Ads perish right at the start because, at one extreme, they just lie there on the page, flat and gray, and at the other extreme, they are cluttered, noisy and hard to read. Obviously, the more pertinent the picture, the more arresting the headline, the more informative the copy appears to be, the better. Often, an ad is the first meeting place of two parties looking for each other. Within the framework of the layout, the art director's job is to visualize, illuminate and dramatize the selling proposition. And the art director must take into consideration the fact that the type of job a reader has dictates the selection of the illustrative material.
Design engineers work with drawings.
Construction engineers like to see products at work. Chemical engineers are comfort able with flow charts. Managers relate to pictures of people. And so on. An ad will be paid attention to only if readers are given reason to expect that if they continue on, they will learn something of value.