AT&T?s Art Director Gets a D+
January 3rd, 2006 by Bob Bly
I was reading the Daily News today and came across a 2-page spread that is part of AT&T?s new global positioning campaign.
The headline is in small blue type. The body copy is in reverse, in tiny white type. Both are on a black background.
Using reverse type in body copy, at best a risky proposition in magazine advertising, is a deadly sin in newspaper advertising.
Reason: the ink spreads more on the cheaper newsprint paper, encroaching into the white letters, and making the body copy almost unreadable.
I am sure that AT&T uses a big Madison Avenue ad agency to handle their advertising — and it is amazing to me that a professional art director on Madison Avenue does not know this simple design principle.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2006 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Advertising, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 4th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
Bob,
It’s that same old story: “Pretty is as pretty does.”
All too much advertising is created to impress the client (or the writer/designer’s friends). Give me an old buckeye ad that sells anytime!
That’s what we’re hired for… to sell.
January 5th, 2006 at 9:21 am
Bob,
Any devotee of Colin Wheildon’s “Type and Layout” book will know that reversed type significantly lowers reader comprehension.
Wheildon states in his book, “Participants in these tests of text printed in reverse reported a form of light vibration, similar to, but worse than, that encountered when text was printed in high intensity colors. This vibration seemed to make the lines of type move and merge into one another. Eighty percent [of participants] reported this phenomenon.”
Comprehension level for black text printed on white:
Good 70%; Fair 19%; Poor 11%
Comprehension level for white text printed on black:
Good 0%; Fair 12%; Poor 88%
As I tell my clients, if they can’t read your copy, then they’re not buying your products.
Dianna Huff
January 25th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
In any media the last thing we want is to lose our reader or listener because the message is hard to read or hear. This can all too quickly lead to “No sale”.
We see this black background with small white letters on some Web sites too. It’s just as bad there.
Most times the simple, straightforward and clear message is more effective than the fancy one.
May 3rd, 2006 at 3:17 pm
Every day I see magazine ads, signs in front of buildings, magazine articles, and more, that are designed by people who clearly don’t have a clue how their “artwork” will be seen in its real-life environment.
What surprises me most is that people actually get paid to create all of these inferior things. Doesn’t anyone critique the work being done?
My philosophy is that if you can’t read it easily, it’s useless.
May 21st, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Grand emplacement! La conception est merveilleuse!
May 24th, 2007 at 5:35 am
La buona visione del senso!
May 24th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I’ll be BACK! 🙂 😉
May 24th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
free hard core porn reality sites
free hard core porn reality sites
May 27th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Interfaccia comoda, colori piacevoli, buoni!
May 27th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Guter Aufstellungsort, ja!
May 27th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Interfaccia comoda, colori piacevoli, buoni!
May 27th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Interesting comments.. 😀
May 29th, 2007 at 12:02 am
Was kann ich sagen? Wirklich gute Arbeit erledigt mit dem Aufstellungsort?
May 29th, 2007 at 7:25 am
cucumber sex toy
cucumber sex toy
May 29th, 2007 at 9:13 am
fattest pussy in the world
fattest pussy in the world
June 4th, 2007 at 5:28 am
Great site! Good luck to it’s owner!
June 25th, 2007 at 5:47 am
asian divx porn free
asian divx porn free
June 25th, 2007 at 7:58 am
pictures of big cocks in gay men
pictures of big cocks in gay men
June 25th, 2007 at 10:04 am
grey couch naked blonde
grey couch naked blonde
June 28th, 2007 at 11:30 am
big penis shemale
big penis shemale
July 1st, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I cannot completely commit to Camp 1 as I do think there are times, and situations, where users have to take responsibility for their own choices. For example, if someone choses to remain on dialup when higher speed connections are available, and within their reach, I do not think I should be obliged to design with their free choice in mind. If they choose to stay with an older browser rather than upgrade, why should I have to take that into account? To do so would constrain design and possibly compromise the experience of others for no good reason. http://www.managehairloss.com
July 2nd, 2007 at 8:54 am
free black gay galleries
free black gay galleries
July 8th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
hot local blondes available
hot local blondes available
July 9th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
girl piss in
girl piss in
July 12th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
jill kelly porn star galleries
jill kelly porn star galleries
September 6th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
the movie triple xxx
the movie triple xxx