December 31, 2019

Banner Design: 10 Things to Keep in Mind

Anhar Ismailaizenanhar

DURATION

7 min

1. Follow Brand Guidelines

The use of banners is intended to help to convey/promote information from a company. Most brands have branding guidelines, which can be in the form of colors, design styles, font or typography, use of photos, etc. It’s important to follow the branding guidelines, as you will be reinforcing the unique image of the company by sending the message they desire.

Topcoder already has a brand guideline. Therefore, this banner design must follow the brand guidelines set by Topcoder. One of the most important is the use of ‘Blob Style’.

Create a large blob using Pen Tool and place it at the right of the document. Make some smooth curves on the blob. This blob is useful as a place to put an image.

2. Choosing Colors Carefully

Some companies or brands already have a set of colors included in their brand guidelines. The brand guidelines must be used in every design. However, there are also companies or brands that don’t have brand guidelines, especially in terms of colors.

You should be careful when choosing the colors that will be used on the banner design. The safest way is to choose colors based on the brand logo. For example, the brand has a blue color on its logo. Then, set the blue as the main or primary color. After that, use neutral colors like black, white, and gray as secondary colors.

Because Topcoder has provided colors that are included in the brand guidelines, of course, it will be easy to apply them to the design. In this banner design the colors green and blue will be combined through gradient color. Then, the color gradient will be applied as background.

Create a rectangular background using Rectangle Tool. Adjust the background size to the same as the document size. Use Gradient Tool, then combine blue and green as gradient color.

3. Find the Appropriate Image

The use of images is not mandatory, but the images will be helpful for aesthetics and support of the information to be conveyed. The priority is finding an image that matches the information on the banner. Then, make a selection of which one is most beautiful and appropriate for the design. For this reason, before you start designing, collect some reference images and make a selection from these.

Find an image that matches with the theme of THRIVE, then place the image on the created blob object. As THRIVE is a resource for members to learn, I am using an image with several members looking at a laptop.

4. Logo Placement

Always provide a space to place the logo. Maybe this sounds trivial indeed. But, this is an important thing that should not be forgotten. Because placing a logo in banner design is the simplest way of displaying the identity from a company or brand.

Logo placement in the banner also affects visualization. A logo placed in the top left will look more prominent in the design than the logo placed below as the human eye reads the information in a Z pattern, from left to right, top to bottom.

Take the Topcoder logo and place the logo at the top of the document to make it more prominent.

5. Highlight the Headline

A headline or title is a representation of the main information to be conveyed through a banner. When glancing at the headline, people should immediately understand the information from this banner, even without looking at the details. The headline is usually marked with words like “Welcome”, “Sale”, “Announcement”, “Invitation”, and others. But, that is not a necessity. It can even be the name of the brand that will be explained through the banner.

Use the Type Tool, then type ‘THRIVE’. Set a large size to indicate that the word is a headline or title.
I have used a font which is part of Topcoder branding: Barlow Semicondensed

6. Provide Supportive Subtitles or Subheaders

Subtitles or subheaders are sentenced to supporting headlines or titles. Therefore the sentences in subtitles must be related and clarify the headlines. Subtitles must also look concise. In the case of designs that already have very clear headlines, subtitles are no longer needed.

In this design, subtitles are needed because the headline or title is just the word ‘THRIVE’. To clarify Thrive, Thrive’s slogan or purpose can be placed as subtitles.

Use Type Tool, type the Thrive slogan “Grow with us. Tutorials and workshops that matter”. Set the size smaller and place it under the word ‘THRIVE’.

7. Avoid Too Much and Complex Information

Unlike the UI design that can display a lot of complex information, the banner design displays less. But the presented information must be solid and clear. Generally, the information that needs to be present in the banner design is the headline, a short explanation text, information about the place, date, and time. The more information included will reduce the effectiveness of the design.

Concise additional information in the form of benefits and offered things in Thrive will be added to this banner design. Then, we will also add some icons to make this design more interesting and get more attention.

Make some blobs as a place to put icons using Pen Tool. You can also modify the blob that has been made before, also by using the Pen Tool.

07-00

Put the Icons on the blobs and add a few short sentences for additional information by using Type Tool. Make the font bold to highlight the important points.

07-2

8. Attract with Call to Action (CTA)

Indeed, not all banner designs require a call to action (button). One of the banner designs that requires call to action is a web banner. Examples of web banners that are commonly seen are Google Ads and Facebook Ad Copy. The purpose of using call to action is as the center of attention and attracts visitors or users to click on the ad or banner. By clicking on call to action visitors or users will be taken to the main page or main product of a brand.

This banner design is an example of a web banner, so we will add a button to attract visitors or users to click on the banner then join and learn through THRIVE.

Create a button or call to action using the Rounded Rectangle Tool. Enlarge the size until it looks prominent. Then add large text using Type Tool. Type “JOIN NOW” and put it into the button or Call to Action that has been created.

08-2

9. Pay Attention to Design Hierarchy

Hierarchy is fundamental in design. An example of a hierarchy that needs to be given attention is the placement of headings, such as the placement of large-sized and small-sized text. Then, give attention to the placement of images and shapes. After that, the whitespace settings and color usage.

This banner design tries to present the proper design hierarchy. Some examples of the hierarchy that is trying to be presented are the use of large size space for supporting images for visual attractiveness. Next is the placement of the logo at the very top. Then sequentially place headlines and subtitles under the logo. And finally, place additional information in the middle and call to action at the bottom part.

Use bigger and smaller font sizes in headlines and subtitles as necessary. Then, use bold for important information. Both are examples of the proper use of design hierarchy.

10. As Simple as Possible

Sometimes it’s more difficult to produce a simple design than a complex design. That principle also applies to banner design. Therefore, information such as text should be minimized and convey only the important points.

However, a problem that often appears in a simple design is too much white space. Too many white spaces sometimes disturbs the visual of banner design. To overcome this problem, the designer should be able to add supporting images and illustrations to decorate the white spaces on the design.

Too much white space also occurs in this banner design. To overcome this problem, it is necessary to add a graphic object in the form of a blob on some parts that look blank. Besides, the addition of these blobs also increases visual attractiveness.

Create some blobs using Pen Tool or you can also modify a blob that has been created before. Give gradient color to the blobs using the Gradient Tool, choose the colors like blue, orange, purple, and yellow found in the Topcoder’s brand guidelines. Place in the blank space that can be found in the document.

09-2