A billboard (sometimes also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertisements to passing pedestrians and drivers. Typically showing large, ostensibly witty slogans, and distinctive visuals, billboards are highly visible in the top designated market areas. Bulletins are the largest, most impactful standard-size billboards. Located primarily on major highways, expressways or principal arterials, they command high-density consumer exposure (mostly to vehicular traffic). Bulletins afford greatest visibility due not only to their size, but because they allow creative "customizing" through extensions and embellishments.Posters are the other common form of billboard advertising, located chiefly in commercial and industrial areas on primary and secondary arterial roads. Posters are a smaller format than bulletins and are viewed principally by residents and commuter traffic, with some pedestrian exposure.
Painted Billboard
Almost all these billboards were painted in large studios. The image was projected on the series of paper panels that made up the billboard. Line drawings were done, then traced with a pounce wheel that created perforated lines. The patterns were then "pounced" onto the board with a chalk filled pounce bag, marking the outlines of the figures or objects. Then, using oil paints, the artists would actually use large brushes to paint the image. Once the panels were installed using large hydraulic booms on trucks, the artists would go up on the installed billboard and touch up the edges between the panels. These large, painted billboards were especially popular in Los Angeles where historic firms such as Foster & Kleiser and Pacific Outdoor Advertising dominated the industry. Eventually, these painted billboards gave way to graphic reproduction, but hand-painted billboards are still in use in some areas where only a single board or two is required. The "Sunset Strip" in Los Angeles is one area where hand-painted billboards can still be found, usually to advertise upcoming films or albums in the heart of the entertainment industry.Advertising Style
Billboard advertisements are designed to catch a person's attention and create a memorable impression very quickly, leaving the reader thinking about the advertisement after they have driven past it. They have to be readable in a very short time because they are usually read while being passed at high speeds. Thus there are usually only a few words, in large print, and a humorous or arresting image in brilliant color.Some billboard designs spill outside the actual space given to them by the billboard, with parts of figures hanging off the billboard edges or jutting out of the billboard in three dimensions. An example in the United States around the turn of the 21st century were the billboards (a chicken sandwich fast food chain), which had three-dimensional cow figures in the act of painting the billboards with misspelled anti-beef slogans such as "frendz don't let frendz eat beef." George Stonbely created the famous Time Square billboards. Including one on one times square.
The first "scented billboard," an outdoor sign emitting the odors of black pepper and charcoal to suggest a grilled steak, was erected on NC 150 near Mooresville, North Carolina by the Bloom grocery chain. The sign depicted a giant cube of beef being pierced by a large fork that extended to the ground. The scents were emitted between 7–10 a.m. and 4– to 7 pm from 28 May 2010 through 18 June 2010
Digital Billboards
A digital billboard is a billboard that is created from computer programs and software. Digital billboards can be designed to display running text, display several different displays from the same company, and even exist to provide several companies a certain slot of time during the day. Because of the versatility and increased potential revenue for these signs, they are likely to become the standard for the future.Some companies that create the intelligence behind digital billboards are Four Winds Interactive, Scala and Helius.
Mobile Billboards
Outdoor Advertising, such as a Mobile Billboard, is effective because it’s hard to ignore. According to a UK national survey, it’s also memorable. Capitol Communications Group found that 81.7 percent of those polled recalled images they saw on a moving multi-image sign. This is compared to a 19 percent retention rate for static signs.Unlike a typical billboard, mobile billboards are able to go directly to their target audience. They can be placed wherever there is heavy foot traffic due to an event – including convention centers, train stations, airports and sports arenas. They can repeat routes, ensuring that an advertiser’s message is not only noticed, but that information is retained through repetition.
Infitable Billboards
An inflatable billboard is an inflatable framework with an attached banner ad. Most of them famously appear near sports events or exhibitions. Inflatable billboards can be installed nearly everywhere standing free. They are secured with counter weights and tensioning ropes.Multi-Purpose Billboards
Some billboards are not used only for advertising ends; they can be multi-purpose, meaning that they can have more than one function. So, an advertising sign can integrate its main purpose with telecommunications antenna and/or public lighting support. Usually the structure has a steel pole with a coupling flange on the above-fitted advertising billboard structure that can contain telecommunications antennas. The lighting power supply cables and any possible antennas are placed inside of the structure and fastened on appropriate steel wires.Other Types of Billboards
Other types of billboards include the billboard bicycle, which is a billboard attached to the back of a bicycle or the largest mobile billboard, a special advertising trailer to hoist big banners. Mechanical billboards are billboards that display three different billboards at different times, because the three advertisements are attached to a conveyor that rolls around inside the billboard. There is also such thing as a three-dimensional billboard, such as the ones at Piccadilly Circus, London, although this type of billboard is arguably mistaken for a simple advertising sign.Highway
Non-Commercial Use
Not all billboards are used for advertising products and service- non profit group and government agencies use them to communicate with the public. In 1999 an anonymous person created the God Speaks billboard campaign in Florida "to get people thinking about God", with witty statements signed by God. "Don't make me come down there", "We need to talk" and "Tell the children that I love them" were parts of the campaign, which was picked up by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and continues today on billboards across the country.South of Olympia, Washington is the privately owned Uncle Sam billboard. It features conservative, sometimes inflammatory messages, changed on a regular basis. Chehalis farmer Al Hamilton first started the board during the Johnson era, when the government was trying to make him remove his billboards along Interstate 5. He had erected the signs after he lost a legal battle to prevent the building of the freeway across his land. Numerous legal and illegal attempts to remove the Uncle Sam billboard have failed, and it is now in its third location.One message, attacking a nearby liberal arts college, was photographed, made into a postcard and is sold in the College Bookstore.
