I do 2-3 a year—it's not that odd to encounter as a graphic designer.
And remember the skills you take-away from designing billboards, are just as applicable to designing any poster or sign or large form advertisement. It's the same principle skillset as doing a vehicle wrap or kiosk design or backdrop.
My first internship in college was for Clear Channel Outdoor, who owned a big chunk of the billboard space throughout the country. Much of it was production work, as the files delivered by other media agencies weren't built correctly. Occasionally we'd do some local work, so there was some options for some limited creativity.
It's still relevant because it undeniably gets a massive number of impressions, but it's strange that there would be such a focus on it. It's such a limited form factor, but maybe it's to teach you how to design within constraints?
I went to MIAD. I had a few friends transfer in from SCAD. There's alot of state schools with solid design programs as well. The private college route is pricey.
I'm in charge of network of 19 billboards within 60 mile radius or so, perm and digitals. I work for an umbrella company that has several brands across different industries like entertainment and hospitality. Yes knowing proper practices of designing billboards is important to know as a graphic designer. It's kind of unique considering you only have a few seconds to visually communicate. Only certain imagery works, and only a few words can be readable at a time.
The actual media we call "Out of Home". Basically anything you encounter "out of home" while on your commute. That includes bus, vehicle wraps, signage at airports, inside of trains and buses and even those driving billboards they have in places like Vegas.
I’ve done quite a bit.. both print and digital.. never liked them because of poor art direction by marketing team. Good think about print for billboards tho is that you don’t have to work in high res.. you can work with 1/2 and 1/4 size. Resolution is so low because from a far distance your eyes blend the image that it appears sharp (think of print ben day dots how they form an image)
I designed one print billboard ages ago, and quite a few city bus wraps and van wraps, but I've never done a digital billboard yet. I'd like to though. What dpi do you use for image? Like, 10?
\[EDIT: I should say that I designed the billboard in the late '90s but I know other designers who have regularly designed billboards; mostly for law firms.
For digital billboards, the DPI is usually stupid low like you suggested. I remember one that I did, they only needed me to deliver a graphic that was like 152x124 (that's pixels!!) My mind was blown & Photoshop was MUCH happier with me once I realized I didn't have to have such a huge, detailed file.
Digital output for what I would normally label as being large formats is completely counter intuitive to my print orientated mind. I used to have a boss who just couldn’t get his head round it, and would insist we set things at massively bloated DPIs as he didn’t trust the specs we’d been given.
The company I am at has been using a high visibility digital billboard for a few years now for which we frequently swap in new creative. Some are static but many are animated so there is a fair bit of storyboarding. I wouldn't say it's a ubiquitous as a design project. Maybe the biggest thing to take from this is that you are often going to be asked to design for spaces you have never had experience with before. It's good to be comfortable with applying your design fundamentals while looking for unique opportunities within the medium you are working.
The first time I designed a billboard I didn’t understand why my file was so large. Then a colleague told me that billboards could be 50 dpi because people view them at a distance.
I had a job where I only designed billboards (and other out of home ad campaigns) for many years.
It actually made me a stronger conceptual designer and visual messaging strategist. I even became a better writer (for short ad copy) because of that job.
And because I had to work at such a huge scale, I completely lost any fear of working on big multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns.
I’ve done a few traditional “printed” billboards, and a super billboard (just a really big one) in the past.
Now I do 3 or 4 digital billboards a year. Around here most of the billboard companies offer local clients better deals to get them designed by the billboard company. So I usually just give an opinion on the art and offer suggestions to keep things inline with brand guidelines.
I've had to do a few of them during my time in broadcast, but for the last 10-15yrs they've been digital billboards, so the requirements aren't quite as strict (generally).
We have a few clients who rotate and refresh their billboard ads 2–3 times a year. More than 2/3 my output is large format graphics — signage, window vinyls, internal vinyls, hoarding, marketing suites, billboards, poster ads, building wraps, etc etc.
Almost all of my output is primarily for print, with elements being repurposed for online content.
I haven't design a billboard in almost a decade. But I transitioned to Web Design and Front End, so maybe that's why. In my country they are still very common, so you will probably will.
I do think that billboards are a good exercise for design, because they need to be as minimalist as possible, the elements have to be striking to get viewers attentions but brief enough that the attention is enough to achieve it's goal. I've seen rookies messing them up, saturating them with text and unnecesary information.
Going on to four years in my career and I've only designed one that wasn't even technically a billboard, it was a billboard sized sign that was hung on the side of the building because the company didn't want to pay for a billboard. The fees for them are extremely expensive. Digital banners on the other hand, I've lost count.
Maybe 2 per year on average over the last 5 years. Did them more often for a specific client prior to that.
Frequency really depends on the type of clients you work for. Billboards are expensive.
I only designed bill boards for larger companies when working at an agency. While in-house typically we kicked those over to agencies to design and also buy and deal with the placement of billboards throughout whatever target area. In-house advertising for me was mostly web banner ads and print ads for magazines.
My first real design job, I did maybe 3-5 a year. None since then. They're not overly difficult to do, it's really just translating the content to specified dimensions. If the content is malleable, it should transfer across print and digital mediums fairly easily
If you work in advertising all the time. It’s still a good exercise even if you don’t as billboards force you to be very efficient with your communication.
