Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
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Quick answers
When should I pick Ads & creative?
When the story is: retail offers, app installs, event posters, thumb-stopping crops.
When should I avoid Ads & creative?
Skip it in cases like: the claim needs a full chart — link out, don’t cram a dashboard in a banner.
Who invented or popularised it?
Print lockups from 19th-c. posters; IAB display sizes; today’s social safe zones
What does it encode?
hierarchy of shout: product, offer, proof, action
Is it OK in ads?
Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure.
Will a teacher accept it?
Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present.
Ads & creative encodes values as hierarchy of shout: product, offer, proof, action. Print lockups from 19th-c. posters; IAB display sizes; today’s social safe zones.
In reports, ads and assignments it fits retail offers, app installs, event posters, thumb-stopping crops. Skip it when the claim needs a full chart — link out, don’t cram a dashboard in a banner.
Parts
- Mark — The core mark of Ads & creative is hierarchy of shout: product, offer, proof, action.
- Scale — The scale must show zero (or a declared break) and units.
- Axis — Axis titles name the variable, not a mood.
- Legend — A legend is weaker than a direct label. Write beside the mark when you can.
- Label — Numbers are optional. If comparison is the job, label the ends only.
- Grid — Keep the grid faint. Data should own the ink.
- Annotation — One annotation sentence. Date the source.
- Frame — A thin frame. Never a 3-D box.
Variants
- Display unit — Variant 1 of Ads & creative (Display unit). Same encoding, different layout.
- Social crop — Variant 2 of Ads & creative (Social crop). Same encoding, different layout.
- Offer lockup — Variant 3 of Ads & creative (Offer lockup). Same encoding, different layout.
- Ads & creative 4 — Variant 4 of Ads & creative (Ads & creative 4). Same encoding, different layout.
Labels
- Axis — On Ads & creative, make Mark readable.
- Legend — On Ads & creative, make Scale readable.
- Label — On Ads & creative, make Axis readable.
- Grid — On Ads & creative, make Legend readable.
- Annotation — On Ads & creative, make Label readable.
Ads & creative: honour hierarchy of shout: product, offer, proof, action, and switch when the claim needs a full chart — link out, don’t cram a dashboard in a banner.