How to create a landscape banner with Plugger AI?
Landscape banners are using for different platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and so on. They play a crucial role in attracting attention and conveying messages effectively. Design principles such as color theory, typography, and composition are essential for creating visually appealing banners.
To begin, you can learn the landscape banner maker using Plugger AI by following these steps:
1. Access the Plugger AI dashboard. Choose the banner section and use the "Banner (Landscape)" tool.
2. Customize the design by selecting fonts, colors, and other settings. For consistent brand designs, save your fonts, colors, and logo preferences by creating a brand. If your selections are ready, write your banner content.
3. Once done, you will be able to create an unlimited number of banners.
1. Introduction to Landscape Banners
Landscape banners are a common element of landscape-oriented web pages. Landscape banners play a significant role in online advertising, web navigation, corporate internet presentations, online news websites, institutional homepages, and awareness web pages, among other areas.
People are surrounded by eye-catching landscape banners, which are a significant tool in attracting a user's attention. Despite their potential significance, there exists considerable room for improvement in the design of landscape banners.
This essay is specifically designed to measure the visual effectiveness of landscape banners. There is no universal way to guarantee a landscape banner's visual effectiveness; however, it can be improved by understanding the design principles and techniques outlined in this essay.
This essay's aim and scope are to deduce design principles and give techniques that can boost the visual strength and effectiveness of a landscape banner. The essay examines and compares landscape banners from conventional print advertising, posters, and digital images, among other things. Landscape banners, in particular, usually have a broader width than height, which makes them distinctive and different from other designs. This wide, panoramic feel, when skillfully designed, has the ability to seize a viewer's attention immediately. Landscape banners are frequently situated close to a website's top, and people's awareness shifts from the top to the bottom of a webpage when reading or browsing, as well as when having a brief rest to clear their thoughts or when first viewing a website. As a result, a motivated and skillfully designed landscape banner will be seen and taken in by them. Additionally, by using changing backgrounds, voice, speed, color sequence, and various colors, to name a few, the audience is lured to engage further. Furthermore, properly selecting captivating captions and concise, punchy text will deepen and refresh this new interest.
2. Understanding the Purpose and Audience
Understanding the intended purpose and target audience for landscape banners can influence how a designer approaches creating a design worth paying attention to. The goals promoted by a banner influence every design choice – from scale to color to technique. For this reason, it is important to understand the major possibilities for how a banner can be useful. A banner is more than decoration when it is a successful tool for communicating messages that have an intended impact on particular audience members – their potential uses influence the principles and techniques we choose to create them.
Demographic research on the types of visitors to a place and what audience behaviors are typical of those engaging with such spaces can guide advertising designers in crafting messages and methods of engagement to appeal to their particular attitudes and motivations. As messages and promotional materials are created for people over the course of the project, a small amount of text relevant to ongoing works could also advertise the project. Choose positional and display areas to reflect the need to balance promotional materials with useful information. Informational displays can be placed in amenity areas, while promotional materials can be placed in more signature areas.
Audience members extended their understanding of a place from existing visuals. To engage with ongoing projects, visual information combined with text presenting the project could encourage the reader to connect with current development works. Return and engage with people. As each stage is completed, it is relevant and necessary to gain feedback.
3. Key Elements of Effective Design
Key Elements of Effective Design. Four design elements are essential to the creation of an effective and visually pleasing landscape banner. These elements include color, typography, iconic imagery, and graphic design. Each of these design elements plays an important role in your created design.
Color: Color choice significantly affects the overall appeal of the design. Color appeal becomes an important factor when attempting to evoke an emotional message with an audience. By creating a color palette that is cohesive and visually appealing, a design is more likely to attract viewer attention and keep the attention of those who view your graphic.
Typography: Typography or text choice plays a significant role in the ability one has to communicate their message. Text should be clear and legible, yet still flowing. The text should add to the design, rather than looking as though it were an afterthought. Text that is poorly chosen, designed, or placed in the design will appear as clutter and lead to viewer confusion.
Iconic Imagery: Iconic imagery in combination with high-quality photography will make the design memorable and communicate brand messaging. Imagery that is poorly chosen or low-quality can actually harm a brand's reputation as the first impression is generally the appearance of a design before content information is disseminated.
Graphic Design: Graphic design elements include the positioning of the logo, emblems, key messages, and contact information on a landscape banner. It is essential that graphic elements are balanced effectively to prevent clutter that leads to reader confusion and unprofessionalism.
3.1. Color Theory and Palette Selection
A solid foundation for graphic design of any medium is a good color theory. A designer armed with the principles of color theory can create mood-setting, eye-catching designs that convey a tone through their choice of hues and palette. The color wheel consists of basic primary and secondary colors, as well as the more complex tertiary colors that fall in between primary and secondary hues. These colors are in constant dynamic relationships with one another, forming a dialogue of contrasts, complements, and transitions that we can use to suggest dimensionality, relationships, flow, and emotion in our designs. Color evokes emotion, and a designer must understand its impressionable nature.
By implication, a color palette that decides the audience will be best suited to communicate with or capture must be well planned to ensure high readability and overall cohesiveness in a landscape banner design. A palette that is too similar can muddy design elements together, leading to a lack of both contrast that adds depth and dimension to a design and easy-to-read focal points. However, a palette that is too disparate can lead to a jumbled and hard-to-look-at graphic that is difficult to extract information from. Two palettes especially prove to be the most audience-friendly, yet eye-catching, and the easiest to read of all. The analogous color palettes combine 3-5 adjacent colors on the wheel to represent unity and harmony, whereas the complementary palettes use color opposites to give sections of the wheel true contrast, making these palettes a prime choice for standout focal points. There is a distinct cultural difference in how specific colors are perceived across the globe. The designer must take into account their key audience’s general location to determine which palette best matches the overall landscape of the venue. However, even this can be misconstrued since not every person who will pass by the banner will be of that origin. The denominator color palette, white, should always be included to help a banner stand out in any location. Historically, white has always evoked feelings of purity, sophistication, and goodness across the globe. Not to mention, white letters on blue, black, or yellow backgrounds make them the easiest to read and provide the most contrast. Therefore, the proposed four-color palette is not set in stone. As a better gauge of time and location, it is advised to create prototypes of the banner with different four-color split palettes in combination with white. Once all combinations are completed, solicit local passersby to examine the banners for 2-3 seconds. Afterwards, ask them to describe the banner in their own words. Using their emotional responses gathered from the varying banner prototypes, one will determine which four-color split palette best communicates through the landscape banner.
3.2. Typography and Text Placement
The choice of font expresses the personal and stylistic foci of a design. In banner design, the choice and arrangement of type can vary interpretation and readability. Type and its arrangement can be equally instrumental to visual perception as imagery itself. They are just a tool chosen for a specific application in graphic design. Readability can be affected by type that is difficult to read or understand and requires a lot of attention to make it legible. Short blocks of text may be very difficult to engage with and may require more patience as the viewer’s eyes jump around from letter to letter. Short paragraphs of text are where a serif typeface tends to work best. These are fonts that are more distinctive compared to sans serif typefaces. The serifs help the eye travel across and along the horizontals. In landscape banners, design features including typeface selection can contribute to interpretation and effectiveness. Certain styles or typefaces are associated with particular typographic foci, which can impact the interpretation of a message. Font styles are key to forming the brand identity or telling the story in an expressive way, but they should not be overused. Hierarchy, contrast, and alignment can relate to each other, letting the user understand which type and message are supported. They help to construct a clear space where the message is read in the order of importance the designer chose. The size of the text depends on the distance where banners are displayed, the surrounding space and visual noise around, and the usage of images. It is not suggested to use text with a 10-point font size as this creates a cluttered feeling. Legibility is better when there’s plenty of space between letters, words, and lines. Keep tracking, kerning, and leading in mind. Messages won’t be understood if the text is placed too close to the edge. Usually, it’s suggested to keep the text approximately 1/4 inch from the margins. If the banner has an image, it is better to place the text in a neutral zone, separate from the visual. Placing text on top of a photo might overpopulate the design, which leads people into confusion about what to look at. For better comprehension, it is important to separate the visual and the message; they are both equally important. The principles are nothing but a base for a successful design, but the secret is to interpret each category from human behavior.
