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Ten
This month I want to continue, and complete my explanation of the rules
for writing adverts which pull in loads of money. Rule
Six: Typefaces & Graphics
The advert should contain no more
than five different sizes of type, and no
more than three different typefaces. Now like all 'rules', this one is not
hard and fast. Again, I can think of occasional exceptions. But in general, you won't go too far wrong if you stick to the
underlying rationale behind this rule. The thing we are trying to avoid is that
nightmarish tangle of different sizes, faces and colours (in colour adverts)
which 'arty' people think looks so pretty. It might look pretty, but it
sure as hell cuts down response - sometimes dramatically.
You see, it is not, repeat NOT your object in life to make your
advert aesthetically or visually 'appealing'. This is completely irrelevant to
the SOLE AIM of the advert which is: To
Sell Product..
You are not trying to win the
Queen's award for the 'nicest looking advert' or the Royal College of Art award
for the most creative use of unusual typefaces. You are trying to sell
product.
Now then, how do you think people react to these 'arty' adverts? Is it: A. "Hey
WOW. This is the most visually appealing advert I've ever seen, man. I love the
way he's used that purple typeface
on a slant. It contrasts perfectly with the subtle shade of lemon yellow he's
used for the subheading. The whole thing seems to counterpoint the underlying
metaphor behind the universe. I think I'll definitely buy that fold away
picnic table he's selling." OR: B. "In
the three seconds I decided to give this advert whilst flipping through this
magazine, I could not see a strong, black and white headline and subheading
which caught my eye and made me want to read the rest of the advert. So I
decided to turn the page. Pretty, though."
No prizes for guessing which is correct.
You see, in order to sell your
product, nine times out of ten you have to get the punter to actually read
something, even if it's only a simple headline and description of the product.
For books and tapes (etc.), you want them to read quite a lot of text. Again,
let me ask you something. You're a reader, aren't you? You read stuff all the
time. Now which of these two items would you find easier to read? Which would
cause you less strain? A. A coloured headline, in some unusual typeface, set at
a crazy angle - say forty-five degrees, with a subhead in a totally different
typeface and different colour, set at another 'jaunty' angle. B. A bold, clear, common typeface in large black
characters set straight horizontally.
Hmm, I can't possibly imagine
what your answer would be.
Why then, do you think that some advertisers set out deliberately to make
it as hard as possible for you to read
their headlines and copy? It is because these people are stupid, and they allow themselves to be influenced by 'arty'
advertising types to whom a strong black on white headline would be considered
totally boringsville. But then, these artists are not interested in selling
product. It's not their money
which is put on the advert. They are solely concerned with how 'pretty' the
overall advert looks.
They also have a wholly mistaken belief that a jumble of typefaces, a
riot of colours, jaunty angles for headlines, star-bursts all over the place and
a whole portfolio of clever-clever graphics will make the advert stand out on
the page. They are partly right. It can make the advert 'stand-out', but it
doesn't make people read it and buy from it. In fact it achieves the exact
opposite. Copycats
Advertisers are great copycats. If they see their competitors advertising
in a certain style, then they will just copy
this style. That makes two
advertisers. The third one comes along and sees that two other people are
advertising in a similar style, and so he thinks: "That
must be the way to produce these type of adverts. I'd better copy
them." So a third advert appears. And a fourth and a fifth. Suddenly
you have a whole magazine-full of almost identical adverts, and so the
eye-catching appeal which the artists were striving for is completely diluted.
And, of course, the adverts are still hard to read and a strain on the eyes.
If you want a really excellent example of this, then go out and buy a
copy of Penthouse, or Mayfair magazine. This
is purely for information and learning purposes, of course. No, seriously,
these magazines contain an excellent example of the sort of thing I am talking
about. If you turn to the back pages you will find about ten full colour pages
of adverts for '0898' sex-lines. Take a look at these adverts. They are all an
incredible riot of colours, typefaces and graphics. Some are almost impossible
to read because they have used coloured type on a coloured background. When I
advertise in these magazines (full-page, black text only on white background,
Midas book), my advert positively LEAPS OFF THE PAGE at you. It is a blessed
relief to read my advert after that jumble of colours and typefaces. My
advert is like an ocean of sanity in a crazy, psychedelic sea.
