For the illustration, should you possess the ability to execute a water color or pen drawing of sufficient merit to place before the public, well and good; otherwise, do not attempt it; a poor drawing will not improve your card.
Among the monthly trade journals can be found any number of very artistic designs, which may be cut out, pasted on a card and placed in position back of the small opening. If this is done with proper care, it will be almost impossible to detect the deception through the window, and the drawing will have the appearance of being made expressly for that card.
In the larger opening, place your wording in small, neat letters.
The panels can be made any desired size—the ones shown here are 12 × 15 outside, the large opening is 6 × 8 inches, the small one 4 × 8 inches.
LETTERING.
Before going further into technical instructions, it may be well to explain the various styles of letters, and the uses for which they are required. It is always best to use one general style of lettering for all your cards, as the cards thus become identified with your establishment and form a sort of trade mark which people quickly recognize. What style of letter you adopt depends much upon your own taste and the skill and facility you acquire in making any certain letters. While each of the styles shown in this article has its special use, any one of them may be adapted for your work.
The letters and sample cards have all been drawn by William Lee Jukes, who is acknowledged one of the leading card writers of America. He has given us every useful style of letter known to the craft.
DE VINNE STYLE OF LETTERING.
But bear in mind that a plain, stylish, characteristic letter is the best—something that people will read without noting the letter itself, that will enable them to understand what the card says, without stopping to realize whether the letter itself is well or poorly executed. That is the acme of perfection in card writing. An illegible card loses all its intended effect. A poorly executed card makes people notice that it is not well done. A fancy card calls attention to the card itself and induces the reader to forget what the card says. You don’t want to show what a fancy card you are able to execute—at least the business firm that employs you doesn’t care a rap for your skill. But you do want to impress a fact concerning your goods upon the minds of a possible customer. Therefore, strive to make a neat card, a modest card, and at the same time one attractive enough to arrest the attention and induce people to read what it says.