Case study · PleasureHorse.com
PleasureHorse.com
Two full-page magazine ads for PleasureHorse.com in the Appaloosa Horse Journal, promoting its forums, classifieds and a spring advertising special.
01 — Context
Magazine ad design for Appaloosa owners
PleasureHorse.com is an online equine community, active since 1998, with forums, classifieds and its own digital magazine, Show Horse Today. To promote the website and its services to horse owners, it booked advertising in the Appaloosa Horse Journal and asked us to design the ads. It was a focused brief in magazine ad design for a specialist audience.
An ad in a breed journal has a clear job: stop a reader who is already flipping through pages of beautiful horses, then give them a reason to go online. We produced two full-page print ads that share one message and layout system but use very different photography.
02 — Design
Expose yourself… to a world of opportunity
Both ads lead with a flowing script headline, "Expose Yourself…", a playful line that suits a site where owners show off and sell their horses. Beneath it, bold figures from the client's own copy do the persuading: over 45,000 forum members and over 13,000 Facebook fans. A short paragraph then covers the international, multi-breed audience, the link with Show Horse Today, and classifieds features such as advanced search, photo galleries and video.
The first ad shows a rider on an Appaloosa walking through a green field under a bright sky. The second sets the Appaloosa stallion Undertack against black, with his spotted coat lit dramatically. Both close with the PleasureHorse.com logo and tagline, "Passion. Business. Community. Since 1998", a Spring Special offer of $5 off every ad through the end of May, and a footer of web addresses.
Good graphic design for a breed journal respects the photography; the type is there to frame the horse, not compete with it. For more magazine ads, see our work for Carly Epp & PF Shy Guy and Hotti In The House, and for an equine brand and website, Stallion Compare.