Here are some of the 'artistic sins' to avoid at all costs: Reverse-Out:
This
is a block of white text on a black background, like this: For
examples of this, take a look at the Sun or Mirror newspaper under 'loans'.
For some reason unknown to me (but probably the simple 'copycat' symptom), the
loan-sharks (sorry,....finance consultants) really seem to like setting their entire
adverts in reverse-out. Don't ask me why. It has been proved time and again that
reverse-out is very hard to read, and so people quite simply don't read it. Personally, I have a golden rule never
to use reverse-out. But it can be used in very small doses (if you really want
to) for a large, short headline. Say, one or two words maximum. But never,
never, never set body text in reverse-out. This is a sure-fire way of ensuring
that people don't read it. It typically takes you twice
as long to read a paragraph in reverse-out, than it does to read the same
paragraph set in black text on white background. This is because it is a real
strain on the eyes and brain.
As I say, take a look at some of those loan-adverts. Jaunty
Angles: Again, I have a rule never to set any text on an angle. There are some
small exceptions to this rule which I use occasionally, but this is only for
very small sections of text (typically a word or two, or a price) and I use this
technique sparingly.
For the beginner, you will not go too far wrong by following the rule of
setting all of your text on a horizontal line. Why? Because text set on angle is incredibly hard to read, that's why.
What on earth can be the point of making it hard
for someone to read your sales message? There is no point - no point at all.
Please kill any notions you might have about 'motivated punters'. This is
the (totally incorrect) notion that if you make it hard for the punter to
read your text, then they will concentrate and go to great lengths (rotating the
paper, etc.) to make sure that they read your sales message. This is complete rubbish. It is also dangerous rubbish if you try this stunt in one of your adverts. You
see, let me explain again that the average punter either devotes NO TIME AT ALL
to your advert (i.e. he doesn't even glance at it), or they devote about three
seconds of poor quality time (i.e. simply skimming, not concentrating) on
your advert. Three seconds is barely more than a glance. If they see text at an
angle, they will not, repeat NOT be motivated to rotate the newspaper or
switch-in the extra concentration required to decode your cryptic message. Colours:
This will not apply to you until you place your first colour advert, but I want
to warn you about the incorrect use of colours. This is a big subject, but
perhaps I can summarise the main problem that people run into. Just because the
magazine is a 'colour' mag, it doesn't mean that your advert has to be a riot of
colour. In fact, if you want a hot tip, then it is this: Because the whole of
the rest of the magazine (particularly the adverts) are a crazy nightmare of
technicoloured graphics, you can gain enormous benefits by setting your advert in
simple black text on a white background.
This is what I do when I advertise my Midas book in a colour supplement.
I have a simple, full-page text advert, black on white. No colour at all. I tell
you, that advert really stands out, and,
of course, it is easy to read. I would not create an advert purely to make it
stand out. It just so happens that by using black text only, my advert stands
out, and is the easiest advert to read in the whole magazine.
As I say, take a look at Penthouse or Mayfair, and you will see some
horrendous examples of the poor use of colour. It is a well known fact that text
set in colour is much harder to read than text set in black. This is because the
colour receptors in the eye are less sensitive than the monochrome receptors. If
you want a demonstration of this, then go into a dim room and notice how all
colours disappear and everything goes black and white. This is because the
insensitive colour receptors are not getting enough light to trigger them.
In a nutshell, it's more of a strain to read coloured text than it is to
read black text on white background. It's more of a strain to read reverse-out
and it's more of a strain to read text set at an angle. I hope you are getting
the idea. When you come to design your first colour advert (for a product other
than books etc.), then the point of using the colour medium is so that you can
put in a good colour photograph of the product. This is the only reason. Most
products look totally naff in black and white. So use the colour for the
photograph. Then set almost all of the rest of the text in black. You can use a
little colour here and there, say a bold red for the price, but actually, I lean
very heavily towards using black text everywhere.
Finally, the ultimate horror of horrors is to use coloured text on a
(different) coloured background. Don't do it. I will keep coming back to this
theme - take a look at some adverts and ask yourself what you find easy and hard
to read. Don't worry about what you think looks 'pretty' or 'nice'. Ask yourself
how easy it is to read the text. This
is the real test. Mixed
Typefaces: Don't mix typefaces within
a sentence, as this makes the sentence extremely hard to read.
