Pic­tures in adver­tis­ing are very expen­sive. Not in cost of good art work alone, but in the cost of space. From one-​​third to one-​​half of an adver­tis­ing cam­paign is often staked on the power of the pic­tures. Any­thing expen­sive must be effec­tive, else it involves much waste. So art in adver­tis­ing is a study of para­mount importance.

Pic­tures should not be used merely because they are inter­est­ing. Or to attract atten­tion. Or to dec­o­rate an ad. We have cov­ered these points else­where. Ads are not writ­ten to inter­est, please or amuse. You are not writ­ing to please the hoi-​​polloi. You are writ­ing on a seri­ous sub­ject — the sub­ject of money spend­ing. And you address a restricted minority.

Use pic­tures only to attract those who may profit you. Use them only when they form a bet­ter sell­ing argu­ment than the same amount of space set in type.

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I was in the process of updat­ing the side­bar links, but was a lit­tle con­fused as to what exactly would peo­ple pre­fer, and what would make them nav­i­gate this site more effec­tively to help them find con­tent they seek. Then I got thinking…

Why not ask you, my dear read­ers, directly? So I cre­ated a poll (see the top of this post) that asks the ques­tion, “What links would you like to see on the side­bar?” Please choose your answer.

To view the entire poll, just hover your mouse over the arrows. If your answer is “other,” could you please spec­ify by reply­ing and post­ing a com­ment, below? Thanks.