Normally they’re bright, flashy, and encroach on your internet experience. We’ve all tried our best to become immune to them. It’s safe to say they’ve got quite a bad rap.

In actuality, web banner ads are great tools to spread a message to a large audience. But with so many terrible examples of banner ads pummeling us every day, how do you stand out (in a good way) and really make an impression?

To save you some time, we’ve taken the liberty of curating 50 great examples of web banner advertisements to help and inspire you to create your own.

This set of banner ads by Dear Miss Modern pairs together text and photography in an effective and beautiful way. Each typeface in every individual banner is a nice reflection of the photograph within it, and they form a relationship that works very well together.

The photos that are more fun and playful have more playful text, and the images that are more sophisticated sport a classier typeface.

Does your typography need some work? Check out this article, 10 Ways to Improve Typography In Your Designs.

Visa’s holiday banner ad uses hierarchy to its advantage. The photo is front and center stage, while the type (particularly the main message) works alongside it just enough to not get lost.

The offer button is positioned smartly right above the focal point of the image, which allows your eye to be drawn up and into the message.

This banner ad for Google brings in a nice, personal touch with its hand drawn icons.

They’re all images we recognize, yet it feels exclusive to the ad, as though the person in the photo was writing out their actions for the world to see. The hand drawn features adds in an incredibly personal touch, and makes the ad feel more than just an ad.

Sometimes, skipping a typeface and writing out your message, like Googlehas done here, is a great solution.

It works particularly well in this advertisement because Google is looking for new employees, and the style gives off a vibe similar to those you’d find on community boards. It makes the notion of working for Google much more personal and attainable rather than intimidating.

Adding in illustrations to your banner ad is a great way to have an element of fun and playfulness, like in this ad for Google. Many looks can be achieved with illustration, whether it’s edgy and modern or childish and friendly.

Illustration adds an element that can’t always be achieved with photography, and is a great alternative if you can’t swing a photoshoot for your ad.

This banner ad for FatCow by Envato Studio shows perfectly how you can design your layout to work with a multitude of banner sizes.

Design in the size that you’ll be using the most and really perfect it, then take elements from that design and reflect it in your other sizes. Some elements will need to be shrunk down, others removed, and new elements may also need to be added.

In this ad for Google Play Music, you can’t help but be drawn into it. The vibrant pink paired with the contrasting blue really draws your eye’s attention and makes a great impression.

Sometimes, incorporating bright pops of color in your banner ads will help make them stand out against more monotone, standard banner ads.

Interested in learning more on color theory? Take a look at this greatresource.

If there’s one thing Coca Cola does well, it’s keeping things simple, and this banner ad is no exception. You have the product, the logo, and a short message – that’s it, and that’s all that’s needed.

Cramming a banner full of information that consumers don’t care about won’t grant you any favors, so omit what you can and only include what’s important. Your viewers will thank you.

Staying current with trends and pop culture is a great way to get clicks on your banner ads.

Campbell’s created a product line featuring characters for the globally anticipated release of the new Star Wars movie, and they displayed it in banner ads. The streak of red is undeniably recognizable, and it attracts Campbell’s lovers both new and old.

Campbell’s created another successful ad by incorporating texture. It’s subtle just around the edges, yet adds in a nice homey, grounding touch. Campbell’s is a comfortable, relatable brand, and by adding in this texture they help drive that image through.

The ultimate goal of any ad is to appeal to your audience, and that’s exactly what this ad for Target does.

Their nursery line mostly communicates to mothers, so a cute little scene of a picture perfect pink nursery is shown – like in a storybook. The lines‘ your nursery your style’ are shown underneath, which encourages mothers to decorate their child’s nursery however they want.

This ad for Zarbee’s multivitamins lays out fruits in a nice pattern instead of using a generic product shot of the bottle. It shows that the vitamins are fresh and healthy and not full of chemicals.

Having a clear focal point in your ad is essential, you need to communicate with your audience quickly and efficiently. The focal point in this ad forTarget is the Target logo, due to its position on the page and its bright red color.

