Beyond the screen
Print Ad Formats
A reference guide to print advertising formats and special placements. Explore common and specialist executions across magazines, newspapers and out-of-home, with straightforward explanations of how they work and the production behind them.
The standard page-based sizes that make up most print buys — from a full page to a quarter, and spreads across two.
Shaped and special placements that break the rectangular grid to grab attention on the page.
Fireplace (Frame) Ad
An ad that frames the page around the news.
Step-Down (Staircase) Ad
An ad that descends the page in steps.
Advertorial
Paid content styled like editorial.
Front-Page Billboard
A dominant ad block on page one.
Earpiece
Small ads either side of the masthead.
L-Shape
An ad that wraps an L around the news.
U-Shape
An ad framing three sides of the page.
Tetris
Interlocking ad blocks slotted around the news.
Bookends
Matching ads down both edges of a spread.
Chequerboard
Ads and editorial in an alternating grid.
High-impact wraps and covers that are the first thing a reader sees and handles.
Separate printed pieces tucked into, or bound into, the publication.
Traditional printed advertising out in the world — billboards, street posters, transit and banners that audiences pass in physical space.
Explore digital formats
See interactive, live examples of the most common digital ad formats.
Diagrams are schematic illustrations of each format, not to scale.