Thursday, November 03, 2011

Tips from a Designer

BBASS Art


Need some assistance designing content for your digital signage? Well, below are 5 best practices that Captive's very own Creative Director, Brandon Bass, uses when designing content. Hope this helps to get you started. Happy Designing!

1. Size it up

It may seem obvious, but it’s critical to begin with a composition that fits your screen! Widescreen LCD monitors are sized to a 16:9 aspect ratio—and when you turn that same screen “tallways”, that portrait orientation now has a 9:16 aspect ratio. We design our typical content at a pixel dimension of 1366 x 768, but to create content at “Full HD”, you can size your composition to 1920 x 1080 pixels. Images should be at least 150 dpi (dots per inch), and animated graphics (SWF) should be set to 24 fps (frames per second).

2. Create a billboard

Digital signage screens are like billboards—a lot of people will look at them, but they might only have a short period of time to make an impact. Keep this in mind as you design content, making text large, legible, and on-screen for a comfortable amount of time to read and comprehend. It’s also important to keep your message simple and succinct. Chances are, you’re audience isn’t going to read the fine print on a retail digital screen, so it’s more important to hit the high points with big headlines, bulleted details, and a compelling call to action.

3. Catch glances

Using striking imagery and animation is another key facet of good digital signage content. The most effective graphics are recognizable instantly, hitting you with an immediate punch, but subtle images can get results, too. Aim to use photos that leave room for your text, so that the copy and image work together to occupy the ad space. When possible, use interesting animation effects on text to bring words to life and draw attention to the information, but avoid making images move too much while displaying text that you want your audience to read and digest.

4. Stick to a palette

The best brands in the world associate themselves instantly with a distinct color palette. When designing content, try to reflect the look of your logo or website, sticking to a restricted color scheme that viewers can begin to identify your company by. You might decide to tie a specific color to certain products or services so that, for instance, a content file with lots of red always advertises auto loans. The most important thing to remember is that consistency creates long-lasting connections between visual and mental functions, while inconsistency breeds confusion.

5. Make a storyboard

When it comes to any kind of design process, careful planning and organization never hurts. Make a storyboard of what you’d like your ad to contain, including ingredients like an introduction or headline, a main message or key points, and a conclusion or call to action. You can use thumbnail sketches of what each portion of the ad should look like to determine the best placement of images and text, making an effort to keep each section of the ad visually interesting and compositionally unique.

Best In Show

Derby Winner

Just getting started with Digital Signage? Having the freedom to play multiple pieces of content lets you provide more information to your audience but can also increase the likelihood of Visual Overload or missing important messaging. Here are some tips to maximize the effectiveness of your digital signage without going overboard.

1. Determine Your Message

Before you create a show or start to look for screen content, determine your message. Are you focusing on a certain product or service this month? Are you trying to reach a specific type of customer? Once you’ve answered these questions, you can build your show to promote specific services and schedule it to target specific audiences, helping you meet your goals.

2. Create Playlists of Similar Media Files

For the most captivating digital signage show, dedicate zones to play a specific type of media. That way,your audience will gain familiarity with the zones and will become comfortable watching specific zones. Building playlists is the easiest way to keep similar files together in groups. For example create a playlist with similar files such as a video message from your CEO and a TV commercial. With files grouped together as a playlist you’ll be able to keep them together regardless of what zone you drop them into or what show you’ve created. Also, because video and highly animated files can overwhelm some audiences, it’s a good idea to create a playlist of low-impact static JPEG images which could still include advertisements and announcements.

3. Choose a Layout That Fits Your Needs

Choosing how to layout your show is important. Create a simple 2-zone layout that allows you to display a scrolling ticker of community events, stock tickers or news feeds as well as a larger zone to focus on your services and promotions. Choose a 3 zone layout to display even more information! By determining your needs prior to creating the show, you’re more likely to have engaging and informative show that will provide consistent messaging, potential cross selling and the ability to educate your customers; keeping them coming back in the future!

4. Watch Your Aspect Ratios

Aspect Ratio refers to the shape of your screen or content, based on the measurements of the width and height, respectively. LCD screens typically have a 16:9 aspect ratio when displayed in landscape mode. Screens can be rotated 90 degrees for placement, style, or functional purposes. When this occurs, the numbers in the aspect ratio are reversed and the orientation becomes portrait.

5. Working with 2-Zone Layouts

As a rule of thumb, avoid letting your zones compete for attention with an overload of movement. For instance, use a larger zone for important promotional information and community events within the ticker zone or play new feeds, stock or a custom text ticker. A two zone layout with a ticker at either the top or the bottom accomplishes this goal.

6. Switch to Full-Screen for Emphasis

Sometimes you really need to get the full attention of your audience, so switch the layouts of your shows for emphasis. Create a new show with a full screen layout. When changing layouts for emphasis it’s important to include your current promotions, timely announcements, upcoming events and anything else that you want to occupy the whole screen. Schedule this kind of show for peak traffic times or switch to it at various points through the day or week.

7. Working with 3 or More Zone Layouts

The more zones you have the smaller each zone is, making it harder for viewers to focus. Avoid putting too much information into the smaller zones as they are often harder to follow. Shift the focus to larger zones that are playing marketing messages, services offered or community events.
Hyper Smash