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 who has over 30 years of experience in outdoor advertising design. Insider has used and endorses Callaham’s services.

   Smartwater

Rating: 4 (very good)

• This outdoor ad uses high contrast to its advantage to make the text and selling message stand out against the background. That makes it easy to read.
• Unfortunately, the tight kerning, aka, the space between the letters, keep it from being super easy to read, especially uncommon combination of the last four characters.
• The product photo is nice and large, and that would normally be excellent. However, this product is clear and gets a bit lost in the background, along with the imprinted logo.
• There’s another logo in the lower left, and, based on the position of the pole, I presume the logo is close to traffic.
• Overall, the ad does its job: tell passersby to try this smartwater. This ad earns a 4 (very good).

I don’t usually try to improve on outdoor ads that work well, but the product photo really bothers me. I think there is room for improvement here. Given the chance, I would encourage the advertiser to consider the layout below to convey the same message a bit quicker and easier with the bonus of a single larger logo and a more easily recognizable product shot. I’m also presuming extensions are not an option on this location.

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