Out of Home

Out of Home (OOH) creative can be produced in one of two ways, depending on your team’s workflow and production capabilities.

Preferred approach (Agency Comps): Agencies provide creative mockups, and the Ad Council builds final mechanicals. This approach helps ensure consistency, accessibility, and readiness for donated placements across formats.

Alternate approach (Partner Mechanicals): Agencies or partners may supply fully built mechanicals. If you plan to do so, please discuss this with your Ad Council Campaign Manager before production begins to confirm specifications, templates, and timelines.

Production templates and checklists are available below to support both approaches.

Out-of-home media is designed for fast, fleeting moments. To maximize the impact of donated placements, all OOH creative should follow industry best practices that prioritize clarity, legibility, and accessibility.

Brevity
OOH messages must be understood in seconds. Keep copy minimal and visuals focused.

• Main message: No more than 7 words on 30 sheets; as concise as possible on bus shelter formats.
• Images: Strive for three visual elements or fewer.
• Call to action: Use only one (URL, phone number, text, or QR code — not multiple)
• URLs and Hashtags: Should be written in CamelCase.

Distance Test
Test legibility at real-world viewing distances. Use the OAAA Creative Testing Tool to preview how your message reads from varying distances. Registration is free.

Accessibility
Accessibility ensures more people can engage with your message across abilities and environments. The Ad Council is committed to incorporating accessibility best practices across all creative where possible.

• Choose colors with high contrast in hue and value.
• For digital OOH, contrast ratios should exceed 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for headlines
• Do not rely on color alone to convey important information.
• Use clear, readable fonts; avoid decorative fonts, all caps, and justified copy.
• Keep language at or below a 6th-grade reading level.
• Write all URLs and hashtags in CamelCase whenever possible.

Find additional Accessibility Resources here.

Outdoor Logo Placement (All OOH Creative)

In outdoor media, the size and positioning of all elements are critical. The following recommended logo sizes may appear large in a static layout, but they are appropriate given the short viewing time typical of OOH placements. All sizes are mechanical measurements.

30 Sheet

• Ad Council logo positioned a minimum of .875" from edges and 1" wide
• Sponsor logo proportional in size and adjacent to the Ad Council logo

Bus Shelter

• Ad Council logo positioned a minimum of 1" from edges and .5625" wide
• Sponsor logo proportional to the Ad Council logo and at least .375" to the right

This is the recommended approach for most campaigns. Agencies submit creative mockups, and the Ad Council builds final mechanicals to ensure technical accuracy and maximize placement opportunities.

Use the templates and checklist below to ensure scale, margins, and logo placement are set up correctly before submission.

Download the Agency Comps Checklist
Download INDD Templates

Agencies or partners supplying final mechanicals must adhere strictly to Ad Council specifications. Please confirm requirements with your Ad Council Campaign Manager prior to production.

Use the templates and checklist below when building final mechanicals.
Download the Partner Mechanicals Checklist
Download INDD Templates

Sizes & Specifications

Static OOH
Bus Shelter

• Actual Size (h × w): 70" × 48"
• Live/Safety Area (h × w): 15.5" × 10"
• Mechanical (h × w): 17.5" × 12"

30 Sheet

• Actual Size (h × w): 123" × 273"
• Live/Safety Area (h × w): 10" × 22"
• Mechanical (h × w): 10.1875" × 22.75"

All sizes are listed as height followed by width. Add .125" on all four sides of mechanical size for bleed. Mechanical artwork must be saved as CMYK.

Digital Outdoor Specs

• Digital Poster: 400 × 840 px, 72 dpi
• Digital Bulletin: 400 × 1400 px, 72 dpi
• Digital Bus Shelter: 1920 × 1080 px, 72 dpi

Digital outdoor files should be saved as RGB, uncompressed JPGs. Avoid using all-white backgrounds when creating digital OOH ads.

Technical Specifications & File Setup

• Files should be created in InDesign (CMYK), with linked Photoshop and Illustrator assets.
• Vector elements (including logos and hand-drawn type) should be created in Illustrator and linked.
• Body copy should remain editable in InDesign.
• Leave a 1" margin around all bus shelter layouts.
• Ad Council logos must be black, white, or gray.
• Provide all supporting files, fonts, and linked assets.
• Final high-resolution artwork should be supplied as layered TIFF or PSD files.
• No raw files, please.
• Total file size should not exceed 2GB.
• File naming convention:
  Campaign_AdTitle_Format_Size.extension
  (e.g., Wildfire_Coals_Bus_17.5hX12w.indd)

Cropping
Photoshop files should be linked to the InDesign document and left uncropped to allow maximum flexibility for resizing across orientations.

Outdoor Production Checklists

Use these checklists to confirm your materials meet Ad Council requirements before submission.

• Agency Comps Checklist
• Partner Mechanicals Checklist

Submit all files and required forms to the appropriate Ad Council Campaign Manager.

Please contact:
Deb D’Angelo at ddangelo@adcouncil.org
Myra Mendoza at mmendoza@adcouncil.org