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ILLUSTRATION 
 IN ADVERTISING 
 
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 "MsQraw^^ill Book (h Jne 
 
 PUBLISHERS OF BOOKS F O B^_/ 
 
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ILLUSTRATION 
 
 IN 
 
 ADVERTISING 
 
 BY 
 
 W. LIVINGSTON LARNED 
 
 Vice President and Art Director in Chief of the Ethridge Company. 
 
 First Edition 
 Second Impression 
 
 McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, Inc. 
 NEW YORK: 370 SEVENTH AVENUE 
 
 LONDON: 6 & 8 BOUVERIE ST., E. C. 4 
 
 1925 
 
Copyright, 1925, by the 
 McGraw-Hill Book Company-, Inc. 
 
 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMEHICA 
 
 THE MAPLE PRESS COMPANY, YORK, PA. 
 
If l^^-l 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 This book is intended as a helpfully constructive treatise on 
 the use of Art to increase the effectiveness of Advertising. It 
 will be of special interest to the advertising manager, the adver- 
 tising copy-writer and the artist, as well as to business executives 
 who direct their own advertising campaigns. 
 
 Art in advertising cannot be separated from advertising copy 
 nor from the advertising problem, as a whole. In the present 
 book, an attempt is made to consider advertising illustrations 
 in their relation to copy, to the product, to the market and to 
 the psychology of the consuming public. 
 
 While the author has spent a life-time in this one field, he 
 cannot claim a completely authoritative knowledge of the 
 science of advertising illustration. Opinions still differ widely 
 as to what is good and what is bad and, consequently, the per- 
 sonal viewpoint is inevitable. 
 
 Certain fundamentals there are, however, which can, and 
 should be, looked upon as almost inflexible, and no apologies are 
 here made for such emphasis as has been placed upon them. 
 They are the children of experience. 
 
 The book discusses advertising illustration as it is reflected 
 in magazines and newspapers. Outdoor advertising art, direct- 
 mail and trade-periodical problems are not included because 
 these fields present special problems beyond the immediate 
 scope of this volume. 
 
 The very fact that advertisements and illustrations from 
 advertisements segregated from their text, are reproduced, is 
 sufficient evidence of their merit. They were selected for show- 
 ing here, because they represented striking examples of the 
 most modern, the most effective. Each, in itself, is an ''acknowl- 
 edgement," to the finn or the person sponsoring it. 
 
VI PREFACE 
 
 There has been no previous attempt, to our knowledge, to 
 present, in book form, a practical, working resume of demands 
 and fundamentals of modern advertising art. It is believed that 
 the facts herein given will be of a helpful character. 
 
 W. Livingston Larned. 
 New York, 
 January, 1925. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Preface , 
 
 Pagh 
 V 
 
 Chapter 
 
 I. Introduction *■ 
 
 II. Preliminary Sketches ^ 
 
 III. Significance of Composition 12 
 
 IV. Selecting the Illustrative Theme 21 
 
 V. Adapting the Art Medium 26 
 
 VI. Continuity ^'* 
 
 VII. Distinctive Technique for Serialization 43 
 
 VIII. Directing the Eye ^^ 
 
 IX. The Illustration as the Advertisement 64 
 
 X. Illustrative Borders and Mortises 72 
 
 XI. Display Counter Ideas 83 
 
 Xll. Importance of White Areas 91 
 
 XIII. Strategic Use of Black Areas 101 
 
 XIV. The Angle of Perspective. 
 
 109 
 
 XV. The Product in Heroic Size 120 
 
 XVI. Outline Technique 128 
 
 XVII. Glorifying the Homely Product 136 
 
 XVIII. Atmospheric Backgrounds 1"*^ 
 
 XIX. Vignettes ^^3 
 
 XX. Bringing Trade Marks to Life 159 
 
 XXI. Animating the Inanimate 1^8 
 
 XXII. The Attention-compelling Theme 1'6 
 
 XXIII. Suggesting the Product by Inference 185 
 
 XXIV. Negative Illustrations 192 
 
 XXV. Poster Value in the Picture 201 
 
 XXVI. When the Product Dominates 209 
 
 XXVII. Melodramatic Action 215 
 
 XXVIII. Character Study .224 
 
 XXIX. The Human Interest Illustration 233 
 
 XXX. Distinctiveness in Pen Drawings 242 
 
 XXXI. Applications op the Woodcut Technique 255 
 
 XXXII. Half-tone Subjects Interpreted IN Line 67 
 
 XXXIII. Illustrations in Pencil, Crayon and Drybrush . . 272 
 
 XXXIV. Mechanical Shading Methods 282 
 
 XXXV. The Humorous Motif 291 
 
 XXXVI. History as the Subject Material 299 
 
 XXXVI . The Photographic Illustration 
 
 309 
 
 Index ^^^ 
 
 vu 
 
ILLUSTRATION IN 
 ADVERTISING 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Advertisers are periodically called upon to decide whether or 
 not their campaigns shall be illustrated. The most ardent 
 supporters of pictures in advertising will admit that occasions 
 arise and peculiar conditions develop, which call for all-type dis- 
 play. To use illustrations for the sake of "having pictures in the 
 advertisement" is a false premise and folly. Why then, are 
 embellishments employed at all? What functions are obligatory? 
 What useful selling purpose is achieved? 
 
 Every stroke of the pen, eveiy mark of the brush, every artifice 
 of the studio should be employed only as a commercial asset. 
 Advertising is at its lowest ebb when it becomes a colorful luxury. 
 The growth of advertising, phenomenal and spectacular as it has 
 been, is interlocked with the constructive things which it has 
 really accomplished. The most beautiful canvas by the most 
 accomplished painter, inexpertly applied, may be a detriment 
 rather than a force to keep factory wheels humming. 
 
 What has brought about the changed attitude of the advertiser 
 himself, generally a hard-headed builder of business empire, as 
 regards the pictorial backdrop of his messages to the public? 
 Time was, when sketches were a thorn in his flesh; a fifty-dollar 
 expenditure for a single illustration was deemed mad extrava- 
 gance. In this generation, thousands of dollars are freely 
 expended — and no questions asked. If there is one thing more 
 emphatically true of modern advertising, than another, it is the 
 steady, improvement of the quality of its embellishments. 
 
 Art, in proportion to its merit — and by this is meant its logical 
 application to the specific selling problem — has proved highly 
 successful. There are too many illuminative signposts along 
 the way, for even the most unimaginative manufacturer to doubt 
 
 1 
 
2 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 the expediency of pictures as a quite logical essential of the 
 average campaign. 
 
 The value of white space is regulated by what is put into it. 
 The page of the periodical is an empty vessel, until hard work 
 coupled with genius, sets it aflame with reader interest. The 
 progress of trade journals has, until recently, been retarded by the 
 old-fashioned idea that because the space was moderate in cost, 
 the quality of its contents need not rise above a restrained level. 
 
 Briefly put, the several objectives of illustrations in advertis- 
 ing are as follows: 
 
 1. To visualize the product, that an advertisement may become a show 
 case, a counter, a store shelf. 
 
 2. To picturize the story of a service performed, its pleasures, its 
 convenience, its profit, its utilitarian advantages. 
 
 3. To whet a desire for the product, either through a reflection of service 
 or through the beauty of appearance. 
 
 4. To provide essential "atmosphere." Products and projects, in them- 
 selves rather commonplace or uninspiring, maj' be made to take on unex- 
 pected aristocracy. 
 
 5. To implant, in the public mind, a consciousness that one product of a 
 class is superior to all others. And here again "atmosphere" is the chief 
 ingredient. 
 
 6. To "humanize" the inanimate. Certain advertised articles seem to 
 demand this artificial stimulus. 
 
 7. To demonstrate an argument or a service visually where words might 
 fail, when unaccompanied by illustrations or by diagrams. 
 
 8. To create that impelling desire on the part of the prospect to read the 
 advertising message, which is inherent in all art. Art embellishment is to 
 advertising what stage scenery and costumes are to drama. 
 
 9. To individualize one campaign from another — a growing necessity 
 where products are widely duplicated and as widely advertised. 
 
 10. To familiarize people with packages, containers, the phj-sical appear- 
 ance of the thing advertised that there may be no consequent confusion. 
 
 11. To bring home, as words could never hope to do, the magnitude, 
 traditions, and institutional functioning of an enterprise. 
 
 12. To make the tie-up more complete between the point of final buyer 
 contact and the advertising which has aroused a desire to purchase. 
 
 13. To supply continuity, thereby solidifying and unifying a progressive 
 series of advertisements. 
 
 14. To put the prospect in a more receptive mental frame of mind, due, 
 in part at least, to skilful play upon emotions. 
 
 15. To dramatize the undramatic. 
 
 16. To influence the dealer — the seller of the goods, whose interest, collab- 
 oration, and enthusiasm are absolutely indispensable. 
 
 17. To make mechanical problems easier of understanding. 
 
 18. To provide a "safey catch" for the careless, indifferent eye, not 
 inclined to read text. 
 
INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 These are the obvious reasons why art is employed in advertis- 
 ing, and each has its scries of complex ramifications. An adver- 
 tising campaign cmi)loys one or many, as fits the particular case 
 The objective of the advertising must be shrewdly analyzed 
 before any decision can be made. 
 
 The contention is advanced that there are innumerable weak- 
 nesses in the popular conception that "illustrations are set to 
 work in advertising fundamentally to catch the eye of the reader." 
 This would imply that the artist's share in the proceedings is no 
 more dignified than that of a flashy banner in front of the big 
 show, and the artist only a casual ballyhoo man, whose usefulness 
 ends when he has caused his public to begin reading the type. 
 The viewpoint is both unfair and untrue. Commercial art is as 
 much a substantial part of the basic selling idea as the most per- 
 suasive text. It most completely and satisfactorily justifies 
 itself when it merges with the fabric of the copy. 
 
 Illustrations which are mere "eye-catchers" are transitory in 
 their results and quite ephemeral. Their service to the campaign 
 should be far more substantial and business-like, and the apology 
 made in favor of such devices loses caste when it is repeatedly 
 demonstrated that an illustration may function doubly, as a 
 selling argument and as a red flag on the optical highway. 
 So slight a theme as a border may be made to do its commercial 
 bit. An ornamental initial letter may well justify the space it 
 occupies. 
 
 When is an advertiser to determine whether his campaign 
 should be illustrated? The deciding factors are as diversified 
 as advertising itself. A manufacturer of automobiles, who 
 advertised in great national weekly, was aware of certain obvious 
 facts. Virtually every other make of car was being advertised 
 in the publication and the visual competition was severe. Pic- 
 torially, the competitive campaigns were notable for the excel- 
 lence of their illustrations. To enter the arena on a basis of 
 display would mean no more than a matching of skill and wits. 
 
 This advertiser desired most of all an individuality so surely 
 stamped upon his page that the advertisements would stand out 
 from the crowd. He did the one thing none of the others wore 
 doing; he used type only, bold, liberally spaced, and straight 
 across from margin to margin. Arguments, boiled down to the 
 uttermost of concentrated salesmanship, permitted this dashing 
 typography. By the elements of difference, it automatically 
 
4 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 attracted attention. Here, indeed, for the time being, at least, 
 was individuality. Illustrations would have been superfluous 
 and would have placed the advertisement in the identical physical 
 category with the rest. It was a temporary expedient, sound in 
 its day, and employed for a definite purpose. It was not an 
 argument against advertising illustrations; instead it was a 
 fundamental idea, used in an extremity. 
 
 Today, illustrating a campaign is a matter of illustrating it 
 distinctively. Pictures possess as much character as individuals. 
 A picture or an illustrative plan, which lacks individuality, is 
 apt to be less effective. 
 
 Competition has driven the sluggard from cover and has forced 
 up the sleeves of the mentally lazy. American advertising art 
 is remarkable for amazing versatility and resourcefulness. If 
 fifty electric vacuum machines are being widely exploited in 
 separate campaigns each one is driven to an under-surface search 
 for something new, both in technique and in the foundational 
 idea. 
 
 The value of this may be read in the necessity for a more 
 profound study of the product, its virtues, its exclusive fea- 
 tures, its embedded selling arguments — attributes less apt to be 
 interchangeable. 
 
 Factors influencing any campaign of illustrations might well con- 
 sider, then, the following objectives, regardless of the product: 
 
 1. The creating of an exclusive physical atmosphere. 
 
 2. An art technique which shall a.ssist in differentiating the campaign. 
 
 3. Possibilities of accumulative interest, due to a serialization of the 
 theme. 
 
 4. Analysis of the popular vogues, fads, and fancies of the public. 
 
 5. If possible, the advancing of an exclusive selling argument. 
 
 6. An eye to pictorial competition, particularly in newspaper space. 
 
 7. Meeting the picturized campaigns of competitors. 
 
 8. Careful study of seasonal influence. 
 
 9. Perfect correlation between text and illustration. 
 
 10. Some indication that the advertising in its pictorial phases is in 
 sympathy with the future aims of the sales department. 
 
 A(lv(Mtising departments are more and more seeking the 
 collaboration and the suggestions of the sales department, 
 although some sharp controversies have taken place on this issue. 
 Ik'causc illustrations comprise such a dominating part of advertis- 
 ing, it is but natural that they should attract the attention of 
 the sales organization and of the retail and wholesale trade, to 
 
INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 whom they are so often presented in broadside form. It is 
 likely that some hint of a policy or reference to a condition 
 which exists "on the road," given by an interested sales manager, 
 will provide the basic theme for a series of illustrations. 
 
 The best evidence of the need of illustrations in an advertising 
 campaign is the reader interest in the text. Is the text strong 
 enough to stand alone? Are the facts which must be given 
 rather dull and technical, when unaccompanied by imaginative 
 pictures? Advertisers sometimes deliberately test this condition 
 by setting an advertisement first in ''cold" tj^pe and by passing 
 it around for review. It is better to use no pictures, than to 
 "drag illustrations in by the heels." The preponderance of 
 illustrated campaigns is evidence of the wisdom of pictures. 
 Every advertiser has a distinct problem of his own. 
 
 Such processes as govern the actual creating of commercial 
 art show the divergence of need and of method. For example, 
 which should come first, picture or text? Which should inspire 
 the other? 
 
 It is by no means an unusual practice for a layout and creative 
 artist to proceed with an entire series of advertisements, so far as 
 his part of the work is concerned, and to turn these over to the 
 writer of the text. It is understood, of course, that a common 
 theme has been settled upon, which has to do with selling policies 
 and company traditions, and that there has been a "marriage of 
 purpose" between copy writer and artist. 
 
 The writer of the text matter is more likely to interpret the 
 commercial aspects of the campaign and to keep in closer touch 
 with production, with markets, and with the public mind of the 
 moment. Artists, if not trained in advertising ways, and unsym- 
 pathetic to the clink of the cash register, might allow their 
 temperaments to run away with them. Commercial illustrations, 
 as a rule, should be drawn in precisely the same spirit which 
 inspires the writer of sales copy. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 PRELIMINARY SKETCHES 
 
 The conditions which surround the acceptance of an advertis- 
 ing schedule are varied. But that conscientious censorship is 
 wise no one wiU question. Advertising is a growth, a blend of 
 many minds. It would appear incredible that any man should 
 possess all of the knowledge which must go into an advertising 
 campaign. 
 
 The advertising man has not, as yet, quite attained the pro- 
 fessional independence of the physician, who is not above asking 
 the opinion of a specialist, on occasion. Advertising is not a 
 thing by and unto itself. It must take into consideration both 
 maiuifacturer and the impressive aggregate of dealers the country 
 over. It is invarial)ly successful when it is unselfish in its 
 relationships with both. 
 
 True, coinplpxities arise when there are too many persons 
 working on the problem. For a mixed group of critics to come to 
 agree upon the merits of a submitted policy is unlikely. Do 
 not ask for criticisms, but for approval and constructive con- 
 sideration. Mankind is pathetically susceptible to the oppor- 
 tunity to criticise. 
 
 l^xpcdiencies which make it easier to secure an acceptance of 
 the artist's work find a place in a book of this character. Few 
 campaigns are independent of official exactions, including com- 
 pany executives, special committees, boards of directors, special- 
 ists, and de|)artnuMit managers who must pass in review upon the 
 project. Advertising asks for censorship, of a kind, that it may 
 fall into no hidden i)itfalls of business practice or of company 
 policy. 
 
 r^xperience has shown that certain methods are best in the 
 handling of preliminaiy-idea sketches. Where the contact is 
 close, layouts shoulil be rough. Make them the same size or of 
 the proportions for which they are scheduled. The advantage 
 of the actual-sized sketch is in the fidelity of its presentation of 
 various units. Copy limitations are set. The correct relative 
 
 6 
 
PRELIMINARY SKETCHES 
 
 Fig. 1. — The artist's first roujj;h skotch, in pencil. Its purpose is to establish 
 composition, the spirit of the lay-out, and disposition of characters. 
 
