Digital Advert Design UK

Google Ads: responsive display and uploaded banners

Google Ads has two quite different ways to run image ads, and they need different artwork.

Responsive display ads let Google assemble your images, logos and headlines into whatever space is available. According to Google Ads Help (checked October 2026), you need at least one landscape image at 1.91:1 (recommended 1200 x 628 px) and one square image (recommended 1200 x 1200 px), with an optional 9:16 vertical image at 900 x 1600 px. Logos are 1:1 (1200 x 1200 px) or 4:1 (1200 x 300 px), and each file can be up to 5,120 KB. Google's own best-practice guide asks advertisers not to put text over these images or overlay a logo, because Google adds headlines and the logo itself. So we design clean product or lifestyle images, not mini posters.

Uploaded display ads are finished banners you design yourself, in fixed sizes such as 300 x 250, 728 x 90, 300 x 600, 160 x 600, 970 x 250 and 320 x 50. Here every word is yours, and Google Ads Help sets a 150 KB file limit. We design each size individually rather than shrinking one layout, because a 320 x 50 mobile banner has room for a logo, five words and a button, nothing more.

Meta ads: Facebook and Instagram

Meta's Ads Guide (checked October 2026) recommends 1440 x 1800 px at 4:5 for Facebook and Instagram feed image ads, and 1440 x 2560 px at 9:16 for Stories and Reels, as JPG or PNG up to 30 MB. Meta suggests keeping roughly the top 14%, bottom 35% and 6% at each side of 9:16 ads free of text and logos, because the profile name, caption and call-to-action button sit there. In 2026 Meta brought Facebook and Instagram Stories and Reels under one shared 9:16 safe zone, which makes it simpler: we design to the tightest placement, Reels, and the ad works everywhere.

Meta's guide also suggests primary text of around 125 characters for Stories ads, so the image should carry the offer and the text should support it, not repeat it.

LinkedIn and TikTok ads

LinkedIn single image ads accept square and 1.91:1 landscape images (around 1200 x 1200 px and 1200 x 628 px), plus a vertical option for mobile only, as JPG, PNG or GIF up to 5 MB, according to LinkedIn's advertising specification pages. Square usually takes up more of the mobile feed, so for B2B campaigns we often lead with 1:1 and supply landscape as a back-up.

TikTok's Ads Manager help centre recommends 9:16 vertical for in-feed ads, with a minimum of 540 x 960 px, and publishes safe-zone overlays because captions and buttons cover the bottom and right of the screen. TikTok ads are mostly video, so static artwork usually becomes the opening frame, end card or overlay of a short clip. Our motion graphics and social media video pages cover moving formats.

Designing ads that get read

Platform specs only get an ad shown. Whether anyone acts on it comes down to a few plain rules we follow on every set:

• One message per ad. A single offer, benefit or date, not a list.
• Readable at thumb size. Large type, strong contrast and no small print in the image.
• Brand recognisable in a second. Your colours and logo where the platform allows them.
• Matches the landing page. If the ad shows a product and a price, the page it links to should show the same.
• Variants for testing. Two headlines or two images, so you can see which works rather than guess.

This service covers the creative, not budgets or bidding. If your landing pages need a visual refresh, our website graphics page covers banners and hero images.

Price and handover

Digital advert design is charged at £45 an hour + VAT. We quote a fixed price per campaign once we know the platforms, sizes and number of variants. You receive every file named by platform and size, checked against the file limits, plus the editable source files so your agency or in-house team can update prices and dates later.

Need finished organic posts as well as ads? A social media graphics pack starts from £99 + VAT. See all prices or request a quote.

What you get

• Responsive display image and logo sets for Google Ads
• Static banners in standard display sizes, each under the upload limit
• Meta feed (4:5 and 1:1) and Stories/Reels (9:16) ad images
• LinkedIn and TikTok ad creative where needed
• Two or more message variants for testing, if you want them
• Files named by size and placement, plus editable source files

How it works and what it costs

Logos from £150, brochures from £295, photography from £295 a half day and CAD at £45 an hour, all + VAT. You get a fixed price before we start.

1. Tell us the brief

   What it is for, who will see it, where it will be used and any examples you like. Rough is fine.

2. Fixed price

   We confirm the price and what you get, in writing, before any work starts.

3. First designs

   We design, shoot or model it and share the first version for your comments.

4. Refine

   We make the changes, check every detail, and prepare the files properly for print, web or manufacture.

5. Final files

   You get the finished files in the formats you need, ready for your printer, website, social channels or manufacturer.

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