Experts say two to three seconds — that is exactly how much time a driver has to see an advertisement on a highway. A pedestrian in a shopping centre has slightly more contact time, but not by much. The advertiser needs to know: within that time, the ad either worked or it did not.

The debate between minimalism and rich design in outdoor advertising is as old as the industry itself. But digital screens have changed the rules of the game — and the logic that was obvious for a static billboard is no longer so clear-cut for DOOH.

Why a digital screen is a different medium

Digital boards (DOOH) are a separate class of media. They do not simply replace paper with pixels. They change the very logic of working with content. A paper or printed billboard is static. It hangs for weeks and must deliver a single message regardless of who walks past and when.

A digital screen is an entirely different story. It can change content every few seconds. Show different things in the morning and in the evening. React to the weather, to the day of the week, to an event in the city. Next-generation digital advertising is not a single image — it is a scenario with many slides, each solving its own task.

There is one more important point that is often ignored. A static billboard competes with other static billboards. A digital screen competes with the phone in the hand of the person standing nearby. This is an entirely different level of competition for attention — and design must account for this. A dull slide on a digital screen loses to the Instagram feed not because it is bad, but because it gives no reason to look.

That is why the question “minimalism or rich design” for a digital screen must be framed differently: which approach for which moment and which audience.

Minimalism: when simplicity is strength.

Minimalist design in outdoor advertising is built on one principle: the viewer does not need to think. They looked — and understood. A logo, a shortened phrase, one visual accent. That is all.

This works in several specific scenarios

High-speed traffic. On a highway there is no time to read three lines of small-font text. A large logo and one word — that is the maximum that can realistically be absorbed in two seconds. Brand awareness building here happens not through details, but through a repeated simple image that lodges in the memory.

Premium segment. Expensive brands — watches, cars, real estate — traditionally choose restraint. Empty space in an advertisement signals: we do not explain, we simply exist. This is a language that the target audience reads immediately.

B2B communication. When you are addressing a company executive rather than a shopper in a supermarket, rationality matters more than emotion. Brief, clear, to the point.

There is one more advantage of minimalism on digital media: it converts to action more effectively. A person sees a clean slide with a QR code and a single phrase — and immediately understands what to do. Impulse purchases and increased conversions through DOOH happen more often with simple, uncluttered formats.

But there is a trap. Minimalism demands flawless execution. If an advertisement has only three elements — a logo, a phrase, and a background — each of them must be perfect. A poor font or a weak slogan cannot be hidden behind details. They immediately stand out.

Rich design: when emotion is needed

Bright colours, dynamism, details, several messages at once. Rich design is a “visual magnet” that stops the eye even where there is a lot of competition around.

And that is not a bad thing. It simply serves a different purpose.

Mass goods and B2C. Fast food, entertainment, fashion, seasonal sales — here emotion matters more than a rational argument. A person who sees a delicious burger with sauce dripping down it makes a decision not with their mind.

High competition in a location. If there are ten minimalist billboards around your screen — a bright, rich design will be a contrast. It stands out not through quality, but through difference.

Another scenario where a rich approach is justified — visualising offers and promotions. When you need to show a discount, a countdown timer, or several products at once, minimalism simply cannot contain the required information.

But rich design has its own trap. Overloading kills readability. The viewer may remember that “something bright was flickering,” but not recall the brand, the product, or the call to action. Visual advertising hierarchy is not about beauty — it is about the order of perception. If a person does not understand where to look first, they do not look anywhere.

What digital screen change

A static billboard is a once-and-for-all choice. You are either a minimalist or you are not. Dynamic content and video content on a digital screen removes this limitation entirely.

In the morning — a minimalist slide for a business audience on their way to work. During the day — bright promotional content for shoppers in a shopping centre. In the evening — an emotional video for those returning home after work.

One advertising structure, three different approaches, three different audiences. This is exactly the advantage of digital advertising over static — not just brightness, but flexibility.

Content personalisation delivers even more. When the temperature outside drops — we show warm clothing. When it is Friday evening — we show restaurants and entertainment. When it is raining — we show delivery and cosy places. The advertisement responds to context rather than simply hanging there and waiting.