The blue backdrop frames it nicely, and serves as a nice break from the vibrant red. Target is known well enough that it doesn’t need much more of a message, and serves as a reminder to viewers to consider Target while shopping for fashion.

This ad for McDonald’s pairs its imagery and message very well. The incorporation of the image allows you to drop the actual mention of coffee, which shortens the text and gives more room to play with type.

The image of the coffee cup could work on its own, but it’s much more effective when the viewer is prompted about how they enjoy their McDonald’s coffee.

This bright McFlurry is the true star of this McDonald’s banner ad, and rightly so.

The vibrant and colorful cup stands out against the grey background, which acts as a nice neutral ground to showcase the product. If the background had been more colorful, the product would have been lost, and the message wouldn’t have been as clear.

Creating sharp angles like Audi did in this ad is a great way to break up space and add energy. Sure, regularly aligned boxes could have worked, but the diagonally oriented shapes of color add in movement, which translates incredibly well alongside the speedy car.

Adding in an overlay of color on photographs is a great way to allow your message to stand out. In this banner ad, Disney added a dark grey overlay over a bright and happy image of a child splashing in water at a resort.

A simple white message is laid over the top and really stands out against the photo. If the overlay hadn’t been there, the message would have been too lost in the details of the photo and not been as effective.

This banner ad for Tiffany & Co. is very fun, energetic, and lively. A swirling cocktail glass illustration is paired with beautifully adorned jewelry, and really gives off the promise of a good time.

It suggests the types of situations in which you would wear Tiffany jewelry, and gives the brand a persona of elegance and class with a touch of playfulness.

Good typography is a great way to grab viewers’ attention. In this particular ad for Nike, the name of the shoe is broken up and sliced away, making it feel light and almost like it’s fading away.

Visually, it’s great to look at, and it helps tremendously that the lightness of the type is related the the actual lightness of the shoe.

Illustration in your web banner ads can be simple or incredibly detailed depending on your message.

The illustration style in this banner for Nike is quite detailed, and really tells a story. Power and strength can be felt in the drawing, and the subtle touches of color throughout brings in a nice energy – which is exactly what Nike is about.

Try your hand at including a few different elements in your next banner ad, like this ad for Ebay did.

A photograph, standard type, handwritten type, and illustrative accents all come together to make an effective banner advertisement. Each element has its own strength and contributes something, which would otherwise be missed had it not been there.

Keep up with trends to make your banner ads relative to your consumers. This ad for Ebay took the title of a popular song by Drake and spun it to work for them.

Instead of ‘Hotline Bling’, they changed it to ‘Haute Line Bling’, which introduces an entirely new vibe and can be appreciated by those up to date with pop culture, as well as those who are interested in fashion.

Don’t feel obligated to stick to an incredibly structured style or grid in your banner ad.

In this example, Yoplait took a loose approach not only with their type, but with their grid. The playfulness pairs perfectly with the particular product, and has a nice energy both kids and parents can appreciate.

Creating a relationship between the elements in your banner ad is very important. You wouldn’t want people to question why you used a certain image if it doesn’t work with the text. In this example from Talbots, the relationship is simple, but there.

The color for the type was pulled directly out of the photograph, and the text makes a cute pun relating to color.

Creating contrast in your banner ads is a good way to draw attention to them, like in this ad from ESPN.

The background is dark and textured, while the text is light and crisp. The contrast between the two really makes the type stand out, which is important when you’re relaying time sensitive information.

Achieving symmetry and balance in your ad is something many designers strive to do, but come up short.

This ad by Apple uses a simple grid, the photographs are in black and white, and the area where the images would intersect houses the branding and message. It’s very cut and dry, but it works wonderfully, and allows the music to speak for itself.

If you’re trying to appeal to college students, actually take a step into their shoes, like Chegg has done in this banner ad.

An all too familiar statement of ‘wait, that was due today?’ is positioned over top of an image of a busy student. This is something all of us can relate to, and it certainly resonates with the college students who would be using the service.

Movement catches your eye outside of the web, so why wouldn’t it while you’re online? This motion oriented banner ad by Chegg moves just enough to stand out on the page and grab attention. It’s message is simple and straightforward, which helps to not overcomplicate it as a whole.