One of our KSTUDIO blog covers lost the tip of a paddle at the edge. The full image contained the object; the crop used by the page removed part of it.

The immediate correction concerned the picture. The useful instruction for the next brief concerned the place where the picture would be seen. We recorded a margin rule for those covers, so that meaningful edges would have room to survive the blog crops.

A number in a layout guide still leaves a question: what is that margin meant to protect? A short decision note keeps the answer beside the next piece of work.

The filled note

Observation: The blog page crop cut off the paddle tip.

Boundary: This was a static KSTUDIO cover. It tells us about that display problem, not advertising performance.

Decision: Keep the meaningful edges of the object within the area that remains visible.

Next version: Leave enough background around the object for the intended blog placements.

Check: Preview the exported cover in the blog card and article layouts. Confirm that the object remains complete.

This note gives the next designer an outcome to inspect. It also explains why copying a margin from another image is not the whole task: the objects and their positions may differ.

There is a design tradeoff to resolve. More background can leave the subject looking small. The next composition therefore needs both an intact object and a clear subject at the size people will actually see.

The same method, a different video check

For a video brief, we would carry over the structure of the note and test the moving image separately. An object can begin inside a safe area and reach the edge later. The proposed check would follow its movement through the intended crop, including those edge frames.

That is an application to test. Our static cover does not establish a video result or a performance improvement.

A blank note for your next brief

Observation: what did you actually see?

Boundary: which material or situation does that observation cover?

Decision: what should change because of it?

Next version: where will the change appear?

Check: what will you inspect to judge the change?

Check the next file

Put the next image through our free Static Ad Check, then record the issue and the decision it leads to. For our blog cover, the actual blog layout remains a separate check.

Open Static Ad Check.

Also available: Playable Checker, Video Ad Check, Static Ad Check.