Example [389].—Few printers have seen a department-store advertisement just like this one. It does not contain the name of the advertiser, and there is practically no display. It looks more like a story in a general magazine. A few circular illustrations are so placed as to relieve the monotony of the columns of text, and a decorative piece is placed on both sides of the heading. The page is also made interesting by the use of space between paragraphs.
EXAMPLE 391
A good-looking page advertisement that was easily read
EXAMPLE 392
Typography and shape of this four-column advertisement suggested by the architecture of the tall building pictured
Example [390] (Insert).—The most difficult copy to arrange well is probably that supplied country newspapers by their advertisers. There is seldom much to the copy, and it is almost always necessary to use display unsupported by the solid paragraphs of text that soften the contrast in advertisements that appear in city dailies. Here are four advertisements different in size and representative of small-town business. Some one has urged that fancy borders be not used in the small-town newspaper, and that the rules for borders be the same thruout. This advice is probably wrong, as it was tried in this instance and the effect was found to be monotonous and uninteresting. The same rule border is used around each advertisement, but to obtain contrast an additional rule has been added to the coal advertisement and a holiday border and another rule to the general-store advertisement. These slight variations in border treatment add a great deal of interest to the page. Each advertiser is entitled to an individual hearing, and this is only possible when there is some distinct feature found in his advertisement alone. In the city newspapers each department store usually has a distinctive type-face which appears in no other advertisement. In the small-town newspaper it may not be possible for the publisher to render such service, but an effort in the same direction can be made by varying the border treatment. The type-faces used in this example are Bodoni and Bodoni Bold. With the use of the Bold, emphasis is given at proper points in each of the four advertisements. In the largest one it is used for the name of the firm, in the smallest one it sets forth the name of the café, and in the other two advertisements it emphasizes the name of the business. There may be another way to arrange the names of the articles in the general-store advertisement, but it is doubtful if any other arrangement would make reading easier. Typographers who are inclined to treat lightly the problems of the small-town printer should attempt to improve these advertisements.
EXAMPLE 393
A page in which attractive typography was possible in spite of a long list of agents
Example [391].—The style of treatment of this trade-journal advertisement is influenced to some extent by the article advertised, yet there is no reason why this treatment would not be suitable for many advertisements of another kind. The heavy-and-light-line rule border is of a darker tone than the type page and for this reason adds color and interest. There is sufficient blank space between the border and type matter to allow for the text being read without interference. The capitals in the headings are letterspaced, the letterspacing not only giving them character, but making them more legible. The text matter is introduced with an initial that extends upward from the first line instead of downward as most initials are placed. This advertisement is of the conversational style, arranged for easy reading.
Example [392].—Some one has decreed that text types shall not be used in advertisements, but fortunately those responsible for the planning of this advertisement paid no attention to the decree. The advertisement was inserted in newspapers for the purpose of calling attention to the new building in the Gothic style of architecture erected for the Hampton Shops. Any one who has studied the details of a Gothic structure such as this or the Woolworth Building has felt the influence of the long, narrow lines found in Gothic architecture. The shape of this advertisement and the thin, pointed character of the text type used are in splendid harmony with the general idea.