Design Insights Hidden in Black Friday Ads (And How to Use Them in Your Client Work)

Black Friday is one of the biggest sale days of the year. 

Almost everyone offers some kind of sale - products, services, coaching. Everyone wants to get in on the hype and convert some lurkers into paying customers, getting them in the door and into your product ecosystem. 

As such, it’s also a big opportunity for designers to create amazing, fun, standout designs for your clients. (Yay!)

The hard part - coming up with new ways of designing the words “Black Friday” without each one looking the same. 😅 

So I gathered here some Black Friday design inspo for you, and reviewed what makes them work so you can learn a thing or two along the way. 

Black Friday Design Inspo

Trend Alert: Stickers

Want your clients to look cutting edge? Follow the trends. 

Using stickers like these has become really popular lately. 

They can make a simple design pop with a touch of color and a level of depth that adds dimension and action.

Trend Alert: Stripes 

Another cool design element that’s trending? 

These yellow-tape-looking stripes. 

Also a great way to add a pop of color to a minimalist design, drawing the eye to your message. 

Two levels of contrast

Something I think about a lot when designing is contrast. 

Is there enough contrast? Does that contrast that is here look deliberate and strong enough to lead the eye? 

A good rule of thumb is to always use a minimum of two layers of contrast. 

Make it larger + a different color Bolder + italics All caps + outlined New font + new color New color + italics 

You get the idea.

When in doubt, make it larger

Worried the message might not get across? Or, everything looking too similar in size, making it a bit blah?

Make it larger.  Looks big?  Double it.  Now double it again. 

Break past the edge of the page. It’s allowed. 

And it’ll make your design pop.

Create layers of depth

You design looking a bit flat? 

Overlap elements. 

It creates a feeling of depth and dimension, making things more visually interesting and engaging. 

This has been used in almost every design above - stickers above text, stripes both above and behind text, bubbles above text, images above text. 

Everything doesn’t have to fit together like a puzzle, it can overlap like a 3D photo box. 

Just be sure to overlap enough that it looks deliberate and not like a mistake. Don’t have just a few pixels touching, make it obvious.

Add humans

We’ve all heard about the power of people on human psychology to increase sales. 

But it bears repeating. 

Sometimes it’s hard to have people - you would need models and a photoshoot, or your product/service doesn’t lend itself to human imagery. 

But there are ways to include people without being too overt about it. 

For instance, with just a hand. It’s not a lot, but it adds a bit more of an emotional connection with the viewer. 

Even adding just a hand holding a product instead of a flat product photo has been proven to increase click-through-rates on digital ads by a significant percentage.

And lastly, 

Don’t stop with one aspect from the list above!

Combine them and use multiple details to bring your design to life. 

Use great contrast, layers of depth, and stickers for a design that will stand out and convert. 

Happy designing!

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