The same mistakes come up again and again. Here are ten I see weekly, and how to avoid them.
Most failed banners break the same rules: too many words, fonts too thin, images too low res, no bleed, and poor contrast. Fix those five and your banner will already beat 80% of what we see.
1. Too Much Text
If your banner has more than 15 words, cut half of them.
The 3 second rule
Someone walking past has roughly 3 seconds to read your banner. If the headline does not fit in that window, it fails.
2. Tiny Type
Headline type on a 5ft banner should be at least 6 inches tall, readable from 40 feet.
3. Low-Resolution Images
A photo pulled from Google Images looks sharp on screen and pixellated on a 5ft banner. Supply at 150 DPI at full print size.
Banners do not fail because the printer messed up, they fail because the design tried to do too much at once.
4. RGB Files Instead of CMYK
Screens use RGB, printers use CMYK. Bright RGB blues print as dull purples.
5. Text Too Close to the Edge
Hemming folds 15mm of each edge. Keep important content at least 20mm inside.
6. No Bleed
Design stops exactly at the cut line = white edge when trimmed. Extend background 3mm past the final size.
7. Thin Fonts at Distance
Hairline fonts disappear outdoors. Use bold, chunky fonts.
Fonts that actually work outdoors
Bebas Neue, Impact, Oswald Bold, Anton, Montserrat ExtraBold. Skip handwriting fonts for headlines, they vanish at 10 paces.
8. Bad Colour Contrast
Yellow on white, red on green, pastel on pastel, invisible at distance.
If you squint at your banner and it turns into a grey blur, start again. Contrast is not optional for outdoor work.
9. Missing Call to Action
Always tell the reader what to do next.
10. Crowded Layout
Leave 10–15% of the banner as blank space.
Our artwork team checks every file for these before we print. Call 020 3669 9854.
