The best outdoor advertising design: tips for working with a designer

A productive working relationship with a designer, based on mutual understanding, is one of the keys to effective outdoor advertising. Whatever its purpose, be it for a point of sale or an office, working with a designer is an integral part of the process.

Of course, it helps if you and the designer use the same terminology and share the same view of priorities. But even if you don't, you can always reach agreement if both sides are willing.

Working with a designer has real advantages. A good designer can shape the visual concept of any advertising medium correctly, clearly and to the highest standard.

Working with a designer who knows their job will give you new experience and knowledge that may come in handy in the future. But to avoid delays in preparing your advertising for production and to stay within budget, there are a few things you need to think through. Let's look at them now.

1. Choose the designer you trust with your project carefully

Your key task at the start is to hire a genuinely responsible, talented person who will do their best to bring your ideas to life and come up with their own.

Ideally, the designer will see your order not as just another job on the conveyor belt, but as a chance to realise a creative idea and grow professionally.

Combining your aims will result in a design that hits the mark and delivers the greatest benefit.

2. Be clear about what exactly you need from the designer

If you already have some ideas and examples of work you like, it's time to meet the designer. Work out, put into words and explain to them what contribution they should make to your business and how they can help.

A professional designer will help you turn your ideas into reality based on your needs. Perhaps you just want to refresh an existing design concept, or you want to copy and digitise a design from a photo you like.

Be open and share your preferences with the designer. Feel free to show other people's projects you like. In one you may like the font, in another the colour scheme, in a third the shape. All of these will become starting points.

3. Be specific

Ideally, before a meeting or call, send the designer your ideas in writing so they can think the project through in advance.

They may ask you to fill in a creative brief, a list of questions that typically cover:

• your goal and your audience;
• your competitors;
• the action you expect from a potential customer.

Stay in constant touch with the designer and avoid comments like “I just don't like it”. Explain and specify your dislikes, while emphasising what you do like. For example: “this colour seems too loud to me, and these lines too heavy”.

Designers think in a mix of images and emotions. Even if you say “I want the sign to look cosier, more elegant” and so on, they will understand you.

The designer will point out what can and cannot be used for a particular task and give examples of what will suit you.

4. Know your story

And be able to tell it briefly. The design of your advertising is a visualisation of that very story. The designer needs to understand exactly how you want to present it to your customers.

Think of your company or brand as a person and state its priorities: modern or traditional, imaginative and distinctive or formal and strict.

This will help the designer set the boundaries: how much freedom they have with ideas, and which colours and fonts to use.

What does your company do, and why should anyone buy its products or services? What do you know about your customers? Any insight into their psychology will help you and the designer create highly effective advertising that hits the bullseye.

5. Consider the emotional side of advertising

Don't underestimate it. Often an emotional purchase comes first and the logical explanation follows.

Specify what mood your future advertising should create and what customers should feel when they see it. Answer from your own experience: you are also a customer of some company or brand. Why did you choose them? Perhaps precisely because you felt something, or simply liked everything without being able to say why?

That means excellent design work is what won you over and justified your choice.

6. Delegate responsibility, but stay involved

People come to us expecting the best and fastest solution to their business needs. We are equally interested in productive cooperation and, of course, want to avoid shortcomings that would cause delays and push up the cost of the order.

But you need to help with this too, and help the designer in particular! No designer can become you, see exactly what you see and think exactly as you do. So take an active part in the process: give feedback, make comments and state your wishes to keep revisions to a minimum.

To get what you want, rely on teamwork. We have had many customers who had no idea at all what the finished product should look like. Creating something from scratch is no problem for us, but you will find it more interesting to take part in the design and preparation stage of your order.

A final tip for working with a designer

And here it is: follow all the tips above. That way you will get the best results working with any designer, and above all with the RVK Tashuta designer, as we invite you to work with us on favourable terms. We will help you run a successful advertising campaign. Our designer will create an eye-catching design for any advertising medium. Just: be bold in stating your wishes and preferences; be open to constructive dialogue; state the task clearly. After all, you never know which idea, once put into words, will become the starting point for a product with an original design that helps your company succeed.