Inspiration for stunning print ads.

Harness the powerful tool of print advertising.

Example of two print ads for a fruit drink

Images by Not Real

Print ads have value in a digital world.

Not all advertisements exist on a screen, even today. Print ad campaigns are an effective way to build brand awareness. Cement your brand in the physical world and help your customers remember you as a trustworthy resource with magazine ads, posters, flyers and billboards.

Why print advertisements matter.

In a world full of digital content, the concise and eye-catching nature of the copy and design in printed ads offer a level of clarity, intrigue and memorability unmatched by digital advertising. Ad recall is 2.6 times higher when an ad is in print than when it’s viewed digitally. The clarity of the ad to the consumer is increased by nearly the same factor as well. In addition, consumers are nearly three times as likely to label a print ad interesting as opposed to a digital one.

Before you design your print ads.

Print ad campaigns are often the work of an advertising agency, but they can be handled by your in-house creative team with the right tools and planning. First, decide how your print ads will fit into the larger picture of your marketing strategy and come up with a plan for reaching your target audience. A creative director, whether on your team or at an outside agency, can help to put forward concepts that make sense within your company’s larger visual identity and personality. A clear brand identity for your business and a brand kit will ensure internal teams or hired agencies follow your brand guidelines when designing print ads.

Components of a print advertisement.

The basic building blocks of a creative ad include a background image, illustrations or graphics, your business name and logo, any relevant contact information, body copy, a tagline and a strong call to action. One app that’s a great choice for creating multiple layouts with different content or sizes is Adobe InDesign — part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. It allows you to adapt your designs to be used in various locations.

Best practices for print ad design.

The more creative your print ads are, the more impact they’ll have. But it’s not enough to aim for uniqueness alone. The best print ads also make it easy for the viewer to understand the offer and how they can take action on that offer.

Here are some recommendations of what to consider before designing your first series of print ads:

Draw the eye.
Think of a visual element or headline that will capture the audience’s attention and leave a lasting impression.

Vibrant, coloured print ad for a fruit drink

Offer value.
Present a benefit to the reader or pique their interest with a piece of important information that they didn’t know before.
Show proof.
If you can, offer some proof points to the customer about the value you can provide. Think statistics or testimonials.
Highlight why you’re different.
Tell readers why they should use your service instead of a competitor’s. What is your key differentiator?
Motivate action.
Give your audience a nudge toward taking action by providing a reason to act straightaway, like a limited-time offer or a free trial.

Examples of creative print ads.

Take a cue from clever print campaigns that showcase outstanding writing and graphic design that students and professionals are sharing at the moment on Behance:

Create a series of ads that play off one another, like these ads for a Polish festival.
Harness the creative power of surreal imagery, like this ketchup advertisement.
Say a lot with no words, like in this photo-based, two-page spread for Jeep.
Use a combination of photography and illustration or hand lettering, like in these ads for a restaurant.
Tell a story using playful photo manipulation and text art, like in these ads for audiobooks.
Try photo manipulation that blends nature and the everyday, like in this tourism campaign.
Discover how illustrations can transform a print ad into a keepsake for your audience to display, like in these monthly posters created for a cinema.

Build a basic print ad today.

Vibrant, coloured print ad for a fruit drink in a magazine

Learning simple functions of design tools can set your team up to make successful print advertisements. Explore one option for how to place and resize text by making a quick print ad with sample files in InDesign.

Create new marketing consistent with your branding by giving your team the tools to craft amazing print ads featuring photos, graphics and text. Discover the apps that give you that capability in Adobe Creative Cloud for teams and learn how organising and sharing all your creative assets with everyone on your team can be simpler with a resource like Creative Cloud Libraries.