The internet is full of banner design inspiration, but the truth is you don’t have the time to browse through all the resources available out there. That’s why we’ve done the work for you, so just relax and read this article.
I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things.
The quote belongs to Lindon Leader, who designed the FEDex and Hawaiian Airlines logos, and he is one of the people I take my work inspiration from.
Simplicity and clarity
We often forget that these 2 words are the only principles we need to do a good job in communication, design and advertising. Why? Because people can relate more easily when the message is simple and clear.
These 2 pillar principles also apply to banner ad design. So, keep them in mind when you start making banners.
When you set out to create a banner ad you naturally want to have a look at some banners others have done. But this is where things get complicated. There are lots of online design tools and resources on how to create beautiful website templates, great business cards, and gorgeous logos. But what about good banner design ideas?
This is why I put together a list of websites and blogs for banner design inspiration. I hope you will find here the inspiration you need to help you with your next banner ad design project.
Are you ready? Let’s get started.
Check out these banner design templates and start designing right now
And some animated banner ads examples:
Great Banner Design Inspiration Resources:
1. Websites/Blogs featuring banner ads exclusively
BannerBlog
Website: www.bannerblog.com.au
Banner Blog started in June 2005 and it showcased online advertising banners. Banner Blog was created by Ashley Ringrose (@100ftzombie) who works at Soap Creative and Ashadi Hopper (@ashadihopper) who works at RMG Connect. Even if they don’t publish new banner ads, you can still find some great examples of banner design ideas from September 2005 to July 2013.
MOAT Ad search
Website: www.moat.com
Moat Ad Search is a free display ad search engine. Advertisers and designers can use it to see which display ads are running, creative agencies can use it to showcase their ads and publishers might find it helpful to discover new advertisers. The site is a top resource for banner design inspiration.
Adverlicious
Website: www.adverlicio.us
James Gardner is the digital strategist and designer who started Adverlicious, a personal online advertising collection. Adverlicious features more than 1774 pages full of banner design inspiration categorized by brands, celebrity, industry, size, and special event.
Banner Inspiration
Website: www.bannerinspiration.com
Banner Inspiration is a creative archive established in 2010. While the collection is smaller than Adverlicious, you can still use it to search for banner design ideas by tags and categories. You can also submit your own banner ads if you want to.
2. Design Inspiration websites with Banner Ad Categories
Digital Buzz Blog
Website: www.digitalbuzzblog.com
Digital Buzz Blog is one of the top 20 digital marketing blogs you should read. Why? Because they feature the latest digital campaigns, social media, viral videos, digital startups, web technology and everything in between. Naturally, the site also features a banner ads category where you can find a lot of ideas.
Smiley Cat / Elements of Design
Website: www.smileycat.com/design_elements/
Elements of Design is a web design gallery focusing on specific web design elements such as menus, footers, search boxes or login forms. The galleries are designed to be easy to scan with minimal clicking. This makes it easy to find inspiration or see design patterns for a range of web design elements.
3. Advertising Archive websites
Ads of The World
Website: www.adsoftheworld.com
Ads of the World (AotW) is an advertising archive where you can find inspiration from various advertising branches: digital, print, radio. And after scrolling for inspiration, you can talk to people on the website forum or read the new blog posts. Even if Ads of the World is not a website dedicated only to banner advertising, you will definitely find some great banner design ideas.
Adeevee
Website: www.adeevee.com
If you are a designer, a copywriter or simply an ad man, you need to know about this website too. In the beginning, Adeevee was called “I Believe in Adv”, but now they rebranded the site and they are somewhat similar to AOTD (AdsoftheDay).
4. Design Inspiration Websites/Blogs
Now that we have the advertising recommendation we can jump into the design and branding website recommendation.
Abduzeedoo
Website: www.abduzeedo.com
Abduzeedoo is one of the most popular design blogs featuring a large visual inspiration collection and a lot of useful tutorials. The Daily Inspiration is a large collection of inspiring images submitted by users to share with the community.
Just Creative
Website: www.justcreative.com
If you read our blog, you saw our interview with Jacob Cass, the founder of justcreative.com blog. JUST™ Creative is a blog focusing on graphic design. It offers free graphic design tips, articles & resources on anything about design: print, logo, web, branding, typography, advertising & more. It also showcases Jacob Cass’s graphic design portfolio.
Underconsideration Brand New
Website: www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/
Brand New is a division of UnderConsideration. Its sole purpose is to chronicle and review corporate and brand identity work. Brand New also covers redesigns and new designs of well-known products, companies, and organizations.
Identity Designed
Website: www.identitydesigned.com
Started in 2010 by David Airey, this website showcases brand identity projects. ID features work from designers and studios across the globe attracting an average of 150,000 monthly page views.
5. Awards that feature banner ad categories
Webby Awards
Website: www.webbyawards.com/
If you work in advertising, you definitely heard about the Webby Awards. What you probably don’t know is that there is a strong “Banner Campaigns” category. On the official website, you can find all the winners of banner ad campaigns category from 2008 to 2015.
6. Social Networks
We live in a social media digital world. Besides the above websites for banner design inspiration, I also want to share how social media networks can help you find inspiration and connect with communities.
Pinterest is not just a massive social network for all the stay-at-home moms. Pinterest is also an ocean of inspiring ideas, case studies, and design elements. You just need to grab a big cup of coffee (or Tea), put some good music and start searching for tags and users. You can start from this article: 200+ Pinterest Boards for Designers to Follow
Dribbble
Dribbble is one of the most reputable online communities for designers and illustrators, a place to explore design. Designers and art directors share small screenshots (shots) showing their work, process, and current projects.
Unfortunately, you need an invitation to upload your work and comment, but this ensures a high standard for the community.
With more than 300M active users/month and more than 70M photos uploaded daily, Instagram is a great resource for designers and advertisers. Instagram is not just an app for selfies and breakfast shots. You can also find great artworks and beautiful photography to inspire your next banner ad design.
And just like at Pinterest, you should start following some great accounts:
· 20 graphic designers to follow on Instagram
· 15 Inspiring Designers to Follow on Instagram
· 32 Creative Agencies to Follow on Instagram
Behance
Behance is an online platform for showcasing and discovering creative work. Designers can upload their work to share it with the community. Even if it was purchased by Adobe in 2012, Behance is still the place to find creative people or to discover top creatives in your field.
If Dribbble is for sneak peeks, Behance is for case studies that help you understand the design process for a brand, a logo or even an entire online advertising campaign.
Tumblr
Tumblr is more than a platform for hipsters. It’s a great microblogging service that allows you to create your own blog, customize it and publish your content. You can also find great Tumblr blogs covering graphic design, illustration or photography niches.
Need a start for some design inspiration? Start here: The 90 best Tumblr blogs for designers
Conclusion
I just want to leave you the quote I started this blog post with:
I strive for two things in design: simplicity and clarity. Great design is born of those two things.
On top of that, keep in mind that all of your designs should be in coherence with your buyer persona/s, in order to get the best out of your display ads and visual content.
Design Simple and Clear. Advertise Simple and Clear. Work better and smarter.