3.3. Imagery and Graphics
Imagery and graphics are a powerful aspect of landscape banner design. Designers should pull relevant visuals that further enhance the message of the banner. Studies have shown that people invest 150 milliseconds when evaluating a website for the first time, and what they see plays a greater role in their decision-making than what they read. Whether it is a photograph, illustration, or icon, imagery captures attention and creates an entertaining or informative visual for the viewer to enjoy. High-resolution graphics should always be used to preserve the look of the image at varying widths and displays. Images can balance a design by drawing the eye to the main message. The design of the text in relation to the images is crucial to maintain the viewers' ability to read sans serif or serif fonts. All design elements should have 'unity' and appear as though they belong in the message system; in essence, they unify the design and serve the same purpose.
People hold on to visual and graphic logos and identities for 72 hours. This is because the 'simplicity of design' is usually the strongest component of the design system that connects the branding. Imagery can also pull at the emotions of the viewer, evoking emotional responses that affect decision-making and action. Images should never be used illegally. There are many areas to consider when using imagery. Where is the photo being sourced from? Is the stock image priced fairly? Does the photographer get the credit in your design system just as much as the designer(s)? These factors help the banner fulfill any expectations of ethical processes in design. Providing the photograph with the same amount of attention in recognition highlights the accomplishment of a good visual. Any imagery not directly designed by the designer should have an originating credit system and be included in the final image export.
4. Composition and Layout Techniques
When we design a landscape banner, we want it to be effective, contain all the necessary information, and engage viewers. To improve the banner's effectiveness, design and composition techniques must be used in their compositions to make a banner look better, contain important information, and be eye-catching. Typography, composition, color, and size are four basic points worth considering while designing a landscape banner. These principles and techniques should be taken into consideration while designing a landscape banner because they can change the design dramatically. They can add a new dimension to your design and improve the appearance of the banner. Experiment with them, get familiar with them, and explore the possibilities that these techniques offer. Below, we will outline techniques that enhance the composition, provide a description of some basic composition principles, and give possible examples of how the technique or principle can be used in a landscape banner.
Composition Principles and Techniques 1. Rule of Thirds - The rule of thirds is a guideline that applies to the process of composing visual images such as designs, films, paintings, and photographs. The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. The guideline is based on the ideal of design.
4.1. Rule of Thirds and Grid Systems
The rule of thirds is a popular composition technique used to create dynamic and well-balanced layout design. In a three-by-three grid layout, designers are encouraged to place their elements of focus using intersecting points of the imaginary lines. This will create an interesting focus and body area where the eye moves. More than that, this will also create an imaginary balance over the composition. For the grids, some designers use a three-by-three grid layout, while others use a four-by-four. For the latter, the design becomes more flexible when the center elements are designed. It can be one large element or multiple elements, dependent on the designer’s chosen style guide and purpose.
The use of the grids will be solely dependent on the imagery that the designer wants to convey. While standard grids will still be useful in most designs, this cannot stop the designer from exploring the grids, as mentioned in the subsection below. The rule of thirds is approximated where the imaginary lines of the scene are superimposed on the design layout. Visual images are designed for the viewer to look at a specific point for the secondary focal points. Conversely, using four boxes still gives the designer the flexibility to add emphasis to the middle and then direct attention to the secondary focus of the viewers' eyes. Designers have the flexibility to explore, sidestep, and align the designed elements to a specific purpose. In these guidelines, creativity is also still greatly encouraged for a variety of designed compositions.
4.2. Balance and Symmetry
Balance refers to equal visual weight in a design. When a design is balanced, the visual weight is evenly distributed, and the composition exudes stability and harmony. There are two forms of balance: symmetry and asymmetry. Symmetry is often used in traditional and formal designs because it is systematic. It reinforces a design’s cohesion and strength. Asymmetric balance tends to be more dynamic and sometimes dramatic. It can be more playful and engaging. Asymmetrical balance is exciting because the weight of the sides is unequal. A good landscape banner design takes intentional asymmetry into account. Because banners are for print, using both symmetrical and asymmetrical balance is effective. The following analysis explores situations in which to use either type of balance.