 Fig. 2. — From the first rough sketch, models are posed, conforming to its 
 composition. This supplies the advertiser with a photographic illustration where 
 copy of this character is preferaljlc. It also proves helpful to the artist in making 
 either line or crayon drawings or a design in color or black and white "wash." 
 
8 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERTISING 
 
 proportions of tho illvist ration are designated. Everything 
 tliat must go into the advertisement, down to headhnes, trade 
 marks, coupons, ete. is plotted in a workmanlike manner. Where 
 rough layouts arc made eonsiderably larger, there is an im- 
 certainty of apportionment, resulting in a final inharmonious 
 assembling. 
 
 Fio. 3. — The finisliod photographic product from posed models. The spirit 
 of the oriKinal pencil layout has been rather faithfully retained. Retouching 
 was necessary in places. 
 
 Illustrations will appear notably different in reduction. They 
 do not live up to the expectations apparent in the large drawing. 
 A composition which, in the preliminary sketch, seemed entirely 
 adequate, bold, and with sufficient carrying power, may shrink 
 to inconse(}uential and weak proportions; and this is not sensed 
 until the proof conies from the engraver. 
 
 The professional "Visualizer" is one who has an appreciative 
 sense of display, and is always mindful of the juxtaposition of 
 illustration to text. He is absolutely fair to both artist and copy 
 
PRELIMINARY SKETCHES 9 
 
 writer; he knows that one will benefit the other in the problem of 
 a well-balanced whole. He is not necessarily an artist; in fact, he 
 is at his best when he has no more than a general knowledge of 
 artistic technique. 
 
 Detail in the preliminary sketch paves the way for criticism. 
 The committee passing upon a campaign will not expect too much 
 of a frankly crude composition sketch, where heads of characters, 
 
 
 J^^ 
 
 i*^^fc^^V.".^~ '. — . 
 
 Fig. 4 — The same subject visualized in skctcliy crajou Imudling for farm 
 journal use, wlierc the paper might not have successfully "taken" a more complex 
 technique. 
 
 in a figure layout, arc designated by circles, and backgrounds are 
 the veriest phantom of a scene. 
 
 The most practical sketch is the one which is frankly tenta- 
 tive. It allows the censor to supply his own ideas and fill 
 in his own detail. Draw a few deft lines and mark across the 
 face of the rendering, "pretty girl" and your censor is at once 
 disarmed; he will see there his personal preference as to feminine 
 beauty. If you were to draw the figure painstakingly he is apt 
 to prefer another type, criticise the hairdressing, or the pose of 
 an arm. A rough sketch should be the first crude representation 
 of form and of spirit. 
 
10 
 
 ILLVSTRATIOX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 Pioneers at the work use thin paper, an onionskin tissue, 
 which, because of its flinisiness, emphasizes the drawing is for 
 basic composition only and is to be judged accordingly. The 
 ostentation of a sketch made on heavy cardboard or on fine 
 {jiiality of bristol prepares the critic for detailed analysis. 
 
 Actual-sized layouts visualize true proportions and are a work- 
 ing chart for typography and other accessories. Moreover, 
 they are incxi^cnsivc to produce. Where such sketches are made, 
 
 Fiu. 5. — Pen and ink interpretation from the photOKraphic base, with certain 
 artistic liberties taken, in order to simi)lify the technique. 
 
 they provide leeway for experiment. A half dozen of them, for 
 the same advertisement, can be turned out at slight cost. The 
 first visulization of an idea may not be the best by any means. 
 Visualizers prefer to "feel their way" for most dramatic pictorial 
 effects. For his own convenience, the artist has files of maga- 
 zine and newspaper sizes, and the tracing paper, placed over 
 them, clearly defines the limitations of each laj'out. 
 
 Occasionally the more elaborate type of preliminary drawing 
 is necessary. Persons lacking imaginations do not grow enthusi- 
 atic over an outline. Size to Ihom is a deciding factor; sheer 
 bulk, pageantry, and elaborate detail alone can make an impres- 
 
PRELIMINARY SKETCHES 11 
 
 sion. At such times, the large working-size prehminary is 
 essential. It serves a useful purpose in an emergency or where 
 the advertiser is a newcomer in the field. 
 
 How it will look when it comes down to the correct propor- 
 tions does not occur to those who demand infinite detail and large, 
 impressive drawings. A blue print or a velox, made actual 
 size from the original might be submitted at the same time, 
 however. 
 
 If an individualistic art technique forms a significant phase 
 of the visualizer's work, he may suggest its use. Wash, color, a 
 combination of wash and pen-and-ink, crayon, charcoal, pencil, 
 etc., however, would be economically impractical in the event 
 layouts are made in large form. 
 
 Rough sketches, or photographic prints, made actual size 
 from large pencil originals, should be mounted in the magazine 
 or in the newspaper in which they are to appear to weigh dis- 
 play values, visual reaction and the power to meet pictorial 
 competition. Any layout will look well when considered as 
 an independent unit. Test it by placing it in its ultimate battle 
 ground. 
 
 It is invariably sensible to suggest the typographical setup; 
 for it must be understood that illustrations are often handicapped 
 by type faces and blocks which are not in harmony with the art. 
 The desired effect may be secured by drawing a series of parallel 
 lines to visualize the weight and position of the reading matter. 
 This relation of type to picture is more intricate than most 
 advertisers imagine. There are niceties of layout which mean 
 an artistic frame for the illustration, and typography which is 
 not suited can nullify the most vigorous art study. 
 
 Current and unnecessary waste in advertising is attributable 
 somewhat to expenditures at the inception of the campaign 
 for large, elaborate "rough sketches" which are not that in 
 fact and which are often immediately rejected for want of 
 appropriateness of idea or of arrangement. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPOSITION 
 
 What may be referred to as "stage direction" is essential to 
 the success of ilhist rated advertisement. Where and how the 
 pictorial units are placed is as vital as the artistic merit of the 
 picture, for the finest work of the most sympathetic talent can be 
 ruined by makeshift composition. 
 
 The name "visualizer" by no means describes the breadth 
 of this specialist's activities, for he correlates the component 
 parts of the layout, such as main ilhistration, secondary pictorial 
 features, reproduction of products, embellished name plates, 
 trade marks, typographical blocks, and borders and areas of 
 white space. He is at once an artist, an expert in typography, 
 an analyst of mental processes and reactions and a business man. 
 He should, among other things, see with the eyes of the average 
 reader of public prints. One of the most serious errors in the 
 preparation of advertising is to lose the perspective of the pros- 
 pect. An advertising man who builds an advertisement to 
 please himself and to satisfy his own vanitj^ and his personal and 
 artistic preferences is, of course, narrowing the selling market of 
 the campaign. The aggressive, large-space modern advertise- 
 ment is more complex than was advertising during the earlier 
 stages of its growth. It is made up of more sceueiy more 
 essential "props," and a larger cast of characters. 
 
 VisuaHzcrs, whothcr so-called or not, " rehearse " this embryo 
 sclUng drama. They study the possibilities of the given white 
 space — the stage, as it weiie — designate the positions of all props, 
 and are dictatorial in matters of both active and passive ingre- 
 dients. The final "full dress rehearsal" is arrived at only after 
 numerous experiments, and expresses itself in a pencil layout 
 which accurately serves as a guide. Although there may be fifty 
 possil)le combinations of the })arts of a display, one, and one alone 
 contributes most to the objective of the message. 
 
 Composition regulates the inherent charm of an advertisement. 
 It sui)plies perfection of balance, the symi)athetic juxtaposition 
 
 12 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPOSITION 
 
 13 
 
 of various units. Composition is a blend of the landscape 
 gardener and the architect, the interior decorator and the 
 hanger of pictures in the salon. It sees to it that illustrations 
 receive their most advantageous settings and that typography 
 is always easy to read, inviting to the eye. Composition, indeed, 
 is a sort of artistic chef, putting in a little of this, a little of that, 
 always in the right proportion. 
 
 Rooms there are which immediately clash upon the artistic 
 sensibilities. Yet exactly the same furnishings, arranged differ- 
 ently and with knowledge, transform the jarring room into a 
 place of genuine beauty. 
 
 Fig. 6. 
 
 Left. — Employing a uniciue trade mark dc\'ice as the composition motif of the 
 page. The peculiar wedge-shape has significance, as it is a part of the adopted 
 signature symbol. This composition is expressive of the reaching out for new 
 forms, new idea.s in the physical plotting of the message. 
 
 Center. — -An all-over i)hotographic illustration, forming a vigorous and color- 
 ful frame for the text space. Note with what artistic care the trade mark 
 seal has been introduced, in perfect harmonious balance. 
 
 Right. — Advertising campaigns often profit by the absence of confining 
 borders, decoratic mortises and formal design. The Cadillac page, one of a 
 series, dispenses with these ingredients and relies wholly upon a perfect adjust- 
 ment of type to illustration. There is shrewd planning, however, in the layout 
 which may not be apparent to the non-technical eye. 
 
 It is not a bad practice to look upon advertising space, as a 
 room, as an estate; and the same principles which hold good with 
 the interior decorator and the landscape gardener are equally 
 true of an advertisement's physical phases. 
 
 Composition, in other words, sets the house in order. Compo- 
 sition finds a suitable place for everything. Composition takes 
 shreds and patches and makes an artistic whole of them. 
 
14 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 The case is recalled of a celebrated manufacturer, who, inter- 
 ested in the advertising of his product, insisted upon personally 
 directing its destiny. He had a way of purchasing elaborate 
 paintings from nationally known artists, and arbitrarily adapt- 
 ing them to campaign needs. But he did not understand com- 
 position. He translated advertising in mere terms of picture and 
 type. As a consequence, his campaigns were neither effective 
 nor profitable. They offended far too many canons of good taste. 
 
 Illustrations which cost as much as one thousand dollars, were 
 submerged in distractions of disturbing layout. It is no wiser to 
 toss type, pictures, trade marks, borders and white space, indis- 
 criminately into an advertising page, than to do the same with 
 furniture in a room. Recently, this manufacturer has been 
 persuaded to allow an expert to plot his advertisements, and 
 while the identical ingredients are there, the new program has 
 received wide commendation. 
 
 Knowledge of composition is by no means a common gift. 
 Some persons appear to be born with it; their eyes and their minds 
 instinctively turn to form, color, and niceness of arrangement. 
 They are architects of tj^pe, pictures, and white paper. Anj^hing 
 which is not artistic rasps and irritates them. 
 
 Others are compelled to arrive at the same conclusion by the 
 circuitous route of experiment. They know when a certain 
 composition is altogether pleasing and adequate, but are not in a 
 position to achieve it imerringly, at the first trial. The student 
 of advertising composition may ask, "But how am I to master 
 this apparently subtle and intricate art if it is so elusive? By 
 what method may it be attained?" 
 
 Those entirely unfamiliar with the technique of advertising 
 design, the masses, arc nevertheless peculiarly responsive to 
 correct form, composition, meritorious layout. They fed it, 
 without definite knowledge of its operations. This is one of 
 Nature's wise dispensations. Broadly speaking, it may be 
 explained in the basis that nature is inherently artistic. The 
 world around us has a way of falling into unconsciously pleasing 
 compositions. A thousand miles of woodland may not show a 
 false note. Thus, the public's eye is somewhat pre-trained. 
 
 The poorly and faultily composed advertisement repulses, 
 although i)cople may not understand why. The artistic arrange- 
 ment attracts in the same manner. In a recent interesting 
 experiment, two advertisements of related subjects and of the 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPOSITION 
 
 15 
 
 ,^j>.Jt^^J^ 
 
 In all the 
 35 years 
 
 
 Fig. 7. 
 
 Upper Left. — Tradition has it that the picture should have top position in a 
 layout, because its sphere is to create that initial desire to read the message. In 
 an entire series, this advertiser successfully reverses the order. 
 
 Upper Right. — A series featuring panel for text, surrounded by illustration, 
 on the theory that the composition tends to lead the eye into the selling message. 
 
 Lower Left. — ^Revolutionary but with many points in its favor, not the least 
 of which is its power to attract the eye due to freedom from conventional 
 forms. Advertising welcomes the composition pioneer. 
 
 Lower Right. — A postery, even sensational scheme of layout, useful occasion- 
 ally when an important illustration and brief text are to be boldly featured. 
 
16 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 same proportions were submitted to thirty-five men and women. 
 The audience was composed of average persons. One of the 
 displays was fine as to composition, the other faulty, although 
 l)oth were illustrated by the same competent artist. The 
 vote was overwhelmingly for the meritorious composition. But 
 when asked why the advertisement was selected in preference to 
 the other, it could not be explained. It was an intangible attrac- 
 
 For its Beauty — 
 your skin needs quick, simple cleansing 
 
 FMUC UH a Cam MX 
 
 IVORY SOAP 
 
 W---". P\-llt IT flOATS 
 
 •■■■■■■r 
 
 ■ ■n»aal 
 
 III 
 
 SEW! Qiieit IVORY 
 
 -MkA 
 
 
 Fio. S. — An cxamiilc of the "editorial style" of composition and make-up; 
 with little iiKliviflual fragments of text and illustration so placed as to form an 
 interesting whole. There are exponents of this school, and another group 
 equally certain that interest is too severely scattered. Advertising, however, 
 has room for all. 
 
 tion. One intrigued and invited and retited the human eye; the 
 other antagonized it by flagrant violations of the laws of 
 balanced composition. 
 
 There are several accepted practices in relation to experi- 
 mental work. One of these, and by far the best, is to assemble 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPOSITION 
 
 17 
 
 Gold! 
 
 - in your telephone 
 
 iVestern Electric 
 
 HiipmobiU" 
 
 M3LER COLLEGIAN 
 
 C L O T H E S 
 
 *idtfr splicing "1 iht htit|.Hi»; iln «» 
 
 r^Hi-icrt; ihr tnhcr btc hall «> U .). 
 
 (pmcni*; arc tvrtuiiil* «cll-dist>iu>t 
 
 "i> \Jicr ( >>M«didn nxHlcI ... IK 
 
 , -,.,1 th.tt anv i.i^n can «car «Hti 
 
 1 Mrt^r iliMt tUc «:«i o( his tl'-tli 
 
 I. lU ill acoi>rJttUkt' wirh llhu uvct.- 
 
 iKj.i llonJ Street nnJ btilh X\c 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 
 Upper Lcfl. — Resoniblcs a "reading section" pane in niako-up Note (hat 
 name plate display and sub-heads have been avoided. 
 
 Upper Right. — A "scattered" composition, but the illustrafion.s form a running 
 story of more importance than grace of design. There is a liint of rotogravure 
 page lay-out which is newsily inloresting. 
 
 Lower Left. — A composition which defies tradition. Illustration fitted around 
 a type box on such a manner as to set it off. 
 
 Lower Right.— The page actually divided into two separate units, one devoted 
 to pictorial display, the other a slender column of tailoring facts. 
 
18 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 the known units of a gi\'cn advertisement, and move them about 
 across the face of the layout, as one might move parts of a jig-saw 
 puzzle. Or, given the correct space limitations, make very rough 
 sketches until some strikingly artistic composition is arrived at. 
 
 In a generation which has brought a large volume of advertis- 
 ing and which has made competition in display a significant 
 problem, the layout becomes paramount, for novelty of layout 
 means superiority of attention-compelling value. "How can 
 
 1 ,^^^^ 
 
 ^SgR 
 
 One half o( vour lifetime, and 
 more, is spent in hosiery. Your 
 constant and intimate travel- 
 
 ^k 
 
 *v55^W 
 
 ing companion! It is an im- 
 portant part of your personal 
 protection and cmbclhshmenL 
 The world buys more Pbocnix 
 hosiery- than any other kind, 
 because it has dounnght t/f- 
 
 m 
 
 
 gancc and a tenacious wear- 
 ability thai makes it a substan- 
 
 ^^^1 
 
 
 tial economy. For men, women 
 and children, it is the sUindurJ 
 hosiery throughout the' world. 
 
 ^mM 
 
 
 PHOENIX 
 
 W 
 
 
 HOSIERY 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^^^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 the sime IVn and Rmril lli.il , "■ ■ >ti 
 the Bu!>inf s-. \\brldjiiHJjJ)esl ' '. < U i 
 
 t:v:£:RSHApp 
 
 nukhe<1 by 
 
 WAHL_pm 
 
 Fio. 10. 
 