I just don't know why people do this. It is
almost as though they are setting out to ensure that their advert draws the
minimum response - preferably NIL. Again,
it is tritely obvious that if you mix too many typefaces (that's
the style of type) and point sizes (that's
the size of the letters), then it
is extremely confusing and fatiguing for the eye.
This
is obvious, surely? The effect is, surprise, surprise,
to make it a strain for people to read your message.
I've
counted as many as TEN different sizes and faces in one, simple
20 x 3 advert before now. Incredible, but true.
As a general rule, do not swap typefaces within a block of text, no
matter how long or short that block of text is in length. Also, don't have more
than three (preferably two) different typefaces in any one advert. Finally,
don't have more than four or five different point sizes in any one advert. Five
might sound like a lot, but it isn't really. You have the heading, the
subheading and the body text; that's three. Then you need a smaller size for the
stuff that goes at the bottom of the coupon (sent under plain cover, company
registration number, etc.) so that only leaves one spare.
Obviously, within a block of text you can have words highlighted in bold,
like this, or words in italic, like
this. These are not different typefaces, they are part of the repertoire of
a single typeface. Finally, one small hint. I like to have a 'dropped capital'
as the first letter of my body text. This is a larger than normal letter, and it
helps to draw the reader into the text. It's the sort of thing they have for the
'O' in 'Once upon a time' children's stories. Rule
Seven: Don't Get Clever.
The most successful adverts are often the most simple in concept. We've
already covered a lot of this ground in the previous section, because 'clever'
often means 'arty'. By the way, I have absolutely nothing against artists. I
employ them regularly to design book jackets and course materials. I just don't
think they are the right people to involve in adverts which actually have to
sell something, rather than adverts which are supposed to 'raise corporate
awareness' or some other intangible.
So the general rule is KISS, or Keep It Simple, Stupid.
I guess the kind of thing I'm trying to warn you against is making your
headline an anagram (don't laugh, I've seen it.), or making your headline
totally cryptic, with no reference to the product you're selling. This is 'word
art' and is as poisonous as 'graphic art'. I'm sure you know the sort of thing.
If you're selling a hedge trimmer, you decide to make your main headline: CLICK,
CLICK, WHIRR, or some other such nonsense. Or if you're selling washing
powder, your headline is: Mrs Grady's
Tried It. This type of nonsense is rife
within the clever-clever advertising world. Take a look at some billboard
posters. With at least ten percent of them, the
product is not even mentioned. The company name is not even mentioned and
you often haven't the remotest idea of
what it is they are trying to say, or sell. Some advertising agency will have
received hundreds of thousands of pounds for designing these 'campaigns'.
I also think it is better not to try and be humorous in an advert. The
reason for this is that 50% of people don't have a sense of humour of any
description (even though 100% of people claim to have one.), and of those who do
have a sense of humour, only a few are likely to share your particular type of
wit. Also, humour, by definition, is non-serious. It
is very dangerous to project a non-serious image of your company at any time.
I saw a classic example of this recently in a small ads section of the local
newspaper. It was for a local plumber, offering his services. Okay, he wasn't
selling books, but the same principle applies. The advert went something like
this:
JOE THE PLUMBER: Burst pipes?
Leaky taps? Call me before you try the rest of the crowd. I'll be round before
you put the 'phone down (well, give me half an hour). Available 23 hours a day
(I've got to sleep sometime.). Guaranteed the best plumber in town (my Mum
thinks so, anyway). Tel: 123 456789
Actually, it's not a bad attempt for an amateur. But I think you see what
I mean about the 'non-serious' image he is projecting. You get this image of a
cheery, whistling sort of bloke, who'll smile, chat, have a cup of tea, bodge
your plumbing and then laugh it off as 'just one of those things' before wending
his merry way to the next job.
I made a similar mistake with a scheme called The Midas Calculator. I
won't bore you with the details here, but you probably remember seeing the
leaflet. I believe it failed largely because of the humorous approach taken in
the sales material. Moral: Avoid humour. Rule
Eight: Always 'Close' The Sale.
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