Striking a balance between art & copy

Striking a balance between art & copy

Great advertising is striking a balance between great art and great copy. Whether it’s a print ad, a social post, a TV spot, a banner ad, or a website, it’s the combination of words and images that make up the communication. How they work together matters. 

In this installment of By Design, we’ll look at how hospitality websites are striking that perfect balance between art & copy.  

SkyBeach Hotel & MarinaSometimes, design leads the way. And sometimes, it’s the words on the page that do the heavy lifting. For SkyBeach, one is only elevated by the other. 

A good lesson: The headline should never repeat what the image is saying. It should always add an idea to make the message deeper, richer, and more complete.  

Belmont Park Here we are talking about balancing words and images, and then someone goes and throws a video at us. In that regard, Belmont Park is a triple threat, balancing high-energy video with punchy headlines that don’t interfere with the moving images. Then it’s all packaged together with colorful graphic elements, like circles, and illustrations. 

 A good lesson: Be careful how text interacts with moving images or video. If imbalanced, it can be hard to focus on the text or the video at the same time and the overall message gets bungled. 

Hotel Woodstock WayHotel Woodstock Way goes bold with its signature tagline, “This is the way.” Design celebrates this tagline by presenting nothing but the facts: an inspiring view of a waterfall from a window, a house tucked high up in a tree, a beautiful shared space. And that’s just in the home page header. This is, in fact, the way. 

As you scroll, every inch of this home page is a surprise and delight. Alternating between artful design surprises and cute headlines. Sometimes it’s an ever-so-slight animation of a tree stump or it’s a headline that snatches your attention.  

A good lesson: Don’t bury your differentiators. Let them direct the story you tell. 

Hamilton Hotel DCThe Hamilton Hotel plays with timelessness, as well as literal timelines. Subtle timeline illustrations take center stage on the home page and are repeated throughout the website, creating opportunities to tell tidbits of Hamilton’s storied past. Without the design choice of the timeline illustrations, those sections might feel shoehorned in, but as it stands, the design would feel incomplete without them. 

A good lesson: Sometimes design can create avenues for a richer story (i.e. more copy!).