"Trading Spaces" RHD Style! - September Ad Design Favorites

I've always been a fan of the old show Trading Spaces and more recently I've started watching the show "Split Ends" where two hair stylists swap beauty shops for a week. So while watching Split Ends recently I thought, wouldn't that be cool if we could do that between ad agencies. While this isn't possible, I thought of a way to kind of give us a fun educational experience at RHD and do a mini-trading spaces kind of deal.

So each month we have been voting amongst our own staff of our favorite ads we did the previous month at RHD. Each staff member got to pick their favorite ad to be featured on the RHD home page for the month.

Well now we have a new idea! Instead of us picking our own favorites each month, we're going to ask an "outsider" to look at all of the ads we create each month and pick THEIR favorite! What a great way to get outside feedback and also have a little contest between staff members about who's projects get voted as the best.

Our first "judge" for this idea was Julie McMahon French of McMahon French Promotional Strategy in Beaverton, Michigan. Julie is a pioneer in innovative livestock advertising and has handled many advertising accounts of leading cattle ranches and horse operations. Some of her notable clients include Belle Point Angus, Great Shorthorn Revival, 6666 Ranch, 7L Ranches, and many more. Prior to creating McMahon French Promotional Strategy she operated Creative Exchange, an advertising agency based out of the Fort Worth Stockyards. What a dream job!!! She and her husband Steve (pictured here) also own and operate Little Cedar Cattle Company, a registered Shorthorn operation.

Here are Julie's favorites and her comments!

SJ Cattle Creations - Excellent use of color and horizontal space (sometimes hard because we get so used to 8.5 x 11). Cool all the way around.

Sidwell Hay and Cattle - The pasture photo and the way it was framed got my attention, I really like the way the info is segmented. Lots to read, but easy to get through it.

Gehrke 2 pages - Green & orange is refreshing and a stopper, I like the skewed photo key lines, different but not too wacky as to take away from the photos (a real pet peeve for me).

Lindner / Show Rite (5 page) - Amazing organization and utilization of what seems like jillions of photos, I wasn't really sure what that rope was doing...but I like it. I just kept looking at it! There are a lot of elements but you kept them all in check to keep my focus on the product.

Scarmardo Cattle Company - You know I love black and white....and always really appreciate the excellent use of it!

So, we hope you enjoyed looking at some of these recent ads created by RHD that appeared in September publications. Julie's comments showed us that regardless of if you're doing a 1/2 page black and white -- or a 5 page 4-color campaign -- good design is important in all aspects and when executed properly can help you get the most exposure --- regardless of your advertising budget.

Thank you Julie! Watch for next month's favorites and guest judge coming in a few weeks!