Congratulations to Pampers for designing an eye catching ad for a good cause, World Prematurity Day. The ad ran in major newspapers across the U.S. It was effective for several reasons:
1). It makes clever use of white space. The ad shows the actual size of a diaper created for premature babies. By placing the ad in the middle of the page and leaving most of the rest blank, it focuses your eyes on the impossibly small image (the asterisk clarifies that it really is the actual size of a diaper).
2). There is very little text. A short paragraph at the bottom explains why the diaper was created and why the ad is running on November 17th, World Prematurity Day.
3). By positioning the page in newspapers like the New York Times which are heavy in text, the ad stands out even more.
Less clutter draws more attention to your product or idea.
Professional designers are not afraid of white space. In fact, they embrace it and use it creatively to catch your attention. Business professionals might want to take a lesson from the Pampers ad the next time they create a PowerPoint, write an email, or suggest design ideas. Reduce the ‘noise’ and grab more attention.