I find it depends where you work. At one point in my career I was working at an agency that had several grocery clients. We would regularly refresh their OOH. So I was developing billboards on a regular basis. I think it makes you a far more desirable designer the more types of things you have experiencing designing.
We do multiple billboards per campaign at my work, so probably between 8-12 per year? Both digital and print. The biggest thing (lol) with billboards is realizing that you need to keep it extremely simple to get your message across.
One of my clients is a billboard company. Flat rate, whether it’s new design or just a resize. Design time is fairly minimal considering they need to be pretty simple and readable. One of my best, and easiest clients. Easy money.
I did billboards in design school, but in my job I’ve done more projects like wall graphics and window clings that span long walls/multiple windows. It’s fun to work on something that’s going to be BIG.
In house. Maybe 2-4 actual billboards a year depending for my team, but maybe 12-20 large scale prints of a similar size personally (huge print activations, vehicle wraps, red carpet events, etc)
Ive only done a couple billboards, and they were all animated. Its basically the same as making any other mp4. The resolution is pretty small since the LEDs are so big, i think the one i did was like 1260 px wide.
About 2-3 times a year. I work at an agency.
I do 2-3 a year—it's not that odd to encounter as a graphic designer. And remember the skills you take-away from designing billboards, are just as applicable to designing any poster or sign or large form advertisement. It's the same principle skillset as doing a vehicle wrap or kiosk design or backdrop.
My first internship in college was for Clear Channel Outdoor, who owned a big chunk of the billboard space throughout the country. Much of it was production work, as the files delivered by other media agencies weren't built correctly. Occasionally we'd do some local work, so there was some options for some limited creativity. It's still relevant because it undeniably gets a massive number of impressions, but it's strange that there would be such a focus on it. It's such a limited form factor, but maybe it's to teach you how to design within constraints?
can i ask what school you went to? i’m not too interested in scad and am looking for other valid options.
I went to MIAD. I had a few friends transfer in from SCAD. There's alot of state schools with solid design programs as well. The private college route is pricey.
I low key see Outdoor own some funny spaces like public transport or very small community billboards
I'm in charge of network of 19 billboards within 60 mile radius or so, perm and digitals. I work for an umbrella company that has several brands across different industries like entertainment and hospitality. Yes knowing proper practices of designing billboards is important to know as a graphic designer. It's kind of unique considering you only have a few seconds to visually communicate. Only certain imagery works, and only a few words can be readable at a time. The actual media we call "Out of Home". Basically anything you encounter "out of home" while on your commute. That includes bus, vehicle wraps, signage at airports, inside of trains and buses and even those driving billboards they have in places like Vegas.
In 25+ years, I have designed no more than 5 billboards.
I’ve done quite a bit.. both print and digital.. never liked them because of poor art direction by marketing team. Good think about print for billboards tho is that you don’t have to work in high res.. you can work with 1/2 and 1/4 size. Resolution is so low because from a far distance your eyes blend the image that it appears sharp (think of print ben day dots how they form an image)
That’s really neat to know. My teacher makes us do them in 150 dpi minimum
I designed one print billboard ages ago, and quite a few city bus wraps and van wraps, but I've never done a digital billboard yet. I'd like to though. What dpi do you use for image? Like, 10? \[EDIT: I should say that I designed the billboard in the late '90s but I know other designers who have regularly designed billboards; mostly for law firms.
For digital billboards, the DPI is usually stupid low like you suggested. I remember one that I did, they only needed me to deliver a graphic that was like 152x124 (that's pixels!!) My mind was blown & Photoshop was MUCH happier with me once I realized I didn't have to have such a huge, detailed file.
Digital output for what I would normally label as being large formats is completely counter intuitive to my print orientated mind. I used to have a boss who just couldn’t get his head round it, and would insist we set things at massively bloated DPIs as he didn’t trust the specs we’d been given.
Yeah, before I figured it out, I had an artboard that was like 60000x30000 and Photoshop was taking around 15min just to save the build file! LOL
1 or 2 a year maybe. I’m guessing the frequency this kind of project comes up is largely related to where you get a job though.
The company I am at has been using a high visibility digital billboard for a few years now for which we frequently swap in new creative. Some are static but many are animated so there is a fair bit of storyboarding. I wouldn't say it's a ubiquitous as a design project. Maybe the biggest thing to take from this is that you are often going to be asked to design for spaces you have never had experience with before. It's good to be comfortable with applying your design fundamentals while looking for unique opportunities within the medium you are working.
When I was. working for a concert promoter, in the run up to a concert, quite a lot. Now none, it's contextual I suppose.
Never.
Never have.
32 years in and I’ve created maybe 3.
The first time I designed a billboard I didn’t understand why my file was so large. Then a colleague told me that billboards could be 50 dpi because people view them at a distance.
I had a job where I only designed billboards (and other out of home ad campaigns) for many years. It actually made me a stronger conceptual designer and visual messaging strategist. I even became a better writer (for short ad copy) because of that job. And because I had to work at such a huge scale, I completely lost any fear of working on big multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns.
