Illustrations
Illustrations in advertising
An advertising illustration- or photograph – is simply a picture symbolizing what a product or service can mean to the reader. Its main purpose is to help the reader understand what the advertisement is saying or to elicit a desired emotion. It works hand in hand with the headline and can save a lot of words in the body copy.
While an illustration can be beautiful, it must not serve merely as a work of art. It can be amusing, but must not seek merely to entertain. Its role is to decrease the mental effort required of the reader and to clarify the meaning of what you are saying in the advert.
Like the headline, illustrations carry an enormous responsibility in making an advertisement work. They help gain the favourable attention of the reader, and lure him into the rest of the advertisement. Too often, advertisements fail simply because advertisers assume people will read the text of their advertisements. They have to be enticed into reading, and that’s where the illustration supports a good headline.
Guidelines for illustrations
- An illustration must have story-telling value PLUS help spell out the benefit contained in your product.
- If there is more than one illustration, the major one must team with the headline.
- A relevant background helps an illustration. A motor dealership advertising a 4×4 vehicle will have far more impact if the vehicle is illustrated against hilly ground than a static drawing or a photograph taken in front of the dealership’s premises.
- Small illustrations should work very hard. Technical products often need more than one illustration, and these are used to provide additional information.
- Cartoons can be effective. Provided they are relevant, they can tell a story quickly and easily. The best way to test their use is to study the advertisement with the text covered.
- Symbolic illustrations are seldom effective. Four-leaf clovers for luck, piggy banks for thrift … these have very little impact on readers.
- Rectangular illustrations gain more impact than square ones — especially when their size is small.
Recommended Reading
- marketing
- Format
- Checklist
- Positioning an Advertisement
- Colour in adverts
- Advert Size
- Advertising Frequency
- Advertising Snipes
- Headlines
- Advertising Basics
- Advertising Copy
