Contrary to popular belief, print is not dead. Online ads may be popular, but businesses aren’t necessarily ruling out traditional forms of advertising like newspaper and magazine ads. Houston Chronicle writer Rick Suttle reports that print is still an effective form of advertising primarily for this reason:

“Building An Image

Business owners use printing in advertising to build their image. For example, a vacation resort company may use imagery in its brochures to entice consumers to visit. A beach resort company may use print to get the reader to imagine basking in the sun, lying on its pristine, white beaches. Pictures on the brochure can further enhance the consumer’s image of the resort area.”

Of course, for print ads to work and fulfill their purpose of conveying a clear message to people through visual elements, they need to be skillfully designed first. Advertising professionals can turn to numerous things in the city for design inspiration, like the Art Museum, which houses an impressive collection of masterpieces. They can also keep in mind the following useful tips.

Design for the right audience.

The first step to creating effective graphic design in Chicago is to know the target market first. Determining who the intended audience is will give the design the direction it needs. For instance, if the product or service is aimed at teens, the images and text must appeal to their age bracket.

Choose a visual focal point.

The print material should have one visual element that effectively grabs a viewer’s attention. This doesn’t have to be a picture of the product itself; it may highlight, say, the positive effect of the product. A good example is a shampoo print ad that doesn’t even show the shampoo bottle, but, instead, displays a girl with long, lustrous hair.

Think out of the box.

Tried-and-tested methods in print advertising will never go wrong. However, they could become boring and predictable in the long run. Those who want to make an impact need to do something that hasn’t been done before. Making the most out of one’s creative skills could produce truly eye-catching designs.

While businesses may have a talented in-house marketing professional, often it takes a lot more to have effective print ads. In this regard, businesses can consider enlisting the services of a skillful Chicago graphic designer with marketing experience too, like someone from Controlled Color Inc. Professionals from this firm know how to create designs for successful advertising.

(Source: The Importance of Printing to Advertising, smallbusiness.chron.com)