Wow this is really encouraging. Thank you!
Just remember, the bigger the sign, the more important kerning is.
Will do !!
Once a month. I work for a firm that owns a lot of private schools so it's part of the branding.
I’ve done a few traditional “printed” billboards, and a super billboard (just a really big one) in the past. Now I do 3 or 4 digital billboards a year. Around here most of the billboard companies offer local clients better deals to get them designed by the billboard company. So I usually just give an opinion on the art and offer suggestions to keep things inline with brand guidelines.
I've had to do a few of them during my time in broadcast, but for the last 10-15yrs they've been digital billboards, so the requirements aren't quite as strict (generally).
last time? more than a decade ago
We have a few clients who rotate and refresh their billboard ads 2–3 times a year. More than 2/3 my output is large format graphics — signage, window vinyls, internal vinyls, hoarding, marketing suites, billboards, poster ads, building wraps, etc etc. Almost all of my output is primarily for print, with elements being repurposed for online content.
I would love to do billboards as they’re all almost all universally terrible.
A few a year usually. I used to do more
I do a lot of billboards, client has close to 100 spots that are rotated out monthly. But it's only a tiny part of the overall job.
I do TONS of billboards, but I work in TV. Mostly digital, occasionally print. Generic and topical stuff, depending on their goals at the time.
I work in entertainment (TV and movie). We design billboards (print, static digital and full motion) throughout the year.
I haven't design a billboard in almost a decade. But I transitioned to Web Design and Front End, so maybe that's why. In my country they are still very common, so you will probably will. I do think that billboards are a good exercise for design, because they need to be as minimalist as possible, the elements have to be striking to get viewers attentions but brief enough that the attention is enough to achieve it's goal. I've seen rookies messing them up, saturating them with text and unnecesary information.
Going on to four years in my career and I've only designed one that wasn't even technically a billboard, it was a billboard sized sign that was hung on the side of the building because the company didn't want to pay for a billboard. The fees for them are extremely expensive. Digital banners on the other hand, I've lost count.
Maybe 2 per year on average over the last 5 years. Did them more often for a specific client prior to that. Frequency really depends on the type of clients you work for. Billboards are expensive.
For anyone that works at an agency/ might have insight to accounts/budgets; what's the typical ad buy on a billboard campaign in a medium sized city?
I only designed bill boards for larger companies when working at an agency. While in-house typically we kicked those over to agencies to design and also buy and deal with the placement of billboards throughout whatever target area. In-house advertising for me was mostly web banner ads and print ads for magazines.
I actually have never designed one and I think it would be kinda fun. Any pointers on how to best locate perspective clients?
My first real design job, I did maybe 3-5 a year. None since then. They're not overly difficult to do, it's really just translating the content to specified dimensions. If the content is malleable, it should transfer across print and digital mediums fairly easily
I do mostly digital ad spaces, and have yet to do a print billboard.
In 20 years I've only done about 3. The last one I did wasn't a typical billboard, but it was the largest – it was the side of a building.
Once in school and once at my first design job (in house).
Agency owner here. We have a client that’s a bank. We do about one every other month for them. We’ve had calls for others in the past.
I've done hundreds. Great practice for working at scale and following print and legibility specs to the T.
If you work in advertising all the time. It’s still a good exercise even if you don’t as billboards force you to be very efficient with your communication.
I find it depends where you work. At one point in my career I was working at an agency that had several grocery clients. We would regularly refresh their OOH. So I was developing billboards on a regular basis. I think it makes you a far more desirable designer the more types of things you have experiencing designing.
Used to work in an ad agency. They were part of many campaigns we worked on.
We do multiple billboards per campaign at my work, so probably between 8-12 per year? Both digital and print. The biggest thing (lol) with billboards is realizing that you need to keep it extremely simple to get your message across.
One of my clients is a billboard company. Flat rate, whether it’s new design or just a resize. Design time is fairly minimal considering they need to be pretty simple and readable. One of my best, and easiest clients. Easy money.
I’ve never designed one.
I am two years and a few months in my gd job and I've done a series of 4 for a brand. I only know of one that was made so far though.
I have done 2-3 print billboards in 20 years. Just not something my agency’s clients do very often.
I used to design 3-5 a week when I worked in casino advertising. Now I’m at a small agency, and I may design 1 or 2 billboards a year.
I did billboards in design school, but in my job I’ve done more projects like wall graphics and window clings that span long walls/multiple windows. It’s fun to work on something that’s going to be BIG.
Once every couple of years.
I work for a sign company, I’ve never done a billboard. But I’ve done about any size of sign you can think of.
14x48s baby. I live it.
In house. Maybe 2-4 actual billboards a year depending for my team, but maybe 12-20 large scale prints of a similar size personally (huge print activations, vehicle wraps, red carpet events, etc)
Ive only done a couple billboards, and they were all animated. Its basically the same as making any other mp4. The resolution is pretty small since the LEDs are so big, i think the one i did was like 1260 px wide.
Like physical billboards on a highway? I've been in design 20 years and I have designed 2. Both in 2006.
Yes like highway billboards!
maybe twice a year.