If most design elements are featured on one side and the opposite side is blank or has only a few elements, then the side with the most elements should be weighted according to their visual density. This type of design will appear centered and have a grounding presence. If a design’s elements are evenly distributed, then a symmetrical relationship to the center, whether true or near symmetry, is appropriate. The center should be emphasized. If the visual weight of the design elements is slightly off-centered—either top or bottom—the off-center design elements should be heavier. Careful consideration of the relative visual weight is required to ensure that one side does not appear visually heavier or otherwise imbalanced—unless this is the intent. In such cases, careful consideration as to why one side should appear heavier than others is necessary. Designers will want to explore their options and determine the most appropriate balance for their needs. Once they have chosen a type of balance, it is important that they carefully assess their design to ensure that the visual weight is distributed accordingly.
4.3. Hierarchy and Focal Points
4.3.1. Hierarchy A clear hierarchy guides the visual experience and the reader through the different elements and sections of content. The viewer's attention should first be drawn to the banner’s graphical and typographical elements in this order of importance: title, description, and others. This means that the title typically will be the largest, boldest, and first element the viewer will notice. The description and other elements included in the banner will in turn have elements of dominance and interest, which will seem of greater relevance when compared to less important elements.
4.3.1.1. Establishing Hierarchy Balance is not simply an arrangement of different items in the middle of a web banner. The establishment of proximity is measured by defining the most important content and placement first, followed by the inclusion of additional information to visually compete with said content. Common techniques for establishing a visual hierarchy include Absolute Size: using the largest size to denote the most substantial relationship. Relative Size: similarly, a group of elements of varying size to convey importance. Color: contrasting elements to others in the design to indicate importance. Typographic Variations: combining different weights, styles, and sizes of type to create visual linkages and parsing of the content. Form and Shape: grouping content to form the general shape of a potential focal point or area of importance. Contrast of Texture or Material: using contrast of value, color, line, shape, or pattern to create prominence. Spatial Placement: using visual weight to denote importance on a two-dimensional surface.
4.3.2. Focal Points The term focal point refers to a visual area or element that dominates the point of view and immediately draws the viewer’s attention. The purpose of a focal point is to draw the viewer in and encourage them to spend time interacting with the design through a number of means. Often, focal points are used to communicate the most important or meaningful message present in the design, though this is not always the case. A good focal point should be a compelling element that subtly directs the viewer’s eye toward itself, where secondary elements will continue circulating. Achieving this effect can be done in many ways, most of which relate to the principles of balance and proportion. It is important to note that having a clearly defined and visible focal point can prevent overwhelming the viewer with excess information. Applying the principle of simplicity allows the design to be more easily scanned and read by the viewer. By adding a focal point, the viewer is more likely to invest the time, often narrow, that would be needed to view and consider the message the design is communicating.
The most explicit way to create a focal point is via placement. The dominant element placed front and center will draw readers in first. The second most visible area, placed in the bottom right corner, is prominent because the readers’ eyes move in a Z-shape, from top left to bottom right. The third most visible area is the upper left corner, as readers’ eyes gravitate toward this point upon starting to read. An effective way to create a focal point in any design is using contrast. Different images, colors, fonts, shapes, and more can be juxtaposed to create a compelling or contrasting relationship that will compel the eye. For example, placing a dark block of color behind text highlights the message more than if the background were a lighter color. Similarly, the point of sharp contrast or change in a composition will attract the audience’s attention, as will unusually large, small, or more stylistically ornate lettering. Finally, an impactful or meaningful image or illustration can play the role of focal point. The viewer would dive into the piece visually from that spot and then proceed to take in the rest of the design, even if they don’t know it.