 Lffl. — The Phoenix campaign, running for several years along the s.-vnie lines, 
 delilierately set out to "do soinothing tlitTerent" in the matter of physical atmo- 
 sphere and composition. Although each page was an independent unit, a 
 sympathy of feeling was always in evidence, thus establishing the "family" 
 idea. 
 
 liii/ht. — Nothing commonplace, nothing traditional in this unique Layout. 
 There are thousands of variants of it, which should inspire advertisers to make 
 an earnest effort to "get away from" certain set forms whicli, in time, outlive 
 their usefulness. When a magazine carries more than one himdred pages of 
 a<lvertising, is it not necessary to search for new ideas in composition? 
 
 the advertisement be made to statul oul?^' is the question. The 
 user of smtill space is d()ul)ly concerned. 
 
 The answer is often to be found in power of composition. 
 Fine art, compelling copy, distinctive technique, are all helpful, 
 but they arc secondary to their own assembling. Those 
 advertisements, which at once arrest the attention, upon analysis 
 prove to be structurally strong in composition. They success- 
 fully combat their fellow displays by observing well-known rules 
 
SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPOSITION 
 
 19 
 
 of scientific layout. They admit a certain problem, and then 
 set out to meet it by every technical device at their command. 
 The advertiser who builds his campaign with one eye on the 
 inevitable competition will build ruggedly. Pasting proofs 
 upon a newspaper or a magazine page leaves no opportunity 
 for later disillusionment. Considered alone, as a separate unit, 
 segregated from that competition which is the final test, a layout 
 proves nothing, because it merely competes with itself. 
 
 Qing]^ams cu varied as the summer nwde 
 
 ^ - 
 
 David 6? John Anderson Scotch Ginghams 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 Lefl. — ^A composition which violates every known rule but which is none the 
 less effective. It possesses that most precious asset — individuality. 
 
 Right. — Neat, well-groomed arrangement of the component parts of a page 
 advertisement, and at all points and in all respects, avoiding the obvious — 
 the thing which is ordinarily done. 
 
 A wonderfully executed illustration by a painter of note, 
 produced at great expense, will be no more valuable in an 
 advertisement than the forces which have been set to work in its 
 behalf: forces which have to do with environment, with size, 
 with arrangements of mortises for text, borders, placings of 
 typography, and individuality of layout. This might have been 
 less true a few years back, when the really fine illustration was 
 in the minority, but today the preponderance of the good is 
 so noticeable that, of itself, it is not sufficient for display pur- 
 poses. Distinctiveness of composition must come to its rescue 
 as at least a desirable attribute. 
 
20 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Illustrations, which at best are ordinary as to subject, can be 
 nuule to dominate sj)ace, large or small, through the artifices 
 of a resourceful layout artist, which proves that composition 
 and art l)clong together in a comradeshi]) of effort. This does not 
 refer to the composition of the illustration itself, but to the placing 
 of the picture in relation to other units of the advertisement. 
 
 An excellent procedure, in any event, is to take what may 
 have seemed a satisfactory display, and after its actual appear- 
 ance, "tear" it apart, rearrange it, in a search for that still better 
 composition, which is always the reward of study. 
 
 By observing the displays in a single magazine or newspaper 
 and by weighing their virtues and defects invaluable data is 
 secured. For one thing, it will be at once apparent that adver- 
 tisers are making remarkable advances in this field. The lay- 
 out which is commonplace suffers correspondingly. 
 
 It was considered rank heresy at one time to place an illus- 
 tration at the bottom of an advertisement. In working out a 
 scenario of reader response, it appeared sensible to conclude that 
 there were certain approved sequences of appeal. A picture 
 was employed to attract the attention of the prospect and to 
 lead him, by easy stages, into the text. As a consequence, the 
 illustration should always come first. It was the door through 
 which people entered the selling edifice. Why, then, reverse the 
 correct and logical order of things, and place this door last? 
 
 But advertising beliefs, prejudices, and traditions have under- 
 gone radical changes. There are few arbitrary rules of this 
 kind. A page, at best, is a small area for the eye to cover. 
 Why stress psychology to such an exacting extent — as if human 
 vision, in the limited confines of, say, a magazine page, would 
 go picking and choosing to this finicky degree. It is done to 
 some extent, admittedly, but this feature has been vastly over- 
 estimated as to importance. 
 
 Composition is advertising's tailor. It sees that a display in 
 its entirety is well-groomed. It allows no one part to dojninate 
 beyond its just degree. It is an arbiter of style, of modishness 
 and of modernity. It is the magic harmonizer. 
 
 The i^erfect composition, as a rule, automatically brings an 
 ease of advertising manner, poise. Wlierever it is practiced, 
 the advertisement "holds together." It is not disjointed, and 
 then; arc no distractions. The relative importance of copy and 
 of illustration is neatly adjusted. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 SELECTING THE ILLUSTRATIVE THEME 
 
 Some of the most brilliantly successful ideas for illustrating 
 national advertising campaigns have originated with the sales 
 department, and this source of practical inspiration should never 
 be ignored or overlooked. 
 
 It is of the greatest importance to arrive at a basic theme which 
 will, first of all, sell the product along lines of least resistance 
 and w^hich will work in harmony with the person Avho closes 
 the actual sale. To separate any discussion of commercial art 
 from the "selling end" is to treat the subject half-heartedly. 
 The time has passed when art was looked upon as a mere frame 
 for copy. In one form or another, illustrations must sell mer- 
 chandise, whether by supplying helpful atmosphere or by a 
 more direct commercial appeal. 
 
 And every product presents specific prol)lems and objectives 
 which make it quite impossible to set down definite rules of pro- 
 cedure The advertiser generally takes a broad-gage view, 
 deciding upon a concerted plan of illustration which can be made 
 a fixture over a given period. Frequent changes in the physical 
 appearance of advertising can do irreparable damage. There is 
 nothing upon which the public may fasten its memory, its recog- 
 nition, and its confidence. 
 
 A famous soap, advertised for generations, had employed a 
 standard style of illustration and typographical makeup for 
 almost fifteen years. It had become a familiar form, every bit 
 as identifiable with this one soap as the company's trade mark. 
 A young salesmanager wanted his new broom to sweep clean. 
 He contended that the public had grown weary of the sameness 
 of the illustrative theme and its manner of presentation. And, 
 with a ruthless hand, he destroyed that which had been genera- 
 tions in the making. 
 
 What was the result? In ferreting around for a new idea, he 
 settled upon a "vogueish" style, then popular, which was more or 
 
 21 
 
22 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 less imitated by the majority of soap manufacturers. The 
 original character and distinctiveness of the advertising was lost. 
 Moreover, the selling idea was a concentration upon one appeal, 
 that its use would beautify the complexion, whereas previous 
 efforts had generalized, with consistent success. Too late, it 
 was appreciated that distinctiveness in illustration can become a 
 genuine business asset. 
 
 To consider pictures for a year to come, rather than the individ- 
 ual advertisement, is essential. Nor should the decision be made 
 hastily. The advertising program of a now nationally distri- 
 buted product was deferred almost a year because the manu- 
 facturer failed to locate a sound advertising basis. He set about 
 his task in a workman-like manner. The first step was to make a 
 collection of the advertising of every competitor in his field. 
 This research work extended to technical journals, trade publica- 
 tions of all kinds, newspaper campaigns, street car cards, posters, 
 consumer literature, and catalogs. For how can an advertiser 
 make a decision as to policy if he has no more than a superficial 
 knowledge of the advertising activities of his competitors? He 
 might unconsciously duplicate their methods and illustrations; 
 he might merely go over ground which had been conscientiously 
 covered in the past. By assimilating the advertising of his 
 competitors, he is in a position to avoid the obvious and the 
 hackneyed, and profit by the virtues and the mistakes of those 
 who have gone before. 
 
 This advertiser decided to stress economy. Illustrations 
 visualized the saving. But before the campaign had been run- 
 ning six months, it was seen that a better basic theme could be 
 found. The average woman was unwilling to jeopardize a big 
 baking of bread, the last-minute dinner-time baking of a cake or a 
 pie, because of a saving of a few cents on her baking powder. 
 Investigation would have warned the advertiser in advance. 
 It was a valuable fact but not one to make the compelling feature 
 of a cami)aign. 
 
 Commonplace products demand uncommonplace illustrations. 
 And it is to the everlasting credit of the modern advertising 
 campaign, that it has learned to dig deep for rugged features 
 lending themselves naturally to exclusive and dramatic pictorial 
 embellishment. It is not difficult, perhaps, to find a selling 
 argument, but it is relativc^l}' difficult to locate one which invites 
 original illustrations, bearing a family resemblance. 
 
SELECTING THE ILLUSTRATIVE THEME 23 
 
 Campaigns which have been noticeably successful in this 
 respect deserve mention here, as examples of how it can and 
 should be done. The idea, in each case, opens up treasure-troves 
 of art. There is nothing more discouraging than the good selling 
 angle which offers no opportunity to the artist. 
 
 Observe, then, in the following instances, how a foundational 
 picture-theme has been originated, which illustrated the story 
 from a new angle unconventionally and brilliantly. 
 
 A campaign in behalf of tire valves and tire gages has picturized 
 the story of air, and the things which take place when it is confined. 
 The advertiser believed that the average car owner held no ade- 
 quate conception of the importance of tire inflation and the 
 tremenduous power which was held in obedient check. 
 
 A campaign for a motor truck glorified various trades and 
 industries employing these trucks, thereby opening the door to 
 interesting character studies of the butcher, the baker, and the 
 candlestick-maker. Such valuable statistics were given as to 
 the importance of these men and trades that the campaign was 
 made educational to a degree. 
 
 A campaign for a trade-marked rope features, pictorially, 
 the tiny blue thread which nms through the core of the product, 
 quickly identifying it, a new idea in a field that has seen few 
 developments in its entire advertising existence. 
 
 A packing house traced the early history of the United 
 States, in order to draw a compelling parallel of meat supply, 
 then and now. On the artist's canvas are spread an absolutely 
 limitless array of inspiring themes, as history comes to life beneath 
 the brush. But pictures of hams and bacons had become an 
 old story and an oft-told one. And here was a path away from 
 the conventional, the obvious. 
 
 A playing card manufacturer runs a series of unique problems 
 of whist and bridge, although this was an indirect method of 
 showing the product. The humor, the studies in expression, 
 and the mental alertness of players, could be portrayed as illus- 
 trations. The campaign was an expedient move, because it 
 created new players and whetted the appetite for innocent games 
 among those who had not played before. 
 
 A motor car manufacturer allows actual owners to tell their 
 stories of automobile companionship and service, with what 
 illustrative result? The customary and somewhat monotonous 
 background of car illustrations is avoided, as different types of 
 
24 ILLVSTRATIOX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 users bring their own interesting environment. It may be blind 
 Helen Keller, touring the mountains, or a hunter of big game 
 taking his automobile with him to the frontiers of adventure. 
 
 A soap manufacturer provides distinctive pictorial atmosphere 
 by visualizing the protective and cleansing character of its carbolic 
 acid ingredient, and takes the reader into every public highway 
 where contamination and disease may reach human hands. 
 
 A maker of automobile bodies bravely avoids the obvious, and 
 never shows its own product, being content with powerful 
 character studies of aristocratic and discriminating types of 
 people, with just a mere hint of automobiling. 
 
 Avoiding customary family-group scenes around the radio, 
 one maker of receivers delves into the past and traces, pictor- 
 ial substitutes for wireless, as practiced long ago, from town criers 
 to the African war drums, and the signal fires of the western 
 Indian. This means, as in the examples already mentioned, a 
 change of illustrative theme with every advertisement, but with 
 the aggregate campaign of pictures neatly tied together by a 
 common bond of basic subject. 
 
 A silverware house deliberately selects those embarassing 
 experiences of the home and of entertaining, when put in picture 
 form, tell of the critical guests, the hasty w'ashing of one set of 
 spoons in time for the next course, or the dinner which was a 
 failure because things did not go smoothly, in order to suggest the 
 desirability of having a complete selection of silver. The trage- 
 dies are rather grim in their way, but on canvas, they make 
 comi)elling sales history. 
 
 Many other examples might be given, for it is a by no means 
 uncommon practice. But these few will suffice to show that the 
 campaign which is illustrated strikingly and in an original manner 
 must find receptive material at the base. Copy is "wedded" 
 to studio effort. There is a happy affiliation. 
 
 Nor are such themes acquired hit-or-miss. They are invari- 
 ably the result of study of every phase of the product, its market 
 and its competitors. 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting argument in favor of these illus- 
 trated campaigns is their close adherence to the practices and 
 observances of sound salcsman.ship. The pictures justify them- 
 selves. They are engrossing, as art, but they also keep well with- 
 in the confines of logic, as related to the gooils they represent. 
 Anything short of this would be unworthy. 
 
SELECTING THE ILLUSTRATIVE THEME 25 
 
 It is always well, in planning a series of illustrations, for any- 
 type of product, to sock the viewpoint of the consumer. By so 
 doing, the one best argument, the one most efficient picture appeal, 
 is apt to be uncovered. It may be some apparently insignificant 
 feature which has been overlooked. 
 
 A campaign for a certain breakfast cereal had been but moder- 
 ately successful for many seasons. Then, one day, a letter was 
 sent by the advertising department to a list of five hundred grocers 
 in different parts of the country, asking them to express their 
 opinion as to the best selling and advertising feature of the pro- 
 duct, as brought out by the American housewife. "It cooks a 
 few minutes sooner than the ordinary oatmeal," came back the 
 prompt response. And when this fact was visualized in pictures 
 and described in text, the advertising became wholly profitable. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 ADAPTING THE ART MEDIUM 
 
 Rapid progress in the processes of engraving has at last dis- 
 pensed with every hazard and handicap formerly encountered 
 by the artist, whose work was sharply limited by the mechanical 
 methods of his day. It is unquestionably true of modern repro- 
 ductive possibilities that no medium, no trick, no subtlety is 
 beyond the most perfect printing facsimile. Artists may proceed 
 without a thought to reproduction, although the reservation is 
 made that certain technical observances make it easier for all 
 concerned. The important thing is that the character of the 
 individual, as reflected in his work, can be reproduced with the 
 greatest fidelity. 
 
 An advertising campaign, therefore, takes on the color, warmth, 
 sentiment, and significance of an exclusive atmosphere. A 
 medium may be chosen which shall assist in the telling of a 
 story. So important a phase has this become that the selection 
 of artists and techniques is second only to the basic idea. Having 
 decided definitely as to the spirit of his material and its pictorial 
 fundamentals, the advertiser next seeks an artist and a medium 
 which are nicely calculated to bring it out. Technique is to an 
 advertising campaign what personality is to the individual. It 
 is a distinctiveness of dress, while bringing certain deeper ciualities 
 to life. 
 
 The advertiser now selects both artist and technique with as 
 great care and as much artistic discrimination as a dramatic 
 producer would use choosing his cast. The diflPiculty of this is 
 made easier by an ever-increasing roster of available talent. 
 Once reluctant, these competent men and women now look upon 
 commercial art, so-called, as a field of noteworthy endeavor. 
 Not only is the remuneration handsome, but all advertising has 
 been (Ugnified by its own higher ideals and its constant striving 
 for perfection. 
 
 Competition is interestingly keen. As popular artists develop 
 vogues and styles and schools peculiarly their own, they arc 
 
 26 
 
ADAPTING THE ART MEDIUM 
 
 27 
 
 eagerly snapped up by advertising, for advertising must change 
 with the times; must keep pace with what is currently esteemed 
 by the greatest number of people. 
 
 It is not always a paramount question of good art, but one of 
 good art expressed in terms which will most intimately relate to 
 the project in hand. A certain artist may be both popular and 
 inspired, and nevertheless fall short in sympathetically illustrat- 
 ing the campaign. Specialization is coming to the fore. If an 
 
 « 
 ■•■( 
 
 » 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 Fig. 12. — An interesting example of poster-wasli, executed in flat masses, 
 are "cut out" on the plate, for greater contrast. 
 
 Whites 
 
 advertiser has a story to tell involving the atmosphere of early 
 Indian days, then he seeks talent which has always concentrated 
 on this period. If there is a series to prepare, based on character 
 study and industrial activities, the artist who makes these can- 
 vases does it a little better than anyone else and will echo an 
 atmosphere in which there are no technical flaws. 
 
 This wide latitude was impossible during the earlier days of 
 advertising, because processes of reproduction had not advanced 
 sufficiently to make printing facsimiles of a practical character. 
 
