Designing Breakthrough Advertisements: Static Advertisements will teach you the skills to make breakthrough static advertisements; the advertisements that don't move. Signs, posters, billboards, flyers and everything between. In this course you will learn the history of different static advertisements, how they work, and how to approach concepting and designing them. And we explore techniques to make your advertisements stand out.

Designing Breakthrough Static Advertisements

Designing Breakthrough Static Advertisements
This course is part of Designing Breakthrough Advertisements and Commercials Specialization

Instructor: Dan Ligon
Included with
Recommended experience
What you'll learn
Design static advertisements for posters, print ads, billboards, flyers, digital banners and more, using proven advertising concepting techniques.
Analyze historical and modern advertisements to understand how designers make their creative decisions to create work that stands out.
Design breakthrough ads for various media: from large outdoor signs and small print ads, to posters and online banners and everything between.
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March 2026
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There are 5 modules in this course
Welcome to Designing Breakthrough Static Advertisements. This course is all about static advertisements: the oldest form of advertisement. It includes discussions and design challenges built upon the various forms of static advertisements like posters, billboards, signs, online banners, and more. In this first module, you'll learn more about what static advertisements are and what influences their design. After all, the design has to be the thing that gets them noticed! You'll explore the major static advertisement types and histories of each. This is the foundational information you'll need to design successful advertisements for this course and the real world. At the end of the module, you'll put your knowledge to the test by designing a sign for a Yoga Studio.
What's included
15 videos1 reading5 assignments
In this module, you'll learn that Mass Press advertisements are just a fancy way of describing newspaper and magazine print advertisements. Once considered to be the "workhorse" of advertisements, print ads are used less these days but still continue to hang around - especially to get a message in a front of a lot of eyes. But what can a print advertisement actually do and how do you create something that won’t get passed-by with a page turn? The good news is, the creative techniques to make better print advertisements also apply to other static media, and vice versa. At the end of the module, you'll be challenged to design a single-page print advertisement for a local town magazine.
What's included
11 videos2 readings5 assignments
Posters are the rare form of advertisement that can actually crossover into artwork. In this module dedicated to them, you'll explore the history of posters, what makes them different and powerful, and how they've evolved with society. You'll explore the "1. Stop, 2. Attract, 3. Go" process for designing a poster to make your posters more unexpected. Finally, we'll deconstruct concepts for posters so you can apply them directly to your own designs, such as creating a poster for an innovative new local business.
What's included
13 videos1 reading5 assignments
This final module introduces the other types of static advertisements like billboards, banners, and tchotchkes. You'll explore the history of these mediums and the challenges associated with their designs. For each static medium, we identify ways to think about them so you can come up with something new and unexpected, giving your advertisement a better chance of reaching the target audience.
What's included
15 videos5 assignments
The Final Challenge: Design a portfolio-ready poster that shows off your newfound skills.
What's included
1 video1 assignment
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University of Colorado Boulder

University of Colorado Boulder
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Frequently asked questions
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
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