The Meeker herald., 1912-02-03
]Ad,,ertisii,,g
| Talks.
STYLE in ADVERTISING
Some Suggestions to Copy Writsrs Oh
Nest Important Advertising
y Topic.

Some Suggestions to Copy Writsrs On
q Nest important Advertising
Topic.
e. v. Cheverton, for several years
connected with the J. Walter Thomp-
son Advertising Agency. and OF late
acting a. advertising counsel to sew
eral firms. was = recent speaker TO =
New York Y. M. c. A. class in adver-
tising. Mr.. Cheverton spoke on style
in Advertising" and Incidentally on
Type" ~
TT 10 very essential" said Mr.. Che
verton. for the ad man to have 2
knowledge OF type and the laws gov
erning the various effects which Its
arrangement produces. The compost
tor may be possessed OF rule of thumb
knowledge and his observation or o.,
perience may have ftted him to turn
out . piece Of work OF creditable ap-
pearance. The ad man, however. has
wider knowledge Of the subject Of
the ad; knows the audience he IL ad-
dressing, the selling points he wishes
to emphasize, and the means BY which
he can best move the reader to action.
Consequently. with his wider knowi.
edge Of the conditions that exist. he
10 better equipped than the compost
tor to select and arrange the type
which u to compose the nd.
I'm considering type. ~ In most
other details Of Advertising, 1t 10 I'M
portant to constantly bear in mind
the twofold purpose which undertiss
all successful advertising. namely. to
attract attention and to move to &C
ton. or the appeal and the Response.
It il also essential to consider the
attitude OF the reader. He IL not
looking for your ad: on the contrary.
hs ID interested in other things. and
your ad can receive confederation
only after his attention has been d.
verted.
This brings US to the necessity OF
display. 1t 10 a mistake to suppose
that display consists merely in the
use OF large type While It is true
that the latter has greater attention
value than small type. 1t Is neverthe-
less fact that clear white space
gives prominence to the ad by reason
Of its exclusion of counter attractions.
the importance OF which 10 easily APP
parent.
white space has the further advan-
tage Of tying the ad together. espe-
lcially II there 10 one or more lines OF
display type In the body Of the I'd.
- these have / tendency to cut the
ad into parts. The advertiser must
carefully consider the ratio Of white
space to printed matter.
| Another element is the attractive
| ness OF the ad, for It IL apparent that
the absence Of this feature will exert
an unfavorable influence on the read
or. and hence reduce attention value.
Too many styles Of typo produce q
lack Of unity in appearances and hence
should be avoided. In these days Of
increasing advertising 1t is not dim
1 cult to find examples Of ads with at
tractive type arrangement. study OF
which Is advisable.
Having secured the readers at
tsntion by means OF q judicious use OF
white space. display type and attrac-
tiveness. It is now necessary to arouse
and hold his interest. This 10 largely
the once OF the copy writer. but here
again wise type arrangement ID I'm
portant. The use Of type that 10 easily
Iegible. preferably with bold face
and leaning, are two means toward
the accomplishment OF this end. 1t
IL advisable to have copy possessing
keen interest. follow the display. or
heading. in order to get the reader
started to reading the ad. This much
being accomplished. he II more likely
to continue reading II the copy, or the
subject treated OF. oners sum cient In
terest.
MANY advertisers err In the choice
of too large body type. II the reader
IL not interested in the sub5sct-matter
Of your ad. 6o-point type will be but
little more eflicacious than that meas
uripg ten points. Rather than waste
space with large body type. It would
be better to increase the white space
and thus give greater prominence to
the entire ad.
short words. sentences and para
graphs are other means OF holding
the attention, because they are more
easily read.
DO not try to have your type ar
rangement perform acrobatic feats
The average reader 10 too busy to dc
cipher matter that In not easily read
Some people seem to think that the
merely unusual is good advertising
Bear In mind that your aim 10 not
merely to attract attention. but also to
move to action. The arrangement OF
words az spokes radfating from hdb
IL bad practice. How many busy men
4 would turn their paper In various d.
rections in order to read such mater
Such display might attract the atten
ton Of few readers. but most PEG
pIs would not read II.
Another error frequently met with
| .. ,,uru,aI dinolay doyold of Inherent