Ad Flyer Redesign
Role
Creative Director, Principal Designer
Timeline
6 Months
Channel
Business Impact
Refreshed Ad layouts, Reduced budget spend through smaller ad footprint, and Focused merchandise selling programs.
After seven years of using the same weekly ad format, I was tasked with reimagining the flyer to better align with updated brand standards, reduce production complexity, and create a more focused, customer-friendly experience. As Creative Director, I worked closely with leaders across our Marketing, Digital and Merchandising teams to understand:
• What programs could be removed?
• How would departments be represented?
• How would the new ad look?
• How would the new ad translate online?
• How can we streamline the customer experience?
Once we established the core needs of the new ad, I started to redesign our longstanding weekly ad flyer—transforming our current 6-page format into a modern, concise 4-page version.
Objectives
Our existing 6-page layout no longer reflected the updated Giant Food brand identity. We needed to realign the look and feel to match the new branding.
Inconsistent typography and visual hierarchy made the flyer feel cluttered
Reduce the number of items items per page to mitigate visual overload
Refresh the overall look and feel to align with new brand creative
Streamline content to focus on key items and clearer category organization mirroring the customer journey
Improve legibility, hierarchy, and consistency in pricing presentation
Reduce clutter by eliminating unnecessary icons and product images
Develop an iconography system with consistent usage and visual priority
Iconography System
I created a clear hierarchy for icons, prioritizing those with the most customer value (e.g., limited time offers, package size) and clarified their placement and sizing with updated style guidelines.
Price Point Alignment
I collaborated with internal teams to standardize the way prices were displayed across the ad, store signage, and digital media improving brand consistency and reducing customer confusion.
Customer Journey informed Layout
Category groupings were adjusted based on customer flow and shopping behavior, improving navigation and helping shoppers find what they care about faster.
My Approach
Reducing Complexity
We transitioned from a 6-page to a 4-page format. This change required a more curated approach to product selection, focusing on hero items and high-impact categories. Not only did we have to reduce the number of items but we also refined how we present special offers and removed additional hoops customers had to go through to redeem those offers.
Typographic Overhaul
Leading an internal group of designers and marketers through a comprehensive font selection process to ensure the new typeface met brand standards, was legible in print, and worked seamlessly with signage across stores.
Visual Clean-Up
By limiting the number of icons and product images, and introducing more negative space, we gave the flyer room to breathe—helping customers focus on what matters most, item and price
Results
At the end of the reformat we came out with a refined ad that achieved our objectives and signaled to our customers that something new was happening at Giant.
33% reduction in flyer pages (from 6 to 4), lowering production costs
Improved clarity and legibility across the ad
More cohesive branding with updated typography and styling
Streamlined customer journey through better category alignment
Consistent pricing visuals led to fewer customer service issues
Takeaways
This project was a strategic balance of creativity and clarity. By focusing on what mattered most to the customer—and the brand—I was able to lead the evolution of our weekly print touchpoint into a modern, efficient, and brand-aligned experience. Even with this evolution, I think there is more that can be done and taken further in the next iteration, for example:
Research, both internal and across the industry, reports that customers use the ad for a variety of uses but primarily it is used to cross shop and compare pricing between stores. Anything that doesn’t serve or help the customer in that goal is less effective in the ad. Further reduction of marketing and paid advertising in the ad would provide space for more promotional items that customers genuinely care about, not just space filled by a Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturer buying space in the ad. This would also mean that items being featured in the ad would be more valuable and more appealing to those same CPGs.