How Can Red and White Make an Announcement Banner Stand Out? Choosing Color Proportions

A red-and-white announcement banner does not necessarily stand out more simply because red covers a larger area. When too much of the banner is red, the headline and the labels may compete for attention, making it hard to know what to read first. The key is to decide how much space to leave white, how much to highlight in red, and where the text belongs. Here are two wide-banner layouts with different color proportions and practical text-color choices.

Choose the proportions based on what readers should notice

If an event announcement needs to communicate the subject, date, and venue clearly, letting white dominate and reserving red for a short label such as “Registration Open” can help separate the information. If the goal is to deliver one brief announcement immediately, using a larger red area is another option. The more space red occupies, however, the more important it becomes to keep the text on red brief and use white space for the details.

Figures such as 75:25 refer to the approximate areas occupied by the main background blocks, not the number of pixels used by text. Spacing and the amount of information will change the effect, so these ratios are starting points rather than universal rules.

Compare 75% white and 25% red with 60% red and 40% white

Example A: a seminar banner with more details.Make roughly the left 75% of the horizontal banner white ■#FFFFFF, and place “Seminar Announcement,” the date, and the venue in charcoal gray ■#252525. Use the right 25% as a deep red ■#B3262D panel carrying the short label “Registration Open” in white ■#FFFFFF. Readers can find the details on the white area while the red panel highlights the registration status. This is useful when the announcement contains several pieces of information.

Example B: an event banner with one prominent message.Fill roughly the left 60% with deep red ■#B3262D and set a large “This Weekend” message in white ■#FFFFFF. Keep the right 40% white ■#FFFFFF, with the event name, date, and participation details in charcoal gray ■#252525. Red becomes the dominant visual element, but longer explanations remain on white rather than crowding the red background.

The contrast ratio between deep red ■#B3262D and white ■#FFFFFF in these examples is approximately 6.50:1. Charcoal gray ■#252525 against white ■#FFFFFF measures approximately 15.33:1. WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, international guidance for making web content accessible) 2.2 specifies at least 4.5:1 for normal-sized text and 3:1 for large text at Level AA. Both combinations exceed the numeric requirement for normal-sized text, though the typeface, weight, and actual display size still need checking.

Refine the message hierarchy and check smaller sizes

First, choose one item readers should notice before anything else, such as the headline, timing, or registration status. If the headline leads, keep more white space and limit red to a strip or label. If red takes up most of the banner, shorten the white text placed on it and group the details in the white area. This gives the information a clearer reading order.

View the banner at the smaller width where it will actually appear. Check whether the words are cramped or the red panel overwhelms everything else. Do not rely on red alone to distinguish statuses such as “Open” and “Closed”; include those words explicitly. Spacing and placement can help separate sections, so there is no need to divide the banner into equal red and white halves.

In HueRoll, you can enter a red HEX code (a hexadecimal color code used on the web) and check the selected color’s contrast against white or black. HueRoll cannot compare any two arbitrary colors or automatically determine WCAG conformance. Before using the final banner, separately verify the actual foreground and background colors wherever text appears.