1. Advertisement
Design Tips That Turn Heads
: Brilliant Case Studies

2. As long as people keep creating new products, they will keep creating ads.
It’s the age old way of announcing to the world ‘I have a product, this is what it does, and this is why you should buy it’. In more recent times, ads have gotten far more creative, to the point where we have pretty high expectations of them. But how do we meet those expectations?
We’ve put together 30 examples of beautifully created advertising case studies that each have plenty of wisdom and design tips to impart.
So, if you’re looking to adopt some advertising techniques, or even if you’re creating an ad of your own, come with us as we have a look at 30 awesome advertisements.

3. 01. Keep It Simple
When a lot of us picture advertisements we picture extravagant images that flaunt the product, the features and the reasons we should buy it. You can definitely go down that route with your ad, or you can go down a simpler one.
Check out this ad by Lego that strips things back and relies on one image and idea. With no copy, just a plain and easy to digest message, this ad captures the complex concept of imagination in its simplest form.
Capturing a much simpler, more general idea in a simpler way not only makes for an effective ad, but also gives this ad a greater chance of appealing to more people. The only people it directly targets are those that have played with lego and have experienced imaginative play, which is a pretty vast target market. So, keeping things simpler (both in terms of message and design) can be a one way ticket to a great ad.

5. 02. Include A Call To Action
Calls to action are used a lot in promotional designs, particularly advertisements. In case you’re not familiar, a call to action is a piece of copy that urges or invites the audience to take action. Some calls to action you may be familiar with are things like “Buy now”, “Come in while stocks last”, etc.
Calls to action work particularly well in advertising when used thoughtfully and cleverly. For example, have a look at this multi-purpose call to action for Monarto Zoo. Not only does this call invite consumers to come visit the zoo, but it also helps to explain and contextualise the image above.
Since this call is accompanied by such a clever graphic and concept, it is kept simple and direct and a main focal point of the page. A lot of other ads may lower the hierarchy of their calls to action so that they are small, almost subliminal type. But, if your call to action is a part of your key message, don’t be afraid to make it big, make it bold, and put it in the forefront.

7. 03. Appeal To Niches
As with all designs, you are producing a piece of work that targets a specific consumer group. Representing this consumer group directly in your ad is a great way to signal that you’re talking right to them. But, how do we do this if our target market is quite broad?
For example, the Wilkinson Sword brand of razors has a very extensive target market. Their ad campaign is a series of three ads that are each designed to appeal to a variety of users. By featuring people with a different facial features and the hairstyles that might look good on them, each ad is able to target a very wide range of people.
By using a campaign of four ads instead of one, Wilkinson Sword is able to use one strong and clever concept, and expand it a little further in terms of direct market targeting by using different people and genres. In short, Wilkinson Sword has been able to appeal not just to one specific type of person, but to razor-users as a whole.

9. Channel A Little Surrealism
Don’t be afraid to manipulate your imagery a little to create a strange, surreal or even impossible effect to complement your message.
This ad for Ikea’s assembly service is inspired by the Penrose triangle, that famous ‘impossible’ illustration of the 3D triangle. Ikea channels the Penrose triangle by manipulating an image of their product in a similar fashion to illustrate the concept of ‘difficulty’ and ‘complexity’, poking fun at the infamous difficulty of building their flat pack furniture.
Just as the original Penrose triangle, this design is fascinating to look at, and also very cleverly captures Ikea’s message with a simple but impossible and surreal spin on an everyday image.

11. Create Movement
Want to represent speed, agility, and movement for your product, but can’t quite figure out how to do that on a 2D medium like a print ad? Well, let’s look at an example that does it well.
Check out this example for Ajax wet wipes that pairs two pieces of movement and motion. The pink liquid that spills out and down, is sharply contrasted against the left-to-right shape right in the middle. The use of motion lines, highlights and shadows helps to capture these two contrasting shapes and create individual pieces of movement.
Using movement in your advertisements helps to create a dynamic design out of an otherwise flat medium, and helps to represent speed and movement. So, if you want to display how quick and speedy your product is, consider working with shape, shading and motion lines to create a dynamic effect.

13. Conclusion
The rules, techniques, methods and approaches to creating an ad are extensive and seemingly neverending.
While knowing and playing by design rules most definitely helps to create a visually stunning and effective ad, a lot of the effectiveness of an ad comes down to creative thinking and daring to be different.
Look at your product, look at your brand, and try to think laterally. What new perspective can you put on this product? What devices can you use to promote it? Would a visual metaphor work well, or perhaps an iconic image, or maybe a symbol or two.
Once you have your concept down pat, work on the design. What technical methods could you use to do this piece justice? Perhaps some dramatic scaling, or a distinct palette. Mix and match techniques, seek inspiration, and have fun with it.
Be sure to let us know if you have any tips or tricks for any present and future advertisers out there in the comments below!