Designing For The Road And The Street
A shelter panel has two audiences: people passing on the road, who see it briefly, and people nearer the shelter, who may look for longer. Design for the briefest look first. If the core message works for someone passing, it will work for someone waiting, and a small amount of supporting detail can reward the closer viewer.
1. Start With One Job For The Ad
Decide what the panel must achieve: make a brand familiar, announce a launch, point people to a nearby location or promote an offer. One job keeps every other decision simple. If you have several messages, consider separate panels or a planned refresh rather than one crowded design.
2. Keep The Message Short
Write the headline as a few words, not a sentence. Remove anything a passer-by does not need. Supporting lines, if any, should be secondary and still brief.
3. Make Type Readable At Distance
Use large, clear typefaces with generous spacing. Avoid thin weights, script fonts and long lines of small text. Test the design by viewing it small on screen or from across a room: if it is hard to read there, it will be hard to read from the road.
4. Use Contrast And A Simple Visual Hierarchy
Strong contrast between text and background keeps the message legible. Give the panel a clear order: one dominant element (headline or image), then the brand, then any action. Keep important text off busy parts of a photograph.
5. Let The Brand Be Unmistakable
Make the logo or brand name large enough to register at a glance, and use your recognisable colours. If someone remembers only one thing, it should be who the ad is from.
6. Use Calls To Action Selectively
A call to action helps only if it is simple: a location, a short web address or a single instruction. Long phone numbers, several social handles or detailed terms compete with the main message. Brand-awareness panels often need no call to action at all.
7. Design For The Actual Placement
Think about where the shelter sits and who passes it: a busy commercial area, a commuter route or a community setting. Local relevance, such as directions to a nearby branch, works best when the placement is near that branch. Browse our coverage areas; specific placements are recommended in your proposal.
8. Consider Evening Visibility
SEEN's solar bus shelters include solar-powered illumination, so the panel can be seen in the evening as well as by day. Clear, high-contrast designs make the most of that visibility.
9. Prepare Artwork Correctly For Print
- Build the artwork to the exact panel dimensions and print specifications SEEN supplies on booking.
- Supply vector or high-resolution files; they reproduce best at large format.
- SEEN reviews your artwork before production so it prints cleanly and reads clearly.
- SEEN manages printing and installation.
10. Refresh Creative During Longer Campaigns
Artwork can be refreshed during a campaign, which helps keep longer placements current for a new offer or season. Plan any refreshes when you request a proposal so production can be included. See what affects outdoor advertising cost.
Pre-Flight Checklist
- The ad has one job, and everyone on the team can say what it is.
- The headline is a few words, not a sentence.
- Type is large enough to read from the road, not just on screen.
- Text and background contrast strongly; nothing important sits on a busy image.
- The brand is recognisable at a glance.
- There is at most one call to action, and it is easy to remember.
- The design suits the area and the people who pass that shelter.
- Artwork is built to the panel specification SEEN supplies on booking.
- Files are vector or high resolution.
- You have decided whether the creative will be refreshed during the campaign.
Creative is one step of the wider plan. Read how to plan a campaign or discuss artwork and locations with us.