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 has used and endorses Callaham’s services.  Billboard Insider notes that this is a picture of a digital billboard and the ad appears tiled because the shutter speed on the camera isn’t high enough. It’s not a design issue or a problem with the digital billboard.

Yates and Wheland

Rating: 3 (Average)

• It isn’t often one sees a local business demonstrate the discipline to run a strict awareness campaign. Kudos to these lawyers for resisting the temptation to muck it all up with all the services they offer, their web site, the phone number for each of them, and a “catchy” slogan.
• And yet, the ad whiffs on being an extremely good piece of outdoor advertising. Every bit of text is too thin. At least the logo is large. That gives it a chance of being read, understood, and remembered. But what they do is far too small and far too skinny for the target audience to instantly read it and retain it.
• This 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:

Sometimes, just a couple of small changes can help a lot. Since the logo text is so thin and we’ve got a little room, let’s make it bigger to help the target audience as much as possible. The bottom text is enlarged dramatically and much bolder to benefit the prospects the advertiser seeks to reach.

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