A GRAPHICS LESSON

July 8, 2008 Blog

Summer has been very busy and I haven't written many blogs lately. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so this should make up for the blogs I didn't write. I took most of these pictures myself, so they can be considered my "words" - and I don't need permission to publish them here.

LESSON ONE

Graphics are useful to accentuate an important message or to help clarify something that is unclear. I will illustrate this truth using an advertisement which I received last week.

Graphic designers know to make the most important information stand out. Note what is placed in large, bold type. The reader should notice immediately that he or she can save a lot of money. This is the most important message and it got my attention. $467.55 is a lot of money to save, so I read the advertisement with interest.

But the graphic designing and advertising department made a couple of mistakes on this ad.

1) Because the sum given in bold print was unusually exact, my curiosity was aroused more than was necessary. Liberty Mutual doesn't know how much I presently pay for insurance, so how can they know - to the cent - how much I can save? I got suspicious.

 

2) That caused me to read the small print. Small print is not intended to be read. It is used to negate the significance of that which is shown in large print and the small print in this ad certainly accomplishes that. But the "small print" is not nearly small enough. Even a senior citizen like me can easily read it.

LESSON TWO

It is a proven fact that people pay more attention to symbols than to words. There are several reasons for this. Many can't read and write. Even American high school and college graduates are often illiterate. They do text messaging using smileys and other symbols. Another reason is that there are so many foreigners in the country who can't speak English, let alone read it. A third reason for the popularity of symbols is that it takes much less effort and time to recognize and understand a symbol.

This sign is a good example of the combined use of words and symbols. Because many customers of this Shop Rite store complained about getting lost on the parking lot, the manager had a helpful sign made with lots of arrow symbols. They neglected to paint the yellow, blue and black arrows on the asphalt, however, so we still got lost.

LESSON THREE

Unfortunately, the proliferation of symbols has a down side - no one notices them anymore. In fact, they are often treated as decoration.

My computer screen has dozens of pretty symbols (called icons) on it. I only use a few of them regularly, but they make an attractive wallpaper.

There are so many red and white stop signs along the highway that old-timers like me wonder if the Burma Shave signs are back. If you have read one stop sign, however, you've read them all. Stop signs are not as interesting as Burma Shave signs were, but they do add some color to the landscape without distracting drivers talking on their cell phones. Stop signs are so much a part of the scenery, that many people overlook them and cause accidents. The highway department had to invent 4-way stops in hopes that at least one of the vehicles will stop.

It is the same with symbols on packages. Those arrows and broken glass symbols are merely decorative to the people who handle them.

We also had trouble exiting this ice cream parlor on Route 47 in Blackwood, NJ. The symbols are obviously decorative in nature.

LESSON FOUR

Really effective advertising no longer uses graphics. Many TV ads are now simply entertaining video clips, the most popular of which can be watched on YouTube.

Using interesting words to attract customers is also becoming quite popular and this method of advertising may even induce students and illegal aliens to learn English. The old Burma Shave signs were ahead of their time.

Here is an example of this trend from Austria

Enjoy your summer and pay attention!