28 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 In the current regime, an artist may proceed, fancy free, assured 
 of reproductions which defy the most exacting censor. 
 
 Because various artists have varying techniques and mediums, 
 the selection, for a campaign of imposing magnitude, becomes 
 more than ordinarily significant. There are questions which 
 must be arbitrarily asked before the decision can be made : 
 
 1. ^^^lat medium will host serve to bring out the atmosphere it is wished 
 to create? 
 
 2. To what extent must distinctiveness and individuality of illu.stration 
 be emphasized? 
 
 3. Where is the advertising to appear and on what grades of paper stock ? 
 
 4. Are photographs preferable because of the illustrative conviction they 
 bring? 
 
 5. What have competitive advertisers done in the past and what are 
 their present methods? 
 
 In a sense, the advertiser must shop in a great department 
 store, there to decide on the physical appearance of his cam- 
 paign. The shelves are filled with attractive possibilities. He 
 may garb his advertising ruggedly in homespun, if he feels this 
 is to its advantage; or he may deck it out in silks and satins. 
 And for the duration of this campaign, at least, the character 
 of the product will be inexoral)ly influenced by his selection. 
 
 Chief among the mediums at his disposal are: 
 
 Original wash drawings, in transparent water color. 
 
 Tempera originals, with white pigment mixed with the black. 
 
 Paintings in black and white oil. 
 
 Crayon, for line or half-tone rcj)roduction. 
 
 Pencil, for line or half-tone reproduction. 
 
 Dry-brush techniciue, on surfaced jiaper. 
 
 Combituition line and half-tone illustrations. 
 
 Line drawings embellished with Uvn Day tints. 
 
 7''he poster-style wash. 
 
 Poster-style line. 
 
 Mas.sed blacks, for poor-pajier reproduction. 
 
 Etching-style jien dniwings. 
 
 Full-shade line. 
 
 Jlalf-shadc! lino. 
 
 Pen-and ink outline. 
 
 Black silhouette. 
 
 White silhouette. 
 
 Piiotograj)hy. 
 
 Photographic combined with pencil. 
 
 Photograjjliic in combination with line. 
 
 Photographic, poster-retouched. 
 
ADAPTING THE ART MEDIUM 
 
 29 
 
 There are any number of variants of the above, with the 
 techniques shading off into a hundred and one unique illustrative 
 schools, each sufficiently different from the other to make it 
 possible for an advertiser to find some new combination or blend 
 which will individualize his series. The foregoing will be taken 
 up in detail later on; and entire chapters will be devoted to an 
 exposition of their merits, their applications and their actual 
 production. 
 
 Fig. 13. — Pen and ink, used to exrellent purpose to pru\i<le campaign indi- 
 viduality. 
 
 Color in advertising has not been included in the list at this 
 time. It is really a separate department, deserving, as used 
 today, a volume of its own. 
 
 A recent study of advertising illustrations in numerous phases 
 brought out the fact that no less than five hundred different 
 techniques were now in use. Although often inter-related as 
 to school, they represented extraordinary resourcefulness and 
 imaginative skill, and could be looked upon as successfully 
 individualizing their respective campaigns. 
 
 And, in selecting the artist, the medium, and the technique, 
 this is an obligatory rule. Working together, they should 
 give a campaign an atmosphere unreservedly its own. That 
 art influences the public in matters of identification is unques- 
 tioned. Some years ago, a magazine and book illustrator 
 created a style which was so distinctive, so original, and so 
 
30 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERT ISISG 
 
 different from anything then appearing that the advertising 
 campaign employing it was Uftcd high out of the magazine pages 
 and out of the conventional rut. Here was something new 
 at last. 
 
 Fig. 14. — An exceediugly modern style of illustration, wliich combines crisp 
 outline with poster areas of black, and the judicious use of wash in flat masses. 
 
 Hut this mannerism of style did not escape the imitator. It 
 was too easy to copy, once an oiiginal pattern had been 
 designed. Soon a dozen or more campaigns came out with 
 illustrations of a like character, with the result that the value of 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 I^efl. — While the .subject is one which minht bo looked upon as "commercial," 
 the iirtist ha.s given his illustration the unc^omniercial and "story" flavor. 
 
 Right. — Decorative handling of a still-life scene which could very easily become 
 commonplace. 
 
 an exclusive art technique was immediately lost to the original 
 user of these illustrations. It was a makeshift for all the others, 
 due to the fact that an appreciative public had grown to identify 
 
ADAPTING THE ART MEDIUM 
 
 31 
 
 this technique with one campaign and its product, and when an 
 epidemic of plagiarism cropped out, people were never quite 
 sure as to the identity of the thing advertised. 
 
 It is pointed out, with emphasis, that no advertiser should 
 in any way imitate the illustrative methods and styles of other 
 advertisers, competitive or otherwise. The entire fabric of 
 advertising is weakened when this is done. To find over and 
 over again in a magazine, in a newspaper, or in any field of adver- 
 tising effort a repetition of a pictorial manner baffles the first 
 
 Hn^°l| " 
 
 rJL 
 
 
 pl^ 
 
 
 e 
 
 iMH^HflH 
 
 ^M 
 
 ^s^^^^Sm 
 
 
 Fig. 16. — Realism, almost photographic, secured in a scries of wash originals. 
 
 objective of art in advertising. It gives a "family resemblance" 
 to these campaigns, which should most positively boast a pic- 
 torial identity of their own, an exclusive atmosphere. 
 
 The most prized asset an advertiser may possess is this 
 intensely intimate and personal atmosphere. Just why some 
 advertisers should feel at liberty to reach out and adopt the 
 popular vogue of another is not quite clear. It would seem, on 
 its face, the most unbusinesslike and unethical thing imaginable. 
 The Atlantic and Pacific Tea Stores have adopted the policy of 
 painting their shop fronts a brilliant red. Would other chain 
 stores, or the casual local merchant, be justified in doing the 
 same thing? Main Street would confuse its customers to an 
 alarming extent. It would require considerable searching to 
 locate the store of the originator of the idea. 
 
32 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Two terms have been employed throughout this chapter, 
 "technique" and "medium." They are inseparable as used in 
 the present connection. Technique is secured by the use of 
 certain mediums. The artist who works wholly in tempera may 
 create a technique at once distinctive and characteristic. This 
 is equally true of all mediums, and because they have very materi- 
 ally increased in number, encouraged by reproductive processes, 
 advertising profits by the ever-changing pictorial background 
 at its command. There need be little monotony and a mini- 
 mum amount of duplication. 
 
 Fig. 17. — Particularly ingenious blend of line drawing, with halftone tints 
 and splatter-work. Ben Day textures are also employed. Became a dis- 
 tinctive treatment for a year's advertising. 
 
 A manufacturer of kitchen ranges was seven years in bringing 
 his product to the correct point of visval attractiveness. Aside 
 from its known mechanical perfection, he argued that the looks 
 of the range was equally indispensable as a business asset. For 
 people would, in a measure, judge quality by how the product 
 "filled the eye." It is related that he was another seven years 
 hitting upon an art atmosphere which served the same psycho- 
 logical purpose. 
 
 Medium is rigidly influenced by the place of its appearance as 
 an advertisement. If, for example, a series is to concentrate on 
 farm appeal and is to l)e advertised in agricultural publications, 
 certain things are prohibited. Because of the grade of paper 
 stock used and the quality of the printing, provision must be 
 made in advance to insure adequate results. It nuist be nj^parent 
 that involved pen techniques or fine half-tone plates will run an 
 
ADAPTING THE ART MEDIUM 33 
 
 inevitable risk when exposed to the mechanical vagaries of this 
 field. True, some agricultural periodicals use better stock than 
 othei-s, and some take infinite i^ride in handling the most involved 
 plates, but the aggregate field regulates the situation. It would 
 mean greatly added effort to individualize plate-making over the 
 entire list. 
 
 How much better it is, then to recognize limitations in advance, 
 and to select mediums and techniques which will be along the 
 lines of least mechanical resistance. Newspaper campaigns of 
 wide distribution introduce the same approximate hazards. 
 To select arbitrarily, as an instance of this, half-tones from photo- 
 graphs for a list of 100 newspapers in various parts of the country, 
 would mean challenging the inevitable. 
 
 Some illustrations, where conditions are ideal; would dis- 
 prove the theory that half-tone work for newspaper use, is 
 inadvisable, while the showing in the very next newspaper 
 reproduction, dim, clogged with ink, robbed of its detail, would 
 as surely vindicate the practice. 
 
 Mediums and techniques are dictated, then, by several fairly 
 obvious considerations. 
 
 To recapitulate briefly: 
 
 1. Known mechanical limitations of advertising schedule. 
 
 2. Extent of individuality required in the campaign. 
 
 3. Character of the advertising's atmosphere, as related to 
 the product. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 CONTINUITY 
 
 Advertisers have found, through close observation and tabula- 
 tions kept on campaigns, that where a "family resemblance" 
 is sustained, throughout a series of advertisements over a given 
 period, the results are far more satisfactory than when each piece 
 of copy stands independently as a unit, unrelated to that which 
 has gone before and to that which follows. 
 
 These "family campaigns" are everywhere in evidence and 
 increasingly popular. Doubtless they will constitute one of 
 the fundamental fixtures in advertising. Continuity of art has 
 much to do with their success. 
 
 Thus, at the inception of a campaign, the advertiser hits upon 
 some one basic theme, whose ramifications, constantly changing 
 in one way or another, nevertheless revert to a text which was 
 given in the initial advertisement. 
 
 The problem of the artist is automatically decreased. He is 
 not at a loss for some new subject with every individual adver- 
 tisement. He has only to brush up the original idea, giving it a 
 different angle, a novel twist of conception. 
 
 Some of these pictorial backgrounds endure for years, and 
 never seem to outlive their usefulness, at last becoming a fixed 
 and indestructible part of the selling policy, while others outlive 
 their usefulness and are replaced by fresh viewpoints. 
 
 The idea finds its highest degree of serviceability in providing 
 the advertiser with an exclusive "atmosphere" where the field 
 is competitive and where a like product is freely exj)loited in the 
 same pul)lications. 
 
 To attract and to hold the interest of the public in the face of 
 such an ever-growing volume of advertising is no small respon- 
 sibility. The artist here finds one of his most fruitful oppor- 
 tunities, and many advertising successes of a decade can trace 
 their campaign successes to the fertile mind and talented brush 
 which make a scries say: "I am unlike all others. I am an idea 
 
 34 
 
CONTINUITY 35 
 
 apart. You are compelled to remember mc because I have an 
 individuality wholly my own." 
 
 Certain campaigns will be memorable generations from now, 
 and should have a place in this chronicle, as examples of the best 
 of their kind. 
 
 For many yeare, one advertiser, the Bon Ami companj'-, has 
 capitalized, pictorially a certain familiar and satisfactorily 
 "human" type of housewife, whose smiling face and productive 
 activity about her home, have become a virtual trade mark. 
 However the backgrounds and the activities may change, these 
 busy women bear a common resemblance. Something in their 
 simple dress, their infectious smiles, the very cheerfulness with 
 which they tackle the cleaning responsibilities of their habita- 
 tions, gives them cumulative interest. It is an instance of subtle- 
 ties of art, no one of which is too aggressive, turned to excellent 
 advertising account. You will always know a Bon Ami 
 advertisement. 
 
 Observe with what a great degree of cleverness, the Vacuum 
 Oil Company has standardized the human symbol of friction — 
 a leering, devilish, ghostly character, not a trade mark, in the 
 true sense, but a unifying influence running through the cam- 
 paigns of years. 
 
 The only danger attendant upon the use of such pictorial 
 devices is that of a monotony of theme or a sameness of the general 
 result. If this creeps in, the idea ought to be immediately 
 abandoned. But, as in the case of the symbol of friction, for- 
 ever retarding human progress, compositions and backgrounds 
 change with such surprising celerity that the public is not con- 
 scious of a too great insistence. 
 
 The most simple and apparently obvious expedients serve the 
 same purpose of continuity. A shoe manufacturer employed 
 with such pronounced regularity the idea of life-sized "portraits" 
 of his various models of shoes, splashed boldly on the magazine 
 page, that this alone finally became a mark of advertising 
 identification. 
 
 Years ago, the advertising for Perfection oil heaters introduced 
 a contented cat crouched in the friendly glow of the heater. 
 It was a visualization of perfect comfort. Everyone knows that a 
 cat will invariably seek the snuggest place in the house on a chilly 
 day. And, from the inception of the idea, this picture-thought 
 has characterized all Perfection Heater advertising. However 
 
36 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 the compositions may change and however important the human 
 interest features may become, the sociable, purring tabby is 
 present — a fixed, unchangeable Perfection feature. 
 
 California, to a large extent, in all her advertising activities, 
 has made characteristic hand-drawn lettering a mark of ready 
 identification, and with a broadmindedness which makes it 
 apply, not to any one advertising account, but to the majority. 
 
 A refiner of motor-car lubricant allows a transparent down- 
 pour of oil, reproduced in color, to hold public attention and to 
 unify, not alone a series but also several campaigns, although 
 the main illustrations differ widely. The appearance, in every 
 display, of the golden-colored "skein" of Texaco was not long in 
 making its impress upon consumer consciousness. 
 
 A dentifrice employs the idea of "the danger line" and visual- 
 izes, by means of a dotted path, drawn across the mouths of 
 all characters shown, the insidious point at which decaying 
 enamel begins. Thus the advertising is differentiated from all 
 other competitive pictorial compositions. 
 
 "Giving wings to words" is a catch phrase which swings open 
 the illustrative door for a typewriter campaign, and permits 
 the artist wide latitude in accumulatively engrossing composi- 
 tion, each one born of the parent idea, as winged figures become 
 beautiful symbols of the language of the keyboard. 
 
 A peculiar technique in retouching inanimate subjects some- 
 times serves as a sufficiently characteristic peg upon which to 
 hang a connected series. An artist's individuality of style, of 
 pen, of brush, or of pencil handling can be made to serve the 
 same purpose. 
 
 A coffee campaign has cemented its physical dress by the quite 
 simple expedient of featuring only character study heads, painted 
 for the most part, by the same artist and in the same technique. 
 These heads, coupled with hands which raise dainty coffee cups, 
 seem to spell out the trade name of the product at every appear- 
 ance. Thus, it is not always the startling, ingenious, or clever 
 art idea which dominates the "family" plan. Sticking ever- 
 lastingly at some peculiarity of form or argument or technique 
 l)ecomes the i-oal answer. 
 
 One advorliser of hoisery drops human interest illustrations 
 altogether and concentrates, season after season, on ornate 
 border effects, devised by a master-hand in this dei)artment. 
 And the charm and period fidelity of the decorations provide 
 
CONTINUITY 
 
 37 
 
 Fig. is. 
 
 Left and Center. — "The Shadow of the Pen," as a standardized catch-phrase, 
 permits the varied use of one illustrative theme in a series of allied advertise- 
 ments. Sameness has not been allowed to endanger the idea, however. 
 
 Right. — Throughout a year of advertising, an accumulative pictorial theme 
 was successfully employed — namely, to introduce animated scenes and figures 
 as if coming from the mouth of the reproducer. 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 Left. — Few Auto-Lite advertisements appear without the familiar study of 
 the dainty, slippered foot. Its repetition, always in some new guise, has pro- 
 vided campaign continuity. 
 
 Right. — To elaborate and vnsualize the basic selling idea of "Wrought from 
 Solid Silver," the illustrative scheme shown herewith was made into a stand- 
 ardized unit for use always in all advertising. 
 
38 
 
 J LLV STRATI OS IS ADVERT I SI SG 
 
 desirable atmosphere of quality appeal, aside from giving the 
 scries continuity. 
 
 "The shadow of the pen" is a characteristic example of the 
 dominant idea, brought to life through imaginative illustrations, 
 yet never permitted to get into a rut. In the series referred to, 
 the obsolete methods of the old-style bookkeeper are raised to 
 
 Throughout the wliole \\u\c world 
 are Harrison cooled automobiles 
 
 HARRISON RADIATORS 
 
 Fio. 20. — A coiitiiuiity-idca, whcroljy bj- placing different illustrative themes in 
 the mesh of the radiator of automobiles, a connected, serialized storj^ is told. 
 
 ridicule and made to appear painfully inadequate, as compared 
 with modern machines with almost human minds. And over 
 all the manifold activities of the clerical world, a great, heroic 
 pen, casts its telltale shadow. Of such material is the individual- 
 zod campaign made, aided, of course, by sympathetic art. 
 The same result may be secured in dKTerent ways; some of 
 the more important are: 
 
CONTINUITY 
 
 39 
 
 1. Distinctive borders, adhered to with continuity, 
 
 2. Technique of illustration. 
 
 3. Trade mark characterizations, animated and put through 
 their paces. 
 
 4. A firm symbol, device, or insignia, employed as a standard- 
 ized mortise or ornament. 
 
 5. The story of the product's manufacture or the interesting 
 narrative of how its ingredients are obtained — perhaps from far 
 countries, illustrated as a serial might be. 
 
