For the February issue of "Shopping Malls" magazine (GH, February 2016), together with Ania Jachimczyk, we prepared an article about outdoor advertising designs. If you haven't had a chance to read it before, we invite you to do so now.

- Ania, shopping malls operate on a simple mechanism: it's a place
where people shop. So it seems that preparing a design
for outdoor advertising of a shopping mall would be equally easy. Is that really the case?

I believe it's always a challenge, and I enjoy observing what designers propose to shopping malls,
and also how they avoid the pitfalls that lurk during the design process.
One such pitfall is the desire to include too much information. This isn't unique to shopping malls, of course; many brands are tempted to communicate everything at once, which isn't good.

Another common mistake is combining different objectives in a single design. A design should have a clear goal, be simple in its message and easy to understand, while remaining interesting. It's definitely better if a design serves one purpose: sales or image-building or providing directions. Less means better,
it's easier to present a simple message and easier to remember it. A good outdoor design is based
on bold, contrasting colors and legible typography, as well as graphics that reinforce the content, not just illustrate the topic, but evoke emotions. And all of this should be based on a good conceptual plan, marketing strategy, and research on advertising perception.

- So where do poorly designed advertisements come from, if they're usually designed
by specialists, based on briefs and according to orders from clients who know their product?

What makes a weak design? You see, a weak design could mean, for example, poorly composed or with bad color choices, but a weak design will also be one where the designer forgot about functionality and focused only on aesthetics.

Meanwhile, in advertising what matters is the goal, the effectiveness. I'll give you an example from outside the industry - remember the Tyskie beer advertisements from when Poles participated in football championships? Tyskie wasn't a sponsor of the national team, but many people thought so. The success was partly because the ad design was very simple,
there were no non-standard creative elements or cutting-edge technologies.
But the message was clearly executed.

Weak designs most often emerge when the balance between all design elements is disrupted: composition, color scheme, typeface, text, and imagery. Each of them is and must be part of the whole. If the composition is dynamic but the colors aren't, if the typeface doesn't keep rhythm, if the symbolism introduces chaos - the design won't be coherent, and even though we might not be able to pinpoint
exactly what bothers us, we'll clearly feel the dissonance. A weak design will also result when the designer doesn't take into account the principles of perception. They might understand composition but overlook the specific medium and how the viewer perceives the advertisement. That's why otherwise interesting ideas go unnoticed.

- How can I check if a designer's proposal is good, whether the project's author really knows
what will work in my advertisement?

Prepare for the meeting.
I assume that when looking for a creative agency, you know what you want to say and to whom, that you're operating within a well-thought-out and coherent marketing strategy.
It's worth refreshing your knowledge about primary and complementary colors
or contrasts. It's good to be familiar with terms like typeface and know the difference between serif
and sans-serif fonts. While not essential, it greatly helps in having a meaningful conversation.
During the meeting - ask questions. It's worth asking why certain elements were used.
If the designer has thought through the project, they'll justify their answer, explain any doubts, and tell you why they're breaking certain rules - remember that consciously breaking rules is completely different from not knowing or ignoring them. A professional knows the principles that, when applied, will ensure the project gets noticed by the audience. Professionals also know how to break these rules in a way that won't disrupt information reception, e.g., won't deform text, won't create optical illusions that make perception difficult, etc.

- What's important for a designer, how can I help them and myself?

Get to know the designer, tell them about your goals, the advertising goals, and the brand. Be honest, talk about product advantages and disadvantages, about the competition - who they are and what makes them better. Give the designer time
to prepare ideas and refine the design. It's also helpful if the brand has a style guide,
this helps the designer tremendously. If you don't have one, the designer will ask about the color schemes and fonts you use.
They'll also ask about the purpose and intended use of the design: where it will be displayed, in what medium, under what conditions. An archive of previous designs, visual changes, and logos is also very useful - also to see how much our brand is changing, what was there before, what we can reference,
what we're moving away from. A brand, like any personality, changes over time, and it's worth observing this development.
That's a wealth of knowledge.

And here are some books worth having on your shelf, even if you're not a designer:
Krzysztof Tyczkowski "Lettera Magica" / a book about typographic design. Contains a designer's dictionary, which makes it easier to learn professional terminology.
D avid Dabner "Design Layout. The Art of Design" / a book about advertising planning principles. It discusses in detail the components of design: slogans, photos, colors, fonts, and the effects of using them.
Piotr Rypson "Not Just for the Geese. Polish Graphic Design 1919-1949" / a unique collection for enthusiasts of Polish design graphics and a guide to the main trends in design.