Reflecting on Nearing 20 Years of Billboard Design
In the late 2000s, I (Shane Hutton) designed my first billboard ad. I was working at a sign company, doing design and making signs. Dave (of Roland Digital Media) would come in and have us design billboards for him.
One of the first designs I got to work on was for an archery shop where huge pieces of PVC were used to make 10’ long arrows for an extension.
I would soon go on to be hired full-time with Roland Digital Media as they grew, adding shiny new digital billboards and seeing a big increase in design demand. The installation manager, Ron Sweeney, was an old-school billboard painter. And Dave Roland had been in the industry for decades before, so there was a lof of classic billboard history there.
A lot has changed in out-of-home since then. The majority of design work went from static to digital.
20 years ago, no one knew what AI was. Now, more than 25% of advertiser-submitted designs are AI-generated.
Obviously, technology has played a huge role in out-of-home. Programmatic buying and modern measurement capabilities have been introduced. You can order a birthday billboard from your phone in a few minutes.
We’ve had the privilege of working on ad campaigns for the entire spectrum of Out-Of-Home. From small independent operators, agencies, and even the big three. It’s been an exciting journey seeing a creative industry evolve into what it is today.
