing out against the photo.

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