 Fiu. 21. 
 
 Left. — A widely heralded phrase, suggesting that four out of every five persons 
 suffer from pyorrhea, permits an illustrative theme with clever continuity. 
 Changes in the composition give needed variety. 
 
 Center. — The pictorial idea was originated of suggesting the Klaxon's warn- 
 ing by means of a forked flash, and as this theme plays an important part in 
 every illustration throughout a connected campaign, the proper continuity was 
 sustained. 
 
 Right.— The traditional thing, in advertising underwear, would be, of course, 
 to show people wearing the garments but a new approach was devised by ani- 
 mating merely the product against contrasting backgrounds. The pictorial 
 idea has been used for several seasons. 
 
 6. A catch phrase which is filled to brimming with imaginative 
 material, employed as the inspiration for a series of illustrations. 
 
 7. The adventures of a certain group of characters who are 
 retained for the period of the entire campaign. 
 
40 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Campaigns listed in this category, as a matter of fact, arc, 
 indeed, serial stories of the product, but the physical attribut<}S 
 and embellishments are depended upon to call the public's 
 attention to the fact. 
 
 The future of your motor 
 
 depends on the "film of protection 
 
 Yf 
 
 Uce fiom IvT 
 : AnJ the tc^ 
 , the bcrt mol 
 
 T)K-niM of PROTECTION" 
 ihin a. uuiv. miunlll 
 a> iiUc. lauth <u iinl. 
 
 
 
 
 ■n- IS 
 
 
 'In. ti 
 
 
 
 /'■■■; 
 
 
 n 
 
 ^ 
 
 frlcritin. ThcTT C4U«- 73',^ <i( ail msitur repair., 
 "n>ry thintcn t'lW ii%'C5 of more niotors rh«i 
 •II nth«T causes combincJ. And cvctv mintitc 
 you drive yaui car the>' threaten yotjr motwr. 
 
 ^ motor^'tjoh 
 
 Ir U TOur rruitot'Oil's }i>b, aitd ft real |ob. tu 
 mMtcr hear nud fni.tion. (t u rhi tml/ u^t 
 TO prcvefU trooblc. l~he oil Jov» this by foniv 
 inn 3 thin, icnirious 6lm over ill iIht vitjil 
 pjrts of the- motiiT. l^n oil'ldm worht. ii« 
 wjy Krr*oi» the uhirlinK, flyrni: surracc* and 
 prcvriiiA d^nccruus tnct.>l to metal contact. 
 
 But the film itKll niuM tc iMc to wfithannd 
 the con«-iat menace of tcjrm^ ermdintc fric- 
 tion— the U*h ut~<«arinj:.M:or<:hirK hi::<t. Unthi 
 that punithmcnt rh*: film cli>rdin;iiv oil btr^V* 
 and curl» up. Thri*uj!h the l-ioltn hliu. mrul 
 rhafct a^itut metal Iit-idK>u( htcncm trtt up: 
 utim, you don't even Lnow voiii ml ha^ tdjld 
 
 lit K-ari.-.;: i>t a ^urrd t.ylui 
 
 The '^fim of proUctum" 
 
 thai dot* not fail 
 
 Why tAc chanrcs w^ui the future ot jout 
 motit.' Give your motn ihcbci* (XrvMblepttv 
 tet:tk>n aeairut >W«Jlv hcai and frkiion. Put 
 the Veedol "dim ol protectton" on tht Job. 
 
 WhcrcvKf a dealer dUrlavt the ntanttc und 
 Mack Vc«ioI itoi. UkjIc for The Ve^ol Mo*..* 
 ProTccoon Guide." i chjrt that iclU «4.uh 
 V'etOol «hI yi>ur c«i tcqiiirc« Aj>k yiMir dealer 
 to dram your crankc-iv ainj vrbi) with the 
 cnrtcvr Vcvdolotl. 
 
 Tiilr>XV<-rOitSJr^Con)orpitun.ll Rro«d. 
 «^.v.Ncw Ywrk, Chu44»..MU Sniih Racine 
 Avi^u*:. SanFrjn.i^P.4MBrjnnjnSu«et. 
 
 MoMtiH. M Ou SttddU Altai 
 
 a-J N'n. EmgUnd \ 
 
 u MiM Iwjl MiJ hrtlom , 
 
 
 Fig. 22. — "The Film of Protection" automatically, as a catch phrase, pro- 
 vided the advertiser with a connected series of over-chanKing illustrations, 
 thereby "tying the campaign together." 
 
 Now and again, a trifle, light as air, carries the burden of this 
 linked-together family of advertisements, proving that the 
 
CONTINUITY 
 
 41 
 
 expedient need not necessarily be dominant in its space demands. 
 When "Real silk" advertising made its bow to the public, a 
 neat little illustrative chord was sounded which has, up to the 
 present time, threaded every "piece of copy" together in the 
 most modest manner imaginable — the introduction, somewhere 
 in every display, of skeins of pure silk, from which single threads 
 branch out, arranged into artistic border effects or decorative 
 lines. 
 
 Fig. 23. — This advertiser of underwear gave pictorial continuity to the idea 
 of summer discomfort from heat and in a remarkable series of pictures, no two 
 alike, adhered to this accumulative policy, showing the plan is not inflexible. 
 
 The examples are legion. It is well, once such a series is 
 started, to have the art prepared by the same persons under the 
 same auspices, 
 
 A comparatively modern innovation of the family art tie-up 
 has taken the place of the set trade-mark character or of the 
 company insignia, too precious to be tampered with. A charac- 
 teristic name plate, a hand-lettered signature, once sufficed the 
 advertiser's needs, but that day has passed in the increased 
 volume of advertising and its many-sided pictorial features. 
 
42 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 The campaign for a new product will do well to study the 
 possibilities of a connecting art idea. Often, such ideas are 
 difficult to uncover. They bear directly upon the advertised 
 article itself, or they may draw their inspiration from sei-vicc 
 performed or from some inherent human strength or weakness. 
 
 There is undeniable satisfaction to the advertiser in the knowl- 
 edge, that, at the expiration of a prolonged campaign, represent- 
 ing a considerable expenditure of money, his public looks upon 
 the advertising in its collective and aggregate sense. Accidents 
 often bring brilliant art ideas to the fore. An initial one-time 
 layout, a picture in a certain technique, a characterization of 
 strong human appeal, or an argument visualized, may be 
 expanded into a series, immediately following the consciousness 
 of its unusual value. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 DISTINCTIVE TECHNIQUE FOR SERIALIZATION 
 
 Individuality of art technique, in any of its moods and forms, 
 is often made the indentifying feature of an entire advertising 
 campaign. Where some serials are thus unified and given an 
 exclusive atmosphere by means of an idea rather than by any 
 individuality of embellishment, the continuity which is to be 
 gained by an exclusive art treatment is equally popular. 
 
 That campaigns profit by what may be looked upon as person- 
 ality, an established atmosphere, sympathetic with the type of 
 product advertised, is uncontrovertible. This need was by 
 no means as pronounced during the earlier period of advertising. 
 Today, the volume of advertising and the frequent duplication 
 of certain lines and products, with a resultant high-powered 
 competition obligates the campaign to establish a character 
 peculiarly its own. 
 
 When an advertising schedule becomes, pictorially, a thing of 
 shreds and patches, the result is apt to be confusing to the public. 
 It would be as inconsistent as to change the physical appearance 
 of the product at frequent intervals. 
 
 It has been shown that art technique often assists in estab- 
 lishing the inherent character and service of the article. A 
 second purpose has to do with this successful tying up of many 
 separate displays into a connected campaign throughout which a 
 definite art character is sustained. Because of the resourcefulness 
 of modern artists, technique has come to mean such compelling 
 individuality that a series of advertisements will rise triumph- 
 antly from the great mass of such material and leave an unfor- 
 getable impression on a large audience. 
 
 With no other feature than that of exclusiveness of technique,' 
 a campaign may dominate its field and arouse a country-wide 
 appreciation of the art of a series. 
 
 It is instructive, to examine the tactics employed by several 
 advertisers who have carried the idea to a climax and who were 
 inspired to do it, in the first place, by a commercial need. 
 
 43 
 
44 JLLUSTRATIOX IS ADVERTISING 
 
 Gorham magazine advertising has created noticeably popular 
 acclaim on the strength of an art technique, although in subject 
 matter it undertakes only to reproduce well-known articles 
 commonly identified with this and other manufacturers. It was 
 characteristic of competitive accounts that photographs were 
 most generally in use. Certain traditions had always persisted. 
 Therefore, if an exclusive character were to be established and 
 maintained, the Gorham Company knew that much would depend 
 upon art work, an unaccustomed and a new technique. 
 
 From this realization was evolved an extraordinarily beautiful 
 pen treatment which carried shading, delicately applied ink 
 lines, lights, and shadows, and thoroughness of detail to hereto- 
 fore unrealized degrees of finality. The artist painted with a pen. 
 Everywhere intense realism was expressed. The eye seemed to 
 sense the sincerity of a photographic background although these 
 were no mere drawings made over silver prints. Silver forks, 
 knives, and spoons glistened with a radiance which only the 
 camera had formerly caught; glassware and trim candlesticks 
 were characterized by innumerable tiny tricks of natural contrast, 
 and shadows were those of posed and photographed realism. 
 It seemed inconceivable that a pen and some drawing ink could 
 be made to perform such miracles! 
 
 In fact, the sheer artistry and refinement of these illustrations, 
 their atmosphere of completeness and charm, and the obvious 
 sincerity of their portrayal, could be sensed by the veriest amateur. 
 They stopped the indifferent eye; they won the respect of the 
 professional. Theirs was an aristocracy of technique. 
 
 Advertising had brought to bear, in this case, a method of pen 
 handling which was not common to present-day commercial 
 studios. Pedigree flowed from an ink bottle. But quality in 
 the execution is no more important than applying a technique at a 
 I^sychological hour when others are not employing it for a similar 
 purpose. If many competitors have not thought beyond art 
 terms of the camera or of original wash illustrations, then it is a 
 stroke of business and advertising genius to seek some such new 
 atmosphere. 
 
 An advertiser was examining a series of magazine sketches, 
 in preliminary form, as the outline for a complete program, 
 when it occurred to him not to have new and detailed illustrations 
 paintfMJ, but to reproduce the drafts exactly as they were, retain- 
 ing their frank crudities, their unfinished sketchiness, their free- 
 
DISTINCTIVE TECHNIQUE FOR SERIALIZATION 
 
 45 
 
 Fig. 24. — The Gorham campaign is a very striking example of how technique 
 of an original character can be made to supply accumulative interest and dis- 
 tinctive advertising atmosphere. The artist has almost literally "painted" 
 with his pen. And there is photographic accuracy throughout. 
 
46 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 dom from the customary labored style of picture he had been 
 accustomed to using in all previous campaigns. It was a 
 daring expedient but it was remunerative. An individuality 
 was secured which set the series apart from more than thirty 
 other illustrated campaigns then running, for the same type of 
 product. 
 
 Wood engraving had almost gone out of style and was rarely 
 met with save in rare old books and early editions, when an 
 enterprising advertiser, conscious of the artistic possibilities of 
 this technique as applied to the media on his list, found a veteran 
 wood engraver who designed a striking campaign of original 
 blocks. Before competition set in and the field was his 
 alone, this idea accomplished the desired objective — a serialized 
 individuality of style. 
 
 It may be true that there is nothing new under the sun and 
 that for every technique now appearing, there is an exact coun- 
 terpart in the files of a past art era, but any advertiser who first 
 resuscitates one of these schools is justified in his contention 
 that a new technique has been found. 
 
 Technique is, in the last analysis, an expression of the indi- 
 viduality of the artist, and the years bring us the equivalent of 
 revolutionary ideas in this regard. Advertisers have merely to 
 secure the services of these artists to acquire, for the time being 
 at least, an atmosphere exclusively their own. It is unfortunate 
 that there are so many adaptions. 
 
 Excellence of art as art, perfection of draftsmanship, docs not 
 alone satisfy the advertiser's demand for illustrations which 
 are to be atmospheric as to technique and individualistic in the 
 matter of surrounding a product and its campaign with exclusive 
 dress. The thing is deeper than that. It is believable that a 
 picture which may be somewhat weak as a "work of art" may 
 serve an invaluable advertising purpose because of its technique. 
 
 The modern advertiser deliberately commissions illustrators, 
 who have not been identified with commercial work, to create 
 drawings, both because of the artists' peculiar methods or medi- 
 ums, and because of the untranmieled atmosphere they bring 
 from book and magazine experience. 
 
 Pen-and-ink drawing attracts the eye; it is a technique, con- 
 sidered as a whole tliat ai)poars to mystify many. The brush 
 holds less of illusion to non-professionals, the i)ul)lic in general. 
 A pen can be made to weave these fascinating magic tapestries 
 
DISTINCTIVE TECHNIQUE FOR SERIALIZATION 47 
 
 of form and feeling. Therefore, it is only natural that this 
 medium should be much in favor and that its practically limitless 
 range is constantly i)roviding original atmosphere. 
 
 Fig. 25. — Pen and ink illustrations of a peculiarly intricate and detailed 
 character, used to supply campaign atmosphere and to lift the scries out of the 
 commonplace. It is almost inconceivable that human patience could be trained 
 to produce such methodical studies. (Greatly reduced.) 
 
 The Notaseme illustrations, reproduced in this chapter, are 
 marvels of patient and unusual pen technique. The public, 
 accustomed to seeing such products pictured in wash or in photo- 
 graph, is somewhat startled to find that a pen can so perfectly 
 elaborate intricate detail. Pen drawings, therefore, constitute 
 
48 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 promising material for a campaign; thej^ are practically certain 
 of concentrated attention and reflective consideration. "How 
 is it done?" is a query which need not make the advertiser feel 
 that attention is divided between the product and the physical 
 "non-essentials" of illustration. An old subject has been han- 
 dled in a new spirit and with a mysteriously engrossing technique. 
 
 It was not because pen and ink had not been used during 
 prior campaigns that the present Notaseme series immediately 
 commands respect and consideration, but because the artist 
 has handled this technique with a fresh vision and a more start- 
 ling degree of painstaking attention to intricate detail. 
 
 Elsewhere in this volume the highly diversified techniques 
 in sundry mediums are discussed and analyzed at length, but 
 each application has brought to its own campaign some notable 
 and exclusive feature, an individuality which was made a busi- 
 ness asset. 
 
 An advertising technique may go further than the personality 
 of the individual. To attract attention of a favorable character, 
 is an advertising requisite, in the hurrjang traffic of campaigns. 
 If all advertisements wore the same color and the same kind of 
 clothes, what would be the inevitable result? 
 
 If, on the other hand, a technique, in its desire for the spot- 
 light of popular public attention, overreaches its mark and sinks 
 to the flagrant, the unreasoning, the illogical and the super- 
 sensational, it would certainly be as illegitimate as if the opinion- 
 ate and self-sufficient pedestrian in a suit of vivid vermilion con- 
 gested highways. There must always be a tempering restraint 
 
 One advertiser, overzealous, turned to the weird and inicom- 
 promising technique of the futurist for a scries of illustrations 
 and was promptly jeered off the advertising highway. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 DIRECTING THE EYE 
 
 Advertising art is far more subtle in leaving some things to the 
 imagination and in avoiding blatant overemphasis than it once 
 was. At one time advertisers believed it necessary to point out 
 their products by every conceivable illustrative expedient. 
 
 That certain campaigns and their style of illustration make 
 emphasis advisable is not denied. In all the display, there is 
 some one point of paramount interest. Perhaps this point 
 
 Fig. 2G. — A characteristic example of directing the eye to the thing advertised, 
 
 by means of the action of a figure composition. The five persons in this com- 
 position gravitate around the syrup picture, naturally and with mininniin 
 straining for effect. It is wholly possible that a hungry father and his children 
 should make much of the breakfast flapjacks and the maple syrup which increases 
 their appetizing qualities. 
 
 might be overlooked, or casually considered, due to surrounding 
 detail and involved accessories. The advertiser virtually says, 
 when he employs pictures of this character, "We call your specific 
 attention to this one feature." But there is a saturation point 
 bej^ond which forcing attention is really dangerous. The reader 
 takes affront at the advertiser's presumption of reader stupidity. 
 
