Simplicity is the fundamental guideline for creating good out-of-home design. The most effective out-of-home designs capture the essence of a message with lucid expression. For this reason, good out-of-home design can lead to better advertising executions in other media.

Quick Tips for Good Out-of-Home Design

• Product Identification
  Make sure you can read the advertiser's name.
• Short Copy
  No more than 10 words total, and 5 words in the headline.
• Short Words
  Use short words for faster comprehension.
• Large and Legible Type
  Words are viewed from distances of 400-800 feet. All text should be at least 1 foot tall to be legible. Remember, that's only to be legible! Effective type size, especially for a headline, is 3 to 4 feet tall.
• Increase Line Thickness
  At 600 feet, thin lines optically disappear.
• Forget "The Whitespace" Rule
  This rule does not apply to Outdoor. Unlike Print, the actual viewing size is too small. It's like having a 1"x3" newspaper ad with a lot of white space.
• Bold Colors
  Dare to be bold! Being subtle at 600 feet doesn't work.
• High Contrast
  High contrast means better visibility.
• Simplify Everything
  Focus on one key idea or message.
• View From 15 Feet
  View your creative from 15 feet. This simulates viewing from the road.
  Does it read well? Make sure your art is legible before it hits the streets.
• View For 5 Seconds
  View your creative for 5 seconds. This simulates driving past the billboard.
  Can you read the entire message in 5 seconds, if not your drivers will miss your message too.

Color Frequency and Vibration

Like sound waves, light rays have varying wave lengths or frequencies. Some pigments absorb light while others reflect it. Reflected frequencies are perceived as color. Complementary colors, such as red and green, are not legible together because they have similar values that cause the wave lengths to vibrate. Any combination of similar color value (even without vibration), will produce low visibility. Yellow and black are dissimilar in both hue and value providing the strongest contrast for out-of-home design. White complements colors with light values.

Contrast

Strong contrast in hue and value is essential for creating good out-of-home design. Hue is the identity of color while value measures a color's lightness or darkness. Contrasting colors are best when viewing out-of-home designs from far distances.

The 14 color combinations represent the best use of color contrast for readability. The chart evaluates primary and secondary color combinations taking into account hue and value. Example one is the most legible color combination while example 14 is the least legible.

Image

Advances in production technology are allowing advertisers to use increasingly complex imagery in their creative application. However, the requirements for effective outdoor advertising have remained the same — imagery must be bold, clear and easy to understand.

Strong images against simple backgrounds create high-impact visuals. The Image on the left is a good example.

Legibility of Typefaces

Kerning

Sufficient kerning between letters assures the legibility test from far distances. Tight kerning reduces legibility causing adjacent letters to attach together visually. Without proper kerning "clear morning" could be interpreted as "dear mom."

Stacking

A single horizontal line of text allows rapid assimilation of a message without interruption. Multiple text lines increase the time needed to discern a message.

Leading

If more than one text line is necessary, use adequate leading between lines. When a line of text rides on the line below the interplay of descenders and ascenders it will make a message difficult to read.

• Crowding letters into a restricted space will reduce legibility.
• Severely contrasting letter strokes will lose definition when viewed from far distances.
• Thin typefaces will become invisible from far distances.
• Bulky typefaces lose distinction between letters.
• Script typefaces are difficult to read at any distance.

Text Legibility Guide

Distance in Feet	Print Resolution	Resolution for LED	Examples	Minimal Readable Text Height in Inches
5' - 50'	High	3mm-8mm	Malls, Airports, Retail, Lobbies, Office etc.	1" - 2"
50' - 100'	High	6mm-12mm	Window, Street Display, Drive through	2" - 4"
100' - 200'	Normal	12mm-25mm	Posters, Surface Streets	4" - 8"
200' - 300'	Normal	25mm-34mm	Posters, Surface Streets and Highway bulletins	8" - 10"
300' - 350'	Normal	34mm-66mm	Highway Bulletins, Highway Posters	10" - 15"
350' - 500'	Normal	34mm-66mm	Highways, Spectaculars	15" - 20"
500' - 600'	Low - Normal	66mm-76mm	Highways, Spectaculars, Stadiums	20" - 24"
600' +	Low	76mm-90mm	Skyscrapers, Spectaculars, Set back from road	24" - 40"
Note: Readability is also dependant on color contrast. Higher contrasts will allow smaller text size. Complicated backgrounds behind text will also reduce readability.