5. Technical Considerations and Tools
When producing a design, it is essential to consider technical aspects like file formats, software, and visualization tools. For the best quality, banners should ideally be in vector file format. In the case of images, the resolution should be high, and the RGB color system is better suited for digital use. Different software or graphic tools can be used to produce banners. Dimensions and specifications for the production of banners not only refer to the digital file that will be sent to the printing company to produce a vinyl banner but also to smaller, low-resolution images and mock-ups for promotional purposes. Graphic designers can use raster graphics editors or vector-based software to create layout and design elements. Each has its distinct mechanism of file creation and management: vector-based tools allow for mathematical computations to form a geometric design, ensuring that scaling does not affect the resolution of the file. Raster-based programs use pixels to compose images and some shapes, making restrictions on the changes in proportion and resolution of a design. Banners are usually produced at a minimum resolution of 72 dpi to 300 dpi for better print quality. If the print is less than 72 dpi, the banners will appear pixelated on close inspection or if they are scaled up, losing their quality considerably. Vector graphic tools provide a scalable file, where even if the file is scaled to a larger size, there will be no quality lost as vectors are a mathematical representation of the image. Mock-ups and prototypes are essential as they allow the designer to envision the potential final banner and make changes accordingly. Before sharing real campaigns online, the designer previews banner layouts and identifies issues related to size, logo placement, font, image resolution, and file compatibility. For each phase of the design process, where to start, advice, considerations, and common issues and mistakes have been explained through the following categories:
- A: Technical consideration details: (format, how to manage the images, RGB or CMYK color profile), programs & tools, resolution, and vector graphics;
- B: General technicalities from professional practice (computers and printers almost never have similar colors, understanding DPI, fonts, logos, position, and style); in the case of logo positioning – this has been a common mistake that students have encountered when progressing from print design to large format banner design. Where possible, to avoid obstructing key images, this should be positioned in the corner of the graphic.
- C: The benefit of producing a banner digitally is that it can be shown to senior management to aid in final decision-making; also, the placement of logos can encourage attendance based on audience eye patterns. If senior management has to choose between different designs, it can be beneficial to add two or three options as this helped to make a choice with a recent project. Each report will then be evaluated by students; the banners are placed in a film to assist with hanging. A common problem that students face is understanding what fonts to use in a banner, as unfortunately, all fonts do not work at a large scale, and so the student has to use her own personal font on this banner, as well as research the others that she can use. In addition to this, RGB versus CMYK color labeling of the software does exist, and it can be missed in the excitement of designing to forget that it is on a CMYK color.
5.1. File Formats and Resolutions
Before we deal with the design details for landscape or horizontal banners, it is essential to understand file formats and resolution requirements. The most commonly used types are JPEG, PNG, and PDF formats. JPEGs are great for keeping file sizes down while not sacrificing quality, but they are not ideal for having a transparent background. PNGs are good for images with a transparent background and typically offer better quality. PDFs can be great file formats for print or for having clients review proofs and sign off on designs.
The resolution of a file is critical for quality outcomes when designing and setting up files. The higher the resolution, the higher the quality. For most print productions to achieve their best outcome, the recommended resolution of a file is 300 dpi. For online viewing, files will generally only be seen at a resolution between 72 and 96 dpi. It is common for some designers to create files solely at 72 dpi for both online and print, which can risk the file looking blurry if it is significantly enlarged or when printed. Techniques to size images up in resolution involve using software programs to adjust the resolution and apply algorithms to enhance the quality of the image, which can help. When your file is being printed, the higher the resolution, the clearer the quality of the subject and layout. If you are promoting any images with words in your banner, it is always best to reproduce the file at 300 dpi resolution.
Also, it is best to always design wide banners as high-quality images and size them down when reproduced, especially if designing for print as a high-resolution image rather than the other way around, which downgrades the quality of the file once started small with the artwork. When sizing down a file, do it by less than 20%. The ideal process is to keep an original edited design file size while maintaining the best 300 dpi resolution, which you could resize for print or use online. As part of enforcing this process, having your marketing person aware of your promotions or managing their promotions, along with directions about the same file proportions and resolution, can provide excellent marketing to achieve a uniform look and feel using the same media and colors. Always meet the highest resolution of print requirements. When setting up a high-resolution or the correct resolution file to design landscape banners, always refer to the final output requirements. Will the banner design be printed, displayed online, or both? Once converted and saved in the correct file format for landscape banners, the digital file can be emailed or used to upload on the website. While converting and saving your files, always ensure that the quality or profiler setting is set to high, maximum, or best. Not doing so will result in a poor outcome resolution, which will make the banner look pixelated. Also, ensure that the RGB color format is applied and uploaded. Avoid using the CMYK color format, which may cause issues while converting the file to the web format. However, if the right settings are used and there is no image compression, converting the file to the PDF format for print will still maintain the quality.