 49 
 
50 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Legitimate reasons for the use of attention-directing art devices 
 are numerous. Some of them are as follows: 
 
 1. Pictorial presentation of a product which is ordinarily 
 hidden from sight, 
 
 2. Calling attention to service performed, when the action 
 takes place beyond easy eye range. 
 
 Your whole lil'e lon^- 
 Acid-Emsion tliMens d 
 
 THE DANGER. LINE 
 
 Just al tk' (diic vtlhe fiums 
 -Thav ii/icic the vnaimt ends 
 ■Ihic h THE DANCER LINE 
 
 Fiu. 27. 
 
 Upper Left. — A "serialized" attcntion-compeller, which was made the foun- 
 dation of an entire series. It is desirable to have the prospect consider a certain 
 point just where teeth and gums meet. The dotted lines does this admirably. 
 
 Upper Right. — Leaving no room for doubt as to the desire of the advertiser 
 to call specific attention to hosiery. As a general rule, such obvious bits of 
 staged action are undesirable, but the artist has skilfully overcome this by the 
 beauty of his drawing and the pardonable pride of the attractive figure. 
 
 Lower Left.- — Demonstrating how a basic, directing device, can become an 
 important feature for an entire campaign. The silhouetted container, on which 
 tlie name is emblazoned very simply, terminates in a showing of Unguentine, 
 and this acts as a "pointer" to the important action of the i)icture — a wound 
 which requires treatment. The plan here is extraordinarily effective because it 
 automatically features the name. 
 
 Lower Riyht. — -A figure, so conceived and posed, that attention is drawn 
 instantly to the work of the product — the area of cleaned floor. Contrast as to 
 pattern surfaces, and the lines of the woman's body unite in making a "bulls- 
 eye" point of visual contact. 
 
 .3. Emphasis placed on a trade mark, in itself unimportant as to 
 size and relatively insignificant in the illustration as a whole. 
 4. Elaborating upon a feature which is undramatic. 
 
DIRECTING THE EYE 
 
 51 
 
 Fig. 28. 
 
 Upper Left. — The moving stream of transparent oil was made the eye-directing 
 feature of an entire series of unified advertisements. 
 
 Upper Right. — A conventional, but business-like method of directing the 
 eye to an all-important fact in the advertisement. By his personally conducted 
 tour of the eye, in the present instance, the advertiser wishes you to know that 
 here is the one, dominant argument in favor of his product. 
 
 Lower Left. — Artistic \ngnetting of an original crayon and wash illustration, 
 whereby strength of values tapers off from the article advertised, until it finally 
 disappears. The little slippers are in complete detail; not so the remainder of 
 the drawing. 
 
 Lower Right. — A small snubber on a large automobile would not make very 
 much of a showing if photographed normally, but when the car itself is executed 
 in shadowy outline, in grey, and the snubber presented in life-like values, the 
 result is to make it the dominant note in the design. 
 
52 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 5. Sorting out a small product which must be shown in a 
 picture made up of elaborate detail. 
 
 6. Emphasing a standardized trade name. 
 
 7. The product Hmclightcd to avoid human interest claiming 
 first attention and priority of visual study. 
 
 8. Creating visual interest in one important technical phase of 
 a large object. 
 
 Ojfa inur'DcrJiili AiUv^' ' 
 
 
 Fio. 29.— Primitive and obvious, but never failing of its directing purpose. 
 An arrow is a symbol of both speed and accurate designation and sweeps \'ision 
 along with it, however old it may be as a de\'ice. In this case, looping the tail 
 of the arrow around an attractive head, provides a new note. 
 
 9. Center-of-stage position for an important bit of action. 
 10. Objects not inherently interesting or attractive made to 
 take on a fictitious importance. 
 
 The use of figures and of vivid characterization in modern 
 advcrtishig has greatly increased the need for pictorial tricks 
 
DIRECTING THE EYE 
 
 53 
 
 which will counteract the power of human interest. Take, for 
 example, an illustration showing a number of people in a room 
 and the article advertised as anything from breakfast cereal to 
 an ornate lamp: the characters, if in action, may very easily 
 dominate the scene, with the product itself a poor second. This 
 would not be good advertising. Because, when all is said and 
 done, the function of the illustration is to sell goods. That is 
 its excuse. It must pay for the space it occupies. True enough. 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 
 Upper Left. — The advertisement talks specifically and interestingly of the 
 player-roll, which is really the theme of the message. By staging the action 
 along scientific lines, the artist also concentrates attention upon this point. A 
 player piano roll is an intricate thing and the interest shown in it is therefore 
 justifiable. 
 
 Upper Right. — An admirably conceived figure composition, wherein the 
 various characters portrayed concentrate their attention on the product. And 
 just as these men look first at the Humidor Sampler, so will the reader join in 
 the spirit of the occasion. 
 
 Lower Left. — The mechanical solution of a little problem in featuring a difficult- 
 to-feature product. Under ordinary circumstances, the article advertised 
 would be inconspicuous, lost in the preponderance of surrounding detail. In 
 the original, the enclosed area surrounding the Equalizer was run in a brilliant 
 red. The example is taken from an automotive journal. 
 
 Lower Right. — A happy example of a figure composition, in which the action 
 is so staged as to direct vision unerringly to the receiving set. Moreover, facial 
 expressions assist in this, although it is all quite natural. Such illustrations 
 demand intelligent "stage direction" or they will appear forced. 
 
 pictures are sometimes for atmospheric purposes only. But 
 the great majority are admittedly commercial and are members 
 of the sales force. 
 
54 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Fig. 31. 
 
 Upper Left. — The pointing finger never fails of its objective, and while the 
 expedient was one of the first to make its appearance in advertising — and on the 
 public highways — it is just as effective as ever. Here the advertiser has expe- 
 dited matters by eliminating detail from the bottle itself. 
 
 Upper Right. — An artistically posed photographic study of hands, with 
 emphasis placed on the trade mark name signature, which is the keynote of the 
 advertisement. It is accomplished with undue affectation. 
 
 Lower Left. — It is expedient for the manufacturer to direct public attention to 
 a specific feature of his product, in this case, a delicate skein of blue thread 
 which runs through the core of a trade-marked rope. It is a mark of true identi- 
 fication. Vigorous hands, untwisting a length of rope, suj^ply action which 
 in turn directs the gaze to this part of the illustration. 
 
 Lower Right. — "Zones" of eye-interest, frankly mechanical, but justified by 
 the intricate points the advertiser wishes to make, while designating the several 
 talking features of his product. Merely discussing thorn in the text would not 
 accomplish this. 
 
DIRECTING THE EYE 
 
 55 
 
 When an artist so plots his story and his composition as to 
 bend all action in the general direction of the product advertised, 
 he fulfils his real obligation. Thus, children might be eagerly 
 reaching for the breakfast cereal or a contented visitor might 
 give visual demonstration of the comfort and utilitarian virtues 
 of the sitting-room lamp. It is when such carefully staged 
 dramatics become too far-fetched, unreal, and strained that 
 
 Fig. 32. — Despite an unusual amount of distracting detail, represented by the 
 dream background, the eye is first concerned with the typewriter which is the 
 advertised product. Action is responsible for this, the alert fingers and intent 
 pose of the boy responsible. 
 
 unpleasant reactions are inevitable. An instance : On a railroad 
 crossing, with an express train in sight, a box of groceries has 
 fallen from a wagon, and is in imminent peril of being demolished. 
 The driver of the wagon is shown running pellmell in the direction 
 of the tracks, bent on rescuing the product which is concerned 
 in the advertisement. He is on the point of risking his life for 
 so small a consideration. 
 
56 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Such illustrations, being false, unnatural, and obviously forced, 
 defeat their own purpose. True, the eye is led unerringly to 
 the box of gelatine, despite a preponderance of other action and 
 detail, but the picture is wrong at its foundation. The reader is 
 asked to believe that this simple product is more precious than 
 liuinan life. 
 
 Fi<;. 33. — A narrative type of picture, 80 ingeniously thought out and so 
 skilfully handled as to composition, that the watch in the man's hand is \-irtually 
 a visual "Ijullseyc." So i)owerful is this contact that not even the smiling face 
 of the father, looking straight out at the reader, proves a counter-attraction. 
 
 It will be well to summarize the conspicuously successful art 
 methods by which attention is concentrated and the eye made to 
 give prior consideration to some one element in the illustration. 
 
 Place action first for a scientific reason. Even the most slug- 
 gish and indifTeront eye responds to the moving object, to the 
 
DIRECTING THE EYE 
 
 57 
 
 suggestion of speed, and to any intimation of movement. Action 
 is more peremptory than the pointing finger, the arrow, the 
 (h)ttcd line, or the enclosing circular lines, as, say, parenthesis 
 marks. Action achieves the objective in a natural manner. 
 There arc any number of vivid examples of this newer idea in 
 concentrated attention, such as the transparent flow of oil, 
 used serially, for an automobile lubricant, a falling indestructible 
 thermos bottle, a fountain pen writing its own messages, a salad 
 dressing, always pictured as pouring in a thin stream from its 
 container. Action is invented which leads the mind as well as 
 the eye, to the article advertised. 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 (^7t^/^^^H 
 
 1 
 
 
 V^^ 
 
 ^Jm 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 61^ "^CS 
 
 
 Fig. 34.— An example of indirect attention-compelling value. The eye auto- 
 matically turns to the floor which is being splashed. Product advertised — 
 varnish. 
 
 In figure composition, it is the action of the characters that 
 direct vision. As they look, so does the reader. The reaching 
 hand, the concentrated gaze, the smiling features, the tilted head, 
 the step forward, are all attention riveters. For the moment, 
 at least, the reader enters into the spirit of the little advertising 
 play. Therefore it is entirely possible for an illustration to 
 carry numerous figures, involved story, and intensified back- 
 ground detail, without for a moment sacrificing the due which 
 belongs to the smallest article in the composition. 
 
 Light is a vigorous directing influence. And in light there is 
 action. The silhouetted rays of sunshine filtering into a shadowy 
 room, the blaze of automobile headlights, the illumination of a 
 lamp, the golden deluge breaking through storm clouds, and the 
 glow from a window, are all possibilities. 
 
58 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 To what extent light can become an active principle of con- 
 centrated vision, is shown in a page illustration for walnuts. 
 There is no visible source of light, but by warm reflections, dull 
 yellows and red, touches of contrasting color, the walnuts 
 become oddly animated, if this word may be employed. The 
 reader does not actually see it, but an open hearth somewhere 
 near, is surely responsible for the lighting. And it is this light- 
 ing which, despite accessories and figures in the background, 
 draws the eye directly to thing advertised. It is more potent 
 than the human action. 
 
 Fig. 35. 
 
 Left. — An illustration of the homely "human interest" school wliich nevethe- 
 less, despite its abundance of detail and its three characters, cnanages to make 
 the product dominant. There is nothing complex in this; Grandmother and the 
 younsters are shrewdly "stage-directed" to guide the eye to Jello and the making 
 of it. 
 
 Right. — Attention concentrates upon the musical instrument, while enjoying 
 the humor of tlie composition as a whole. The artist has so composed his canvas 
 that accessories and action "play to the product" admirably. 
 
 Then there is the attention-compellcr, which is largely mechani- 
 cal and which depends upon technique, arbitrary compositions 
 or unique and distinctive devices drawn in bj^ the artist. 
 
 A manufacturer is concerned only, as a concrete example, with 
 a single part of an automobile. It may be a very small accessory. 
 Airbrushing the photograph or original drawing in an even 
 tint, save where the product appears, presents the product and 
 
DIRECTING THE EYE 
 
 59 
 
 fogs the remainder of the illustration. Such designs are com- 
 paratively easy to make. A semi-transparent spray of white 
 paint is blown upon the exposed surface, gradually cutting down 
 its strength. Adhesive tissue protects the advertiser's product 
 from this treatment during the airbrushing. By covering the 
 tires of an automobile photograph with frisket and airbrushing 
 every other part in white, the tires would be strongest by con- 
 trast, and the car proper a specter, although complete as to detail. 
 Photographs of figures may be handled in the same manner, 
 although retouching by a more artistic process is the preferable 
 
 Fig. 36. — A dramatic method of featuring the advertised article in an illus- 
 tration made up of other pictorial ingredients. The coach is in delicate pen 
 outline; likewise the background detail. The tires are in wash, and therefore 
 "stand out" in a telling manner. Such effects are obtained by the use of 
 combination plates, line and halftone. 
 
 method, since it allows gradations of tint, accidental effects, 
 and vignetting akin to an original illustration, rendered in wash, 
 crayon or pencil. 
 
 Some attention-compelling art tricks form the basis of serialized 
 campaigns, advertisers making them the foundation of an entire 
 series and occasionally of a connected effort covering several 
 years. By drawing circles in white or in black around the mouths 
 of various interesting types of people, an advertiser of throat 
 tablets centralized attention at this point and illustrated a catch 
 phrase, "the danger zone." 
 
 By the simple expedient of stopping-out the teeth on pictures 
 of smiling faces, with abruptly drawn da.shes of white, another 
 advertiser conceived a standardized attention-compeller which 
 was used continuously for several years. The campaign gained 
 by continuity and by its own monthly momentum. 
 
60 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 There are certainly occasions when an advertiser must direct 
 specific and concentrated attention to one part of his product, 
 while illustrating all of it. It may be some exclusive method of 
 
 Fk;. liT. 
 
 Left. — A quiet, unobtrusive and altogether artistic method of guiding the eye 
 to the advertised product. The more subtle compositions are sometimes best. 
 
 Right.— The bed and its coverings require no pointing arrow or other device 
 to cause the reader to glance undcrstandingly in that direction 
 
 Fig. 38. — The i he figure, admiring the artii'lc hold, plus the shrewd 
 
 subduing of all tones, in order to "bring out" the sheet, automatically direct 
 the eye to it. 
 
 manufacture, some feature of construction which gives it selling 
 impetus, or a mark of identification not usually seen or looked 
 for by the purchaser. 
 
DIRECTING THE EYE 
 
 61 
 
 Why this New 
 motor Breathes 
 
 
 I iiqiiestion.ihl> 
 
 die mo!.t popular 
 driver itsed today 
 
 
 BURKE 
 
 Fig. 39. 
 
 Upper Left. — One of the important selling arguments of this product, is the 
 fact that it almost literally "breathes," thus cooling, automatically, its own 
 fast-running mechanism. The wisps of vapor, leading up to the "gills" of the 
 motor, take the eye along with them and the advertising point of contact is 
 quickly established. 
 
 Upper Right. — However much action and human interest there may be in this 
 animated picture, the eye fairly races to the small watch. Why? Because, in 
 composing his illustration, the artist has placed it strategically. All motion 
 leads to it. The story is constructed around it. 
 
 Lower Left. — Bringing out the product, over all other detail in the picture, 
 by means of intensifying its strength in the rendering, and the action of the 
 hand. Note that bag, clubs and hand are all in "fadeaway" art treatment. 
 
 Lower Right. — No arrow, no pointing finger, could more positively lead the 
 eye to the center of selling interest — the little toy bed which has been freshly 
 varnished. True, this toy is of secondary importance, but in a human-interest 
 illustration of this character, it deserves the lime-light. 
 
62 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 And these cases validate what might be considered commercial 
 devices of an inartistic type, but which nevertheless impress the 
 prospect with a necessary argument. Trade investigations 
 brought one manufacturer to the conclusion that whatever else 
 he did, his advertising illustrations should insistentl}' call atten- 
 tion to the processes of production which carried color in linoleum 
 patterns through to the under side, thus making them longer 
 lived and more serviceable. Pictorially, this theme meant more 
 to the trade than did vistas of beautiful rooms and painstaking 
 
 Fig, 40. — Candy plays a more unpurtaiit i):iri man ciiaractcrs as the action 
 leads up to this certain visual climax. 
 
 reproductions of recent patterns. Arrows in black and of widely 
 different shapes and sizes were featured, and the linoleum turned 
 back to catch the arrow contacts. It was not artistic advertising 
 but it was advertising logic, applied at a time when retailers and 
 road salesmen representing the company alike concurred in the 
 strategic wisdom of the policy. 
 
 Devices such as have been described arc useful as pictorial 
 demonstrators. They represent that periodic emphasis which is 
 a desirable quality in the course of any campaign. 
 
 It is characteristic of advertised products today that they 
 individually boast features which differentiate them from com- 
 petitive goods. To familiarize the public with such elements 
 is more significant than any glorification of the product as a whole. 
 
