What makes those thin horizontal or vertical spaces at the top or side of websites appealing to the eye? You know, those things called “banners”? I think a lot of time they either go completely unnoticed or are so obnoxious that they’re all you can see. So which tactic is more effective?
When searching the web, primarily web sites I frequent, I looked around for some banners that could be defined as “clever”. To be honest, clever was difficult to find on these particular sites. However there were a couple I found that I found to be effective.
In this first one from UrbanOutfitters.com, simplicity is key. The white text against the picture makes it’s capitalized and underlined forms the focus but does not over power. The statement is clear and nicely delivered.It becomes a part of the website and suites its identity. It may not jump out and grab the attention of a viewer at first, but when seen you can’t help but be enticed.
This second example is more clearly an advertisement for a product, or in this case an application, on the Elle Magazine blog site. There is a lot of contrast which can attract the eye. I feel that this particular approach can be easily filtered out by a viewer because of it’s obvious advertising. But as far as advertisements go, this one, in my opinion, doesn’t fall under the obnoxious category.
I dug a little deeper into the clever banner world and found the following on TheOatmeal.com:
