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Ultimate Ad Image Checklist
Ultimate Ad Image Checklist
This li9le document here is the perfect li9le tool while designing ad images.
Like the huge @tle above says, our designers go through this very checklist
before they mark an ad image ready for delivery. Its proven to work!
The next page will be the checklist in printable form. It wont have any
explana@ons under the listed items. You can print that page if youd like to -
its nice to have a physical copy when youre making an ad image.
The following pages will elaborate on the checklist - I recommend you read
through it once before crea@ng any ad images.
I certainly hope that this document is helpful to you, and you can always
personally e-mail me at utku@s4ckynotemedia.com if you need any
ques@ons, recommenda@ons, or reviews about this ar@cle. Id be more than
happy to help!
Stay awesome,
Utku Shokohiazar
Relevance
Are the graphics in your ad image relevant to your product/content?
Do you feature a dening graphic in your ad image that would stop poten@al customers from
scrolling? E.g. chip in a brain for AI, smiling baby for new parents, a car for people that are in the
market for a car, a nice piece of clothing thats targeted for your audience, etc.
Colors
Do you use contras@ng colors to make your dening graphic stand out?
Are your texts wri9en in an easily readable color? Are they dark, on a light background?
Are you using a9rac@ve colors to bring a9en@on to your ad? (e.g. red)
Are you using color scheming to make people look at certain parts of your ad in order?
Is your background color dierent from the background color of the plaYorm youre using?
(e.g.white for Facebook)
Modernity
Does your ad feature modern, sleek fonts?
Does your ad image look right to you? Can you see Apple using an image similar to yours?
Simplicity / Positioning
Is there too much informa@on on your ad image?
Does your ad image have a focus point that conveys your main message to your audience while
a9rac@ng a9en@on? (see the color part for a complementary tac@c)
Relevance
Are the graphics in your ad image relevant to your product/
content?
Ad Images 101: Only use graphics that are relevant to what youre
talking about.
Lets say that youre selling phone cases with sports logos on them, and
youre adver@sing Lakers phone cases to people all over the na@on.
For example, its been proven over and over that ad images with babies
in them get more views/clicks/callbacks, and adver@sers try to abuse
this fact by going overboard with the baby thing.
Your image needs to have that boom factor that will stop people if
theyre even remotely interested on the topic of your ad.
See the trend here? Its all about showing the right things to the right
people.
You can apply all the other items in the checklists to your ad image, but
if you show a beau@ful ad image with a guitar as its dening
characteris@cs to an audience thats looking to buy a new TV, youve
lost the ba9le before it even started.
Contras@ng colors stand out next to each other. The most well-known
combina@on is red and blue.
Heres an ad from
Carvana, and theyre
doing a really good job
gedng their dening
graphic (the car) to
stand out:
Studies show that dark colored text on a light background is the easiest
kind of text to read.
You can use light text on a darker background, but its denitely not
recommended. Just make sure that the text is easy to read for you, and
youll be ne.
Are you using aIrac4ve colors to bring aIen4on to your ad? (e.g.
red)
Red is a very a9rac@ve color, and weve been condi@oned all our lives
to watch out for red.
Make sure you get people to look at a dening characteris@c rst, just
like the Carvana example above.
Red car right in the middle of the image? No one shopping for a car will
miss that.
Are you using color scheming to make people look at certain parts
of your ad in order?
Its always be9er to get people to see your dening graphic rst, then
your cap@on, and then your logo.
When they see your dening graphic, they become interested and stop
scrolling. Then they look at your cap@on, and if you did a good job with
it, they become even more reeled in.
Sticky Note Media, 2017 7 of 17
Then they see your logo before reading your ad text (the copy outside
the image), and that builds brand awareness.
This is the order that makes the most sense, but if you have a be9er
idea, feel free to experiment with it.
If your logo isnt easily visible, youre missing out on building brand
awareness.
We know that people can see your logo and name outside your ad
image, but youre more likely to have your audience remember your
name and logo if you snap your logo on your ad image as well.
Sticky Note Media, 2017 8 of 17
You achieve this by repe@@on (your name and logo are both in the ad
@tle and ad image), and by good color scheming, you get people to look
at your logo immediately aher they read your cap@on. It makes your
logo more memorable.
Make sure your logo is easily visible on your ad image. Your logo and
name ma9er.
Simple, but eec@ve. Make sure you use a light color background that
diers from the background color of the site youre adver@sing on.
Again, dont be bound by this rule: feel free to experiment and see your
results with a white background. You can put some a9rac@ve colors on
white and make things stand out.
Its all about gedng poten@al customers to take a look at your ad and
reeling them in.
You dont want to use Times New Roman in your ad unless youre WSJ.
Make sure that your ad looks modern. Modern fonts are usually non-
serif, thin, light, and smooth.
See the dierence? The image on the leh looks a lot more modern and
clear.
Fonts ma9er - a lot. You can make dierent fonts work, but sleek,
modern fonts are a lot easier to work with.
Feel free to play around with dierent fonts and see how you feel.
Does your ad image look right to you? Can you see Apple using an
image similar to yours?
This is a li9le ambiguous, but think: can you see Apple using an ad
image like yours?
You do have an eye for good design. Just pay a9en@on to what all the
successful companies are doing in their ads, and make sure that your ad
looks up to par.
You will just know when your ad looks right. Its intui@ve. Keep working
on the parts that dont feel right un@l you feel good about them.
Lets take a look at how much be9er the ad would be if it had a simpler
background and be9er color scheming:
Isnt that SO
MUCH more
clear and easy
to look at?
Just have a clear message, a clear dening graphic, and make sure that
seeing and understanding your ad isnt hard.
Does your ad image have a focus point that conveys your main
message to your audience while aIrac4ng aIen4on?
Another great example from the Carvana ad: their focus point is the red
car. Here it is again. Ahem.
This is very similar to the item above, but its not the same.
Some@mes your focus point will not be your dening graphic.
Some@mes your focus point will simply point to your dening graphic.
Some@mes your focus point will play an en@rely dierent role.
They are making you look at their logo, and subsequently the rest of
their ad. Amazing ad design.
Anybody who is interested in Facebook Ads would look and stop at the
image above, and subsequently the rest of their ad. I know I did.
Just make sure that theres a place for your customers to look at rst.
That big red square. That nice red car. This one big a9rac@ve image
that compels your customers to look at other parts of your ad.
Once you start applying this principle while making your ad images,
your ad performance will go up greatly.
Thanks a lot for reading this far. I greatly appreciate it, and I hope that
youve go9en something out of it.
If youre interested in not doing any of this work and gedng someone
else to do it for you, you can check out our product Whiteboard right
here:
h9ps://www.s@ckynotemedia.com/pricing
Once you submit a request for a design, youll receive it THE SAME
DAY! Our trial en@tles you to 3 hand-designed designs with unlimited
revisions, and it costs just $5.99 for the rst week.
Our live chat is open Monday - Friday 8AM - 5PM EST, and its run by
our American and European designers. If you need a quick edit, just
hop on our website and ask away! Got a ques@on? Were right there.
Want to make a request? Fill out the form or just talk to one of our
designers. Were always there during business hours. Someone else will
carry the word to your personal designer if they arent online that
specic moment.
We do all of your images for you using the most modern design and
marke@ng techniques. We apply all the principles you saw here and
more while working for our clients.
Were like your very own in-house designer - only for about 5% of the
cost Crazy, right?
Again, we have a free trial for Whiteboard, and you can get three
designs to use in a week for just $5.99. Give us a try right here:
h9ps://www.s@ckynotemedia.com/pricing
Again, thanks a lot for reading, and I wish you the best of luck in your
digital marke@ng endeavors! You can email me any ques@ons and
thoughts at utku@s@ckynotemedia.com.
Adios!