DIRECTING THE EYE 63 
 
 Such ideas, well illustrated, make campaigns non-interchange- 
 able, and it is so often contended that by the mere exchange of 
 the name, one series of displays would serve just as well for like 
 product. 
 
 The eye remains faithful to signposts. Vision is as surely 
 guided as are mental processes. In advertising design, there is 
 nearly always one dominant point of visual contact, or an action 
 or a detail which should come in for concentrated study. The 
 artist is supplied with a remarkable equipment for forcing vision 
 to do his bidding. Such illustrations as appear in connection 
 with this chapter prove the variety of his implements and the 
 imaginative quality of the pictorial drama he has grown to 
 employ. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 THE ILLUSTRATION AS THE ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 There are sharp clashes of opinion as to the ethics of the adver- 
 tising illustration which is a unit in its own right and which 
 carries little or no reading matter. 
 
 One significant fact, however, seems to be overlooked, that 
 no advertiser makes a practice of the method. It is an idea 
 which is employed now and then, more or less as a luxury, per- 
 haps, a deviation from sameness, or a relaxation. It is rarely done 
 except when some powerful idea is aptly visualized. Unques- 
 tionably, there is something to the argument that the reading 
 public is asked to perform a heroic and seK-sacrificing service, 
 when advertising, in the aggregate, day by day and month after 
 month, offers an inexhaustible cmbarassment of riches. 
 
 The self-sufficient all-illustration advertisement is introduced 
 into the campaign for the following reasons: 
 
 To get a story across quickly. 
 
 To give the public a breathing spell. 
 
 To highlight a continuous campaign. 
 
 To provide advertising novelty. 
 
 To make a big splash. 
 
 To put across one dominant thought. 
 
 To get away from the conventional forms. 
 
 To surround the product with atmosphere. 
 
 To make sure of the maximum reader attention. 
 
 Certain advertisers approach the problem with reasoning which 
 goes somewhat as follows : 
 
 There will be literally hundreds of advertisements in the 
 magazine, the majority of which make heavy demands upon 
 eyes and minds of the reader. It is not Hkely that the elaborated 
 text of all of these advertisements will be digested. This is 
 asking too much. If, therefore, a picture can be originated which 
 shall at once and at a single glance tell an interesting and con- 
 vincing sales story and automatically name the product, it is apt 
 to :«,ttract the larger percentage. They can't overlook it or pass 
 
 64 
 
THE ILLUSTRATION AS THE ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 65 
 
 it b}'. There is an approximation of 100 per cent reader value. 
 It will be impossible to turn the pages of the publication without 
 seeing the advertisement and then the readers are held on two 
 counts, the necessity of at least seeing the picture and the added 
 assurance of their interest because of the unusual and spectacular 
 character of the display and the idea. 
 
 The self-sufficient advertising illustration is not unlike a 
 pictorial and descriptive drop curtain, between the acts of a 
 
 1:OMMUNITY PLATE' 
 
 Fig. 41. 
 
 Left.- — The Lady of Quality speaks volumes for the product. An atmosphere 
 has been created, which requires no lengthy explanation. 
 
 Right. — The Cream of Wheat page suggests that the product is the conerstonc 
 of health and is content with this "reminder." 
 
 play, in the campaign sense. It makes few exactions and it 
 makes it easier for the sluggish mind and the disinterestetl 
 individual. It is the difference, to put it in a different way, 
 between a picture gallery and a library. 
 
 But it must be granted that there are pictures which tell 
 complete stories and which exact the most assiduous study and 
 retrospection. Have you not seen persons stand for a long 
 time before an inspired canvas. The imagination is given free 
 play, where there is only picture. Text does the thinking and 
 the dream weaving for the reader. 
 
66 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 There is a certain famous canvas, a battle scene, painted by a 
 French artist, of which it has been said that it more positively 
 and dashingly describes this battle than five chapters of descrip- 
 tion in a history of the period. The artist has painted the story 
 with a brush. 
 
 Advertising makes the same claims for certain types of com- 
 mercial illustrations. They are labor saving where the public 
 is concerned. They conserve time. They are posters in minia- 
 ture, and, as such, serve a useful purpose. But it is seldom 
 contended that this form of advertising is the best practice when 
 
 Fig. 42. — Could words add very much to this charming study of home life. 
 The reader will visualize his own story of a refreshing bath in an immaculate 
 bath-room, and the equally refreshing sleep which naturally follows. Uncom- 
 mercial, highly artistic, and, as reproduced, page size, in full color, a welcome 
 interlude in a campaign made up, for the most part of more business-like views 
 of the products in question. 
 
 employed continuously^ although there are some successful 
 instances on record. 
 
 Pass down the salon of a number of advertisers who have 
 broken in upon more ethical campaigns, with periodic illustra- 
 tions, complete in themselves. Note that in almost everj^ case 
 the subjects selected and the picture stories told are so complete 
 and so convincing that they are no more than written arguments, 
 put into another and very delightful form. And it should be 
 remembered that pictures have universal appeal. They were 
 our first means of communication They arc inherent in the 
 progress of the world. 
 
THE ILLUSTRATION AS THE ADVERTISEMENT 67 
 
 Pictures may be interpreted by all races and those who speak 
 ail tongues. They require little or no translation. Often, 
 they convey messages which words would fall short of bringing 
 to life. This is particularly true of sentiment, of romance, of 
 the imaginative qualities of people, and of deeds. 
 
 Here is a picture, in charming color, of an attractive mother 
 placing a tiny, sunny-haired boy in his crib. He is chuckling, 
 happy, dimpled, and radiant with health. It is the twihght 
 hour, and he will soon be in dreamland. Through a partially 
 opened door may be seen the product advertised, an immaculate 
 and ultra-modern bathroom with gleaming fixtures and appoint- 
 ments. The luxury of the better type of bathroom, its health- 
 giving, sleep-provoking virtues are all told in the canvas, without 
 a word of explanatory text; indeed, it would appear that words 
 are superflvious The pictures tells the story, and automatically 
 creates a desire for such a bathroom with just such fixtures. 
 True, the name of the product and its manufacturer, together 
 with the address, is appended, as a sort of modest postscript, 
 but in no other place does copy intrude. 
 
 Now study the page, also in colors, of a scene in a Pullman 
 car. Two fine types of men, at ease, lounge back in their chairs. 
 A well-groomed porter is filling their glasses with a widely adver- 
 tised beverage. These men show on their faces every essential 
 copy fact that : 
 
 The beverage tastes good. 
 
 They have tried it before and know it is good. 
 
 It is crisp and cool and refreshing. 
 
 They prefer it to any other brand. 
 
 They are altogether pleased. 
 
 It must be a beverage consumed by discriminating men. 
 
 It is available everywhere — even on trains. 
 The picture has written the copy for this advertisement and 
 has done it ingeniously, without effort. The man whose eyesight 
 is poor docs not have to adjust his glasses. There is everything 
 in the power of expression and in a created artistic atmosphere. 
 These are indeed translatable into words. 
 
 No advertisement in the past fifteen years has caused more 
 controversy than a certain Jell-0 page which was entirely lacking 
 in text. The sole printed message was the stenciled name of 
 the product on the packing case around which the entire action 
 revolves. The impression created by the picture is that a man, 
 
68 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERTISINd 
 
 .V .-.■ ■ ■:-!:Lv-^.j-g.'aa.«:jfttMia*a»aa<f <ii^i»a»atogA>a 
 
 COMML'MTV IMATH 
 
 1 i<;. -i;i. 
 
 Upper Left. — Never a word of text, aside from the familiar lettering on the 
 package of candy. The advertiser seeks to thus periodically familiarize the 
 public with a business asset — the trade mark character and is willing to devote 
 the entire page to it. 
 
 Upper Righl. — One of a scries of poster pages, in which whimsical illustrations 
 are made to take the place of conventional text. 
 
 Lower Left. — This picture, originally reproduced in two jjlca-^ing colors, from a 
 color original, really docs not require any sales copy at all, although two words 
 have been included. The expressions of the faces, the thoroughly natural 
 posing of the figures and the story woven into them allows the reader to form 
 his own quite logical conclu.sions. 
 
 Lower Riyht. — A very charming example of dominant illustration, occupying 
 practically all of the page space, and imaginatively conceived to allow the reader 
 to "write the text for himself," 
 
THE ILLUSTRATION AS THE ADVERTISEMENT 69 
 
 Fig. 44. 
 
 Upper Left. — A three-word caption is the sole attempt at explanatory text. 
 But is reading matter necessary? Very obviously, the little boy knows what is 
 good and is giving sister the one important present in all the world. 
 
 Upper Right. — -"People have no time to read long copy," is a familiar cry. 
 Advertisers who suspect that there is some truth in this punctuate campaigns 
 with such simple, direct messages as the above, where the illustration puts 
 across a selling message. 
 
 Lower Left. — The only text appears in very small stenciled letters on the side 
 of the packing case. It indicates that the crate contains a certain oil range. 
 Although there is no copy, it is at once apparent that the product is a welcome one. 
 
 Lower Right. — Storms of controversy have blown over this mcmor:il)le adver- 
 tisement with opinions widely divergent as to its value. The suggestion is that 
 the owner of the case of Jell-0 values it almost as much as he does his life. 
 
70 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 living in the outlying districts, is homeward bound, (hiving a 
 team of horses. A case of the product, which he is taking home 
 because it is good enough to buy in bulk, has dropped from the 
 end of the wagon and fallen on the track of a railroad. A train 
 is approaching rapidly around a bend. Soon it will destroy the 
 box. And up the road, pellmell, runs the man, intent on rescu- 
 ing this prized possession. Not even an oncoming engine can 
 stop him. 
 
 The contention is made by some that this is a gross exaggera- 
 tion, that no sane person would risk his life for a box of Jell-0 
 and that it is an impossible situation. Nevertheless, it has been 
 one of the most discussed advertisements of years. A great 
 man}' people have commended it and smiled over its amusing 
 drama. It is not within the province of this volume to pass 
 upon advertisements such as this either its approval or condemna- 
 tion. The illustration is given as an example of the type of all- 
 picture display which tells a story directly associated with the 
 product. 
 
 Passing along the salon canvases, one now comes to a picture 
 beautifully conceived and painted, and as expertly reproduced 
 from full-color plates. It is also for Jell-0 and is one of the 
 same remarkable series. 
 
 Scene — a dim room, a library, with a central table upon which 
 wedding presents are piled high — silver and gold and cut-glass 
 gifts in a gorgeous assortment. On the floor, there are silver 
 spoons in cases, vases, a clock, obviously hastily removed from 
 the table, to make room for what a small boy considers of greater 
 importance. It is a box of Jell-0, tied with a white silk bow. 
 This is his gift to the sister who is to be married which he lifts 
 into place with tender solicitude. 
 
 Since so many persons are frankly sentimental, a picture of 
 this type is assured of a friendly and receptive audience, in 
 advance. Women will appreciate and understand it. They will 
 recognize that the little boy has tasted Jell-0 and knows how 
 appetizing it is, and that sister has been similarly impressed. 
 Now she is going away, and she will miss her favorite dessert. 
 
 The ideal illustration advertisement tells a story which is 
 instantaneously worked out by the person looking at it and 
 experience proves that it is a privilege people very much enjoy. 
 The product advertised invariably holds the center of the stage. 
 Action is made to move around it. 
 
THE ILLUSTRATION AS THE ADVERTISEMENT 71 
 
 Sometimes the story is one of a service performod; at other 
 times, the narrative has to do with pleasures accruing from the 
 use of the thing advertised. After all, it is advertising in its 
 most primitive and methodical mood. It dispenses with explana- 
 tions and reasons why. It makes its point by virtue of ideas, 
 situations, and expressions of faces. On other occasions, an 
 advertiser may desire to emphasize a trade mark, a product, or 
 an advertising character, which, in the past, have been relegated 
 to some rather obscure corner. 
 
 The basic idea of the advertisement, which is all picture, has 
 been validated to a large degree in recent years by the type of 
 art employed. Artists, temperamentally equipped to put heart 
 and soul into such canvases, provide studies which dignify them 
 to an unprecedented extent and the pubhc is not unconscious of 
 this fact, because, very often, these illustrations are signed, and 
 these signatures carry prestige and respect. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 ILLUSTRATIVE BORDERS AND MORTISES 
 
 There arc purists in advertising who stoutly maintain that 
 every part of an advertisement should assist in selhng goods in a 
 thoroughly practical manner. Thus, where borders or type- 
 mortises are arranged, they should be made up of selling ingredi- 
 ents. Why, then, form such devices of irrelevant material? 
 Make the border an illustrative theme in itself. IMake it earn its 
 way. 
 
 A series of layouts was submitted to a man of practical mind, 
 and he took exception to the simple black lines which had been 
 suggested as an unassuming mortise design. It was his contention 
 that these black lines occupied space which cost money, and that 
 they failed to justify themselves, because they meant nothing. 
 
 The product advertised was hosiery manufactured of pure silk. 
 When challenged to show how anything of a practical character 
 could })e done in that limited space, this resourceful man created 
 an idea which was used for years. From silk worms and from 
 spools and twists of silk, threads were drawn out and made to 
 form attractive borders. It will be observed that without 
 increase of space, what had formerly been a mere rule, a pen-and- 
 ink line, was made to suggest silk thread and therefore linked 
 up with the article advertised. 
 
 This instance is mentioned because it shows the modern trend 
 in the direction of intensely practical ideas throughout a display. 
 Everything is put to work. Where the basic plan of the cam- 
 paign calls for unique mortise spaces for text, or where decorative 
 borders are considered advantageous, they can easily be given 
 an atmosphere which is in complete sympathy with the jiroduct. 
 Borders, however, may be employed for a specific purpose 
 irrespective of the character of the product. Where an advertiser 
 seeks to create an artistic atmosphere, pure decoration accom- 
 plishes this, in any of its beautiful period forms. Nothing, 
 therefore, in the substance of such borders is asked to tell a story 
 or to picture a product. Its artistry suffices to achieve a desired 
 
 72 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE BORDERS AND MORTISES 73 
 
 objective. It is a frame, a bit of tapestry, a setting for a more 
 important unit. Advertisers can, with profit, expend thousands 
 of dollars on pure period decoration, regardless of the article 
 advertised, and justify the expenditure and the idea. By its 
 own inherent grace and charm, it accomplishes for an advertise- 
 ment what good clothes and good breeding would accomplish 
 for a man. 
 
 The present chapter, however, has less to do with decorative 
 affects, than with trick mortises and borders, within which the 
 major message is set and which are largely pictorial. Often, a 
 product itself becomes the mortise. 
 
 It will be comparatively easy to illustrate the point by referring 
 to several campaigns which have made a feature of this practice. 
 A lumber company, manufacturing frames for doorways and 
 windows, undertook to tell its message to the consumer. Previ- 
 ously, the advertising had been addressed wholly to builders, 
 contractors, and architects. And with the consumer in mind, the 
 campaign must be given added elements of visual interest. 
 
 In page space it was found possible so to mortise out technically 
 correct and detailed illustrations of the frames as to leave space 
 inside for both type and panoramic pictures. 
 
 This idea may have been less artistic than complicated decora- 
 tive border effects, but from a practical standpoint it served a 
 far more constructive purpose than non-committal themes 
 because of the detail material. The workmanship and technical 
 features of these frames could be visualized in large size, w^hereas, 
 in the main pictures, the views were long range and lacking in 
 manufacturing detail. Every page in the series spoke the 
 language of the product. The product itself comprised a dis- 
 tinctive border for the message. It was, therefore, a border 
 which meant something. 
 
 The application is simple enough where the product lends itself 
 to such art treatment. The door-frame is a natural mortise. So 
 would be a piston ring, such as is reproduced in this chapter. 
 But not all articles fall in with the spirit of the idea and it is here 
 that resourcefulness is necessary. 
 
 A not unimportant consideration is the fact that where the 
 product proper is mortised out, its showing is heroic as to size. 
 An advertiser of fine handkerchiefs achieved a distinctive series 
 for a year's campaign, by placing neat blocks of text within the 
 detailed outlines of the handkerchiefs. White linen admirably 
 
74 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Fig. 45. 
 
 Upper Left. — What, could 1)0 more appropriate for this atlverliscr, as a frame 
 than his own goods, inKonioiisIy mortised out? 
 
 Upper Right. — A manufacturer of plush upholstery for automobiles frames his 
 story and illustration in the product itself. 
 
 Lower Lrfl. — The Arrowhead brand features an arrowhead as its trade mark 
 and in order to familiarize the public with this identification design, it was 
 made the simple yet effective border sc^hemc for a year's schedule of advertising. 
 How much bcKer than mere, incaninKless lines! 
 