How to build visual hierarchy on a digital screen correctly

Regardless of which style you choose — minimalism or richness — the visual advertising hierarchy is the same. There are three levels.

The first — stops the eye. A bright colour, movement, contrast, an unusual image. The task is one: to make the viewer shift attention from the surrounding environment to the screen. There are fractions of a second for this.

The second — delivers the main message. The brand name, the key phrase, the main offer. If the person has stopped and is looking — you have another second or two for them to grasp the essence.

The third — prompts action. The call to action in outdoor advertising: a QR code, an address, the name of a promotion, the date of an event. This is for those who have reached the third level — fewer of them, but they are the most valuable.

The most common mistake is trying to fit all three levels into one large block. Then none of them works.

Colour, movement, and display time

Colour is perceived before shape and text. Warm colours — red, orange, yellow — stimulate and attract attention. Cool ones — blue, green, grey — calm and are associated with reliability. The choice of colour is not aesthetics — it is psychology.

Movement is a powerful tool, but it is easy to overdo. Slow, smooth animation holds the eye. Chaotic flickering repels. Real-time advertising campaigns that react to external triggers deliver higher results precisely because the movement there is not chaotic, but meaningful.

Display time is an underrated parameter. Managing advertising content by schedule is not a technical detail — it is a strategic decision. A morning audience absorbs simple, clear messages better. An evening audience is more relaxed and ready for detail.

Interactivity as a separate level

Interactive digital screen is no longer simply “looked and walked on.” QR codes, touch panels, motion response — all of this turns contact with an advertisement into an experience.

And here minimalism works better. An overloaded interactive screen confuses: it is unclear what to tap, where to look. A simple, clean interface with one obvious interaction element is far more effective.

Personalised content for clients in an interactive format delivers the best results: the person themselves chooses what they want to see and receives a relevant response. This is no longer advertising in the classical sense — it is a service.

Branding and consistency

Branding in a DOOH campaign is not just a logo on the screen. It is consistency: the same style, the same tone, the same manner of presentation across all media in the network.

A minimalist brand that suddenly appears with a loud, rich design on one screen looks like a mistake. Even if the individual slide is attractive, it destroys the cohesive image. Current platforms allow centralised control of style across all screens in the network — and this is not just convenience, but protection against branding errors.

Testing: why no theory replaces practice

One can read ten articles about the psychology of colour perception and build a perfect hierarchy. But a real audience sometimes behaves differently from what you expect.

That is why testing is a mandatory step before a large-scale campaign. Launch two versions of the same message: minimalist and rich. Look at the results after a week. Not at your own feelings — at the numbers. Which slide held the eye longer? Where is the conversion higher?

There is one more thing worth checking — the frequency of content changes. Updates that are too infrequent make the screen “invisible” to regular visitors of a location: people have seen it ten times already and stop noticing. Too frequent — they prevent the viewer from understanding the message fully. The optimal rhythm depends on the type of location and the average time the audience spends near the screen. In a transit zone — shorter and more frequent. In a waiting zone — longer and more detailed. This is not about design in the classical sense, but it is precisely this decision that often determines whether the advertisement is noticed at all.

Advanced advertising technologies allow this to be done directly during the campaign: the system shows both versions and automatically increases the share of the one delivering the better result.

So what to choose?

Some are waiting for a final verdict: minimalism or richness? There is no definitive one. There is context, there is an audience, there is a task. And there is a digital screen that allows you not to choose between them once and for all — but to use each approach where it truly delivers results.

An advertisement that is beautiful but unclear — did not work. One that is noticeable but not memorable — also did not work. The right design is the one that solves a specific task for a specific person at a specific moment. Everything else is aesthetics.


Advision is a content management system for remote control, media planning of video and audio content broadcasting, and a supply-side platform for monetising advertising time. We also implement a Wi-Fi tracking system to measure quantitative indicators of the advertising audience. We help Digital Signage owners and DOOH advertising operators earn money from advertising, automate work processes, and build a reliable media infrastructure using AdTech and MarTech software solutions.

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