Wes Frick is a free lance billboard designer located in Denver, Colorado.  His company is Wes Frick Design.   Billboard Insider talked with Frick about what makes an effective out of home ad.

How did you get into out of home ad design?

I graduated college and worked at Lamar designing billboards and working directly with account executives & clients to create effective out of home campaigns. I’ve developed a huge passion for the industry since I started doing it. I’ve had my designs on 80% of the inventory and I used billboards for public good as well, as in supporting non-profits, displaying positive messages, and helping the community.

What are three keys to an effective out of home ad?

1. Always have a full consultation with the client. Thorough communication is important because it allows me to find out how their products and/or services actually work and it allows me to better understand what their specific goals are with the campaign so I can create something that’s truly going to help them. I need to know as much as I can about their business to make real solutions. Every business is different. Great communication is the #1 key because design solves a problem, and we have to know for sure what that problem is to solve it.
2. Choose the right locations. It’s important for a business to advertise in the areas that make sense for their target markets. For example, when a realtor uses out of home advertising in the high income zip codes that they sell homes in and establishes a presence in those areas, or a new gym advertising within 5-10 miles of the new location for their grand opening to make the locals aware. One of my favorite billboard strategies is using rotary programs. Being able to move your billboards around town every four or eight weeks is powerful and allows you to pivot and place your message in key areas that reach new people.
3. Simplicity is everything in this medium.  Billboards must be simple, typically 7 words or less. I believe billboards should be fully understood within 2-3 seconds. A great billboard design solves an awareness issue for the businesses I serve. Billboards work, particularly when you have crafted a message that solves your customer’s pain points because the message should be designed for the business’s customers. A billboard can be used as a hook that drives consumers to their website and social pages to learn more about how the business can solve the customer’s problems. Also, strong contrast, typography, and color play a huge role fundamentally in getting your message across. I always include high resolution images & vector logos. If the client doesn’t have a vector logo, go ahead and re-create it because they will thank you. I’ve recreated hundreds of logos and they love it when they have access to one. Relationship building. For larger projects, I recommend multiple designs to choose from. If you have five to choose from, you have a great ad. If you have 20 designs to choose from and you’re only choosing one to use, that one will be powerful because it beats out 19 others. Design options reduce risk. I can go on and on about it.

What’s a fun ad you’ve designed recently?

One of the most fun advertisements that I am designing right now is for the Shine Festival. The Shine Festival is a non-profit organization that puts on an awesome live music festival that is a highly accessible event for everyone. They’ve done a great job in making it truly accessible for people with disabilities to access the event.  Also, I’ve started to do something on printed vinyls that I believe would make a difference too. I’m putting in small notes in the bleed area that speak to the installers & printers with positive messaging. I’m also looking to make funny ones with jokes for them to enjoy. For installers, it says ” Billboard installers! Thank you so much for putting up my client’s billboards! You guys Frickin’ rock! It takes a lot of courage to go out and hang vinyls multiple times a day. Mad respect to you! I couldn’t do business without you!” For printers, it says ” Printers! Thank you so much for everything you do! I’ve seen how much work goes into creating a billboard vinyl, I have so much respect for everyone involved in the process.”

You contact wes at wes@wesfrickdesign.com, 806-677-9027.

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