 Linvcr liigfit. — -'rho charm and artistic merit of this composition is by no means 
 sacrificed because the product forma the natural mortise for text. 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE BORDERS AND MORTISES 75 
 
 permitted this, and it was only necessary to use discretion in 
 the amount of type and its placing. 
 
 A little-realized virtue in this connection has to do with con- 
 centration of reader attention. A unique hedge, or wall, has 
 been erected around the reading matter. It is confined on all 
 sides, not by meaningless border lines and decorations but by 
 the thing which is being described in the text. 
 
 There are, nevertheless, a number of restrictions. It is seldom 
 advisable, for example, to superimpose text over the detail of a 
 product's background. If the product can be opened up, cleared 
 of accessories and confusing matter, then well and good. The 
 handkerchiefs, for example, were drawn in line and their centers 
 were white paper against which type could be compactly set. 
 To photograph the object, and allow reading matter to be super- 
 imposed over the resultant screen would have been far less 
 successful. 
 
 By spreading one section of an automobile tire chain out and 
 by allowing the two side chains and the two cross sets of links to 
 form a natural mortise, an advertiser was automatically provided 
 with a serialized layout scheme, admirable for his purpose. 
 
 To cut out a mortise in the heart of a product, deliberately 
 and arbitrarily, is not a legitimate means of arriving at the type 
 of illustration herein described. The article itself must form a 
 natur-al and unaffected border. 
 
 Sometimes a trade mark can be used advantageously, when it 
 seems desirable to emphasize such symbols and give them unfor- 
 getable prominence. A line of hosiery bore the name "Arrow- 
 head," with a trade mark composed of the head of an old-style 
 flint spear-point. Here was a distinguishing symbol which 
 could easily be made a business asset. The advertiser, in this 
 case, gave distinctive border outline to an entire campaign by 
 surrounding pictures and text with the contour of the arrowhead. 
 Sketchily drawn, it was no more than a line, but it supplied the 
 advertising with a distinctive and exclusive physical identity. 
 Pictorial borders need not necessarily be the product itself. 
 
 A maker of out-board motors for small crafts Avithout power of 
 their own devised w'hat may be looked upon as an invaluable 
 trade mark mortise scheme. He placed illustrations of boats 
 at the top positions in layouts and so shrewdly mortising out 
 the lively wake of the water, that it permitted liberal space 
 for text. 
 
76 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 What the makers 
 of vour ru"S sav 
 
 > JohnS'Manville 
 
 » Improved . 
 
 Asbestocel 
 
 — saves coal 
 
 M£KAY TIRE CHAINS 
 
 "TVl^K 
 
 Fig. 4G. 
 
 Cppcr Left. — Tho ol)vi()us thing to do, whore an advertiser desires to form a 
 mortise of the product itself. Always efTectivc, there is not a detail in the 
 fomposition which wastes si)aco. Moreover, observe the heroic showing of 
 tlie tire. 
 
 Cppcr Right. — The product itself, an electric vacuum cleaner, is not employed 
 as a border theme but a mortised rug of decorative design serves an equally 
 busines.s-like purpose. 
 
 Lower Left. — The product has all to do with heat pipes and tliis border, there- 
 fore, is made to "pay its way" because it is the copy theme. 
 
 Lower Ri(/hl. — \ successful mortise for text supplied by border made of the 
 product. The advantage is two-fold, because it supplies a border which is 
 wholly relevant and which automatically disposes of the problem of picturing 
 the tire chains in detail. 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE BORDERS AND MORTISES 
 
 77 
 
 In order to decide the possibilities of the idea, as appHed to any 
 one product, an analysis of its service and its character must be 
 encouraged. An attractive container of coffee, for example, 
 would not seem to hold forth many opportunities. To mortise 
 out the front of the can would destroy the sole marks of identifica- 
 tion. Therefore, it would appear impractical to apply this 
 pictorial plan to the product. 
 
 Nevertheless, an entire year's schedule was built around the 
 border idea of pictorial mortises, and a distinctive newspaper 
 and magazine campaign was evolved. The following basic 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 
 -A hotel restaurant features its exotic "Congo" Room and forms a 
 decorative border of just the right atmosphere. 
 
 layouts may be mentioned, as indicative of the elastic nature of 
 the series: 
 
 Top of coffee cup, with steam rising from same mortised for 
 text. 
 
 A large coffee cup and saucer, the face of the cup made to 
 hold the message. 
 
 Can tilted, and coffee beans spilling out in oval form to pro- 
 vide mortise space. 
 
 A coffee pot of the old style mortised. 
 
 A modern percolator treated likewise. 
 
 A large coffee bean, stippled on one side, and left open in the 
 center, for text. 
 
 Coffee plantation scene, its foreground detail mortised. 
 
 Every composition suggested the subject, and while the actual 
 product was not made into a pictorial frame, entirely relevant 
 material served a satisfactory purpose. This rule may be 
 applied to almost any article. 
 
 The border of an advertisement is to be likened unto the pro- 
 scenium arch of a theatre. Many varied scenes are staged in 
 
78 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 the same space, but the arch remains the same, as a rule. In 
 some theatres, the proscenium decoration is of such an aggressive 
 character that it actually detracts from the play and its scenic 
 investure. 
 
 A well-known manager insists upon so disguising the base of 
 this proscenium arch in his own theatre that it takes on the spirit 
 
 The t^itiThe 
 
 Handy jftf Handy 
 
 Oil //VlCan 
 
 { f^ndy Oil CaJ l 
 Three IN ONE OIL 
 
 PREVESTSRVST 
 LUBRICATES 
 CLEANS AND 
 POLISHES 
 
 TALKING MACHINES 
 
 SEWING MACHINES 
 
 TYPEWRITERS & 
 
 ELECTRIC FANS 
 RAZORS & STROPS 
 
 i fire-arms 
 „ __> J magnetos:cohmutatoR^ 
 
 hjj?"*"i CASH REGISTERS t LAWN 
 
 Piiiy^''*' l-'SHT MACHINERY, ETC- 
 
 '''*0S. FURNITURE & WOODWORK- 
 
 I^REE IN ONE "oTlCOMP^ 
 DOUWi- " "" 
 
 
 Fiu. 48. 
 
 Left. — Bold, simple, with no attempt to deal in subtleties, this composition 
 features the container as a mortise for text. 
 
 Right. — Effective indeed, and business-like is this frank use of the frame as 
 an attractive border for both text and allied illustration. Commercial it may be, 
 but the advertiser does not seek a highly artistic composition. 
 
 of the play which he is giving to his public. It is a drama of 
 Japan, and special ornamentation is built around the arch which is 
 Japanese in spirit; or, it is a play concerning fisher folk of the 
 Maine coast, and nets are draped over it. The idea is primitively 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE BORDERS AND MORTISES 
 
 79 
 
 How long 
 since your 
 brakes were 
 ^inspected 
 
 Brake 
 
 IKSPF 
 
 fTION 
 
 s li 
 
 jllv 
 
 in,|i.. 
 
 tjnl. In I 
 
 n 
 
 other w 
 
 av c»n 
 
 Ihr . ... 
 
 .iitic 
 
 not 
 
 he hrakcs be detc 
 
 
 mined- 
 
 Oflcn 
 
 . an ill 
 
 p«l 
 
 on reveals brake lin.nu 
 
 
 wnm > 
 
 o thin 
 
 tlial i 
 
 
 prac 
 
 ncallv 
 
 uselcv*-. 111 
 
 I 
 
 scoreti 
 
 dnlm^ 
 
 and p 
 
 <Me* 
 
 ,ng 
 
 IVCtS 
 
 these arc 
 
 1 
 
 ii»ilgor 
 
 s,8..l 
 
 ihat 
 
 nav 
 
 mean 
 
 n scr 
 
 lOUS ilifl. 
 
 dfnr. 
 
 l.'M ^ 
 
 .>ut I'r 
 
 
 n^pctted. 
 
 IVth.tps 
 
 a 
 
 A siniti 
 
 
 
 
 rur 
 
 hr.n 
 
 n excel- > 
 
 fl 
 
 rr r.Ji, ltritr,t; -tit 
 , /i> „M ,:,r, ,t.. 
 
 
 ^xSiU.-. 
 
 SIMMONS 
 CHAINS 
 
 
 of'tlwu0flilncss 
 
 and 
 permanence 
 
 T 
 
 III ki-: Is 
 
 «ilt. giving 
 .,.lv a rcmm.l 
 h.-ppy but of 
 
 r of the giver 
 
 tniporary worth. 
 
 > thoughtfully xc 
 
 liar it is jMrrniiincntly chci 
 
 Such ^^\n be a S|,.M,,.,n. 
 
 ual |,:-.u.-vsul'dra«n.^' , ^.--■. 
 
 ^••Ui ur I'tatinumguU uvcr ^ !(.)•» 
 ■ ■\pttnsivc baae metal. They arc 
 IvaJuM in wntch chain fashion as 
 uoll a^ in durnUiliiy. 
 
 From his holitlay aswjrrmcnt 
 \ ->iir jeweler win bt glad to show 
 you sryk-s iin<i link ilc:»igits appro- 
 priate to men of »]ttfcrent ages anil 
 octHipiitiuns. Simmons Chain* arc 
 re3bon.ili|y pntcd M to J115. 
 
 R. R SIMMONS COMPANY 
 Attlekiro MaMachuseir« 
 
 Fi.i. 49. 
 
 Left. — The question is answered by the product, which, skilfully arranged as a 
 border, forms a question mark. 
 
 Right. — Is it not admissible to say that forming the border and type mortise 
 of the product, in this series, is far more sensible than if mere decorative themes, 
 or familiar straight rules were used? It is possible to show the goods actual 
 size, moreover. 
 
80 ILLUSTRATIOX IN ADVERTISING 
 
 obvious. But this producer's arguments in favor of his phm are 
 akin to the needs of advertising. He beheves that everything 
 of the environment should be in sympathy with the play he is 
 producing. There must be nothing to detract or to clash. 
 He might even burn oriental incense during the run of the oriental 
 play. It is all helpful atmosphere. 
 
 Borders for advertisements are, therefore, proscenium arches. 
 They can be plainly irrelevant, or they may be keyed to fit the 
 mood of the little advertising play which is being produced for 
 a large and discriminating audience. 
 
 The subject, as a whole, in important, because often those 
 advertising displays which are most significant, individual, 
 impressive, and compelling, are based on the pictorial border, 
 formed of the product or allied interests. A manufacturer of 
 cigars places his text within the magic circle of a ring of smoke; 
 a maker of soap individualizes his campaign by setting text within 
 the colorful outline of bubbles or of frothy lather. His borders 
 mean something and are interestingly decorative at the same 
 time. 
 
 It transpires, moreover, that a product is of such a peculiar 
 shape that to emphasize this contour becomes of very practical 
 selling assistance in an advertising campaign. The maker of a 
 non-skid tire had a tire tread design which was unhke any other 
 on the market. Realizing that here was a subject to which the 
 average person paid little attention, a campaign was started 
 which stressed the design in question, enlarging it and mortising 
 it out to contain space for text and other illustrative material. 
 
 A manufacturer of syrup mortised the outline of its can, a 
 container of unusual style and form. Elsewhere he reproduced 
 it in detail and placed all of his messages within the pictorial 
 mortise. The objective was promptly realized. 
 
 One of our most famous showmen once said that he would 
 rather have a sign suspended from the back of an elephant than 
 to print it page size in a newspaper. His logic was simple. 
 He had a frame which was animate with interest. The hunuin 
 eye, often jaded, requires some sort of stimulant. Advertising 
 stories can be set off by any number of expeditious ideas. 
 
 Ten years ago, a maker of country sausages, starting on a 
 small scale in local territory, conceived the scheme of running 
 two column newspaper advertisements, the brief copy of which 
 was type set inside the outline of a young pig. And it was his 
 
ILLUSTRATIVE BORDERS AND MORTISES 
 
 81 
 
 Curtis WoQDWOKK 
 
 ^/"(olv much do }joujni\j to ijcl clolhcs cLm • jhr 
 
 ^«Z!ii'J^"i' ^A^, 
 
 '^t" 
 
 -liC^'r^!'^^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "^1-1 : 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fc.**rt^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 (.iLi i*kK*f h* i«i <i»^ 
 
 X, .Mt- t, 
 
 ...UmI OjA^ 
 
 
 
 
 X T A T^n 
 
 n 
 
 I A 
 
 NAPl 
 
 rj- 
 
 jA 
 
 fenestra 
 
 The Original Steel WindoWall 
 
 Fig. 50. 
 
 Upper Left. — The manufacturer specializes in fine woodwork for homes and 
 this artistic border, made up of the very iiroduct which is advertised, therefore 
 itself takes up the job of selling, as opposed to non-committal decorative schemes 
 which, while pleasing enough, would not relate to the subject in hand. 
 
 Upper Right. — Crude, perhaps, in the working out, but effective as employed 
 for trade magazine advertising, the mortised product supplies an answer to the 
 question: "what is the border to be"? _ 
 
 Lower Left. — A characteristic feature of the product's wrapper is a distmctivc 
 name-plate mortise made up of curved lines. By employing this as a frame 
 for illustrations, the selling theme of the container is strongly emi)hasized. 
 
 Lower Right. — Fenestra comes to life, as a product, in the matter-of-fact 
 detailed border. 
 
82 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 argument that his sausage meat was made from tender, young 
 porkers. 
 
 For years he ran only the pen outHne of a pig, and today the 
 firm is a national advertiser with national distribution. The 
 border might have been line rules taken from the job lot supply 
 of small- town makeup departments. But a border was instru- 
 mental in success. A certain needed atmosphere was established. 
 
 The example may be obvious, humble as to subject, but it is 
 none the less significant. Pictorial borders, where they are 
 born of the product, may easily talk an illustrative language of 
 their own. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 DISPLAY COUNTER IDEAS 
 
 Some advertising campaigns of necessity must feature not one 
 article but many and must accomplish it artistically, with no 
 sense of crowding, of scattered composition, nor of visual con- 
 fusion. Indeed, this school of layout is legitimately popular 
 and, although once extended as a sort of commercial pacifier 
 to the advertiser himself, is now so skilfully negotiated that an 
 idealist would find little room for complaint. 
 
 Many lines of products call for show counter display, correct 
 proportions retained, and relative features brought to the pub- 
 lic's attention in group style. 
 
 The former method was unattractive because it followed the 
 art ideas of the catalog page. Articles were scattered over a 
 page with slight attention to the niceties of balance and of 
 composition. As a result, such advertisements were cold, and 
 uninspired by any effort to introduce novelty of basic plan. 
 
 Gradually the advertiser came to appreciate that many classes 
 of objects could be placed in a given space and their presence 
 explained by the idea which segregated and brought them 
 together. A manufacturer of medicine requisities had, for 
 years, followed the catalog scheme, and his advertising w'as 
 unattractive in a physical sense. A quite obvious expedient 
 at once corrected this weakness of illustrative display. A group- 
 ing of eighteen or more articles on the white enamel shelves of 
 a typical bathroom wall cabinet suggested a complete assortment 
 under the head of medicine cabinet requisites. This was where 
 they were to be found and this was where the average person 
 would be apt to see them. With no waste of valuable space and 
 in a natural frame formed by the outline of the cabinet, the entire 
 line, labels readable and facing to the front, were segregated 
 and yet held together by the reading matter where once their 
 scattered composition confused the eye and made study arduous. 
 
 Illustrations of this school can be prepared either by assem- 
 bling them in an actual cabinet, photographing the aggregate 
 
 83 
 
84 ILLVSTRAriON IN ADVERTISING 
 
 display, and retouching it where detail is faded or lost, or by 
 making separate camera, studies of each product and mounting 
 them into an original drawing of the cabinet frame. The former 
 is by far the easiest and most economical method. 
 
 In similar fashion, an advertiser of sundry aluminum cooking 
 utensils transformed mere catalog page showings of the lines into 
 an attractive, even artistic illustration. Twelve featured utensils 
 were posed in and on a modern kitchen stove at points where 
 they would go into action. 
 
 The trick, if trick it be, seems to be in finding a simple accus- 
 tomed display rack where such articles are located under natural 
 working conditions, the more likely and unaffected the situation 
 the more satisfactory the composition. 
 
 The question naturally arises as to whether, although this 
 idea is available for a single advertisement, the same illustration 
 could be run continuously throughout an entire campaign. 
 
 Consider, again, the advertiser of medicines in package and 
 ])ottle form. Working on the foimdational idea of the group in 
 the cabinet, the following possible arrangements suggest them- 