Much like the business card, a billboard is “one-shot” advertising. You hope to catch the attention of a driver speeding by. The message must be clear enough to comprehend quickly, but powerful enough to stick in the mind.

Recently a project came across my desk for new billboard. The previous designer had included a whopping total of 22 words in their design. 22?!?!?!  How am I possibly going to take in that much information while driving down the road? Is the designer responsible for any auto accidents that may occur because drivers had to hit their brakes to take in all the information?

In case you didn’t get the point, 22 words on a billboard is a bit excessive. So how do you determine HOW much information to include on there?

Well, generally the rule of thumb is no more than 8 words. That’s about all driver can comfortably take in. Obviously, that’s an average. You will see billboards ranging in content numbers from 5-15, but keep in mind that 8 is the “perfect” number according to researchers and professional marketers.

That in mind, what do you “leave out”. Well, chances are there is absolutely NO reason to include an actual telephone number on a billboard these days. Web sites are prevalent. And most can just as easily surf the web from their phone as they can make a phone call.

On the other hand if you are struggling to decide what TO put on there, here are some vast ideas (some better than others!):

Contact Information:

Name of the Organization
Web Site Address (url)
Telephone Number (easy to remember format 1-800-FLOWERS, etc.)
Physical Location
Slogan or Motto
Tagline
Niche Information

Visual:

Logo
Color Scheme
Person of Interest (or the POC)
 

As I mentioned earlier, you should be careful not to “overload” the reader with an exorbitant amount of information.

Some pitfalls to avoid:
Be wary of certain colors  . . . For instance, you might want to be careful of sky blue unless you really want your billboard to “blend” in with it’s surroundings.

Know where your billboard will be displayed, be familiar with trees/buildings that could obstruct the view.

As with everything else, billboard design will be subjective. You may be loved or hated. But hopefully, you will get read.

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My most recent find is a company that prides themselves on their environmental contribution. Have you ever wondered what happens to a vinyl billboard once it’s taken down? Well, if your a customer of Vy and Elle (say it fast=vinyl), a Tuscon, AZ company, that prides themselves on their recycling.

What do they do? They create handbags and pouches from old billboard vinyl. As you can imagine, though the styles are similiar from product-to-product the bag patterns are entirely subject to which billboard was used. Glimpses of coca-cola red or pepsi blue may be seen, but most likely you’ll get incredibly abstract patterns of vinvyl in your product.

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Though it occured almost 2 years ago, few Billboards have been as noticed and talked about as the Giant Chocolate billboard produced by a British chocolatier Thorntons. 

The billboard was created, was 860 pounds (390kg) of pure chocolate in London that was 14.5 ft by 9.5 ft. It consisted of 10 chocolate bunnies, 72 giant chocolate eggs and 128 chocolate panels. The billboard took three months to build. It was eaten in three hours.

Pictures from BBC and Yumsugar.

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Are billboards really worth the effort?

I think so. But there are a few rules to remember:

1. Cut the words. Remember that the people reading your billboard will likely be moving. Depending upon where your billboard will be placed they can be moving anywhere from 30 mph to 70 mph. So how can you possibly reach anyone with your message?

Start by brainstorming your message. What is it that you want to say? Write out your message. Now, cut the words in half. Good billboard design has to be readable. To avoid being responsible for a 4 car pile up, limit your words to roughly 8-10 if possible. 

2. Get Contacted. Don’t forget to add at least one mode of contact. If your business is done primarily on the web, add your web address prominently. If phones are your thing, put your number. Likewise you can include a  physical address.

Should you add all 3? Not if actually WANT to be contacted. Chances are a driver flying by, will not remember your phone number, address and Web site. However, if only one is prominently displayed, they are much more likely to retain it.

3. Images speak. Don’t forget that the images you use also must be easy to understand and should carry a clear message. Simple images will get better results. You’ll notice in some of the examples on this site that most "good" billboards only contain one main image. That’s about all a person traveling down the road can digest.

I love this snippet that I found on a site determined to keep billboards under control. While I think billboards are a great and viable option for advertising, I love the thought behind this: keep it simple:

While some signs are necessary to provide direction and index our surroundings, most billboards merely contribute to visual clutter.  Fore example, on one section of road in Hampton, Virginia, there were so many signs that a driver going 45 miles per hour would need to read 1,363 words per minutes just to understand all the information.  That is five times the normal reading speed of a stationary person!  To read the rest of this article click here.

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See for yourself!

Like what you see? Hopefully these great billboards housed by Lamar will inspire you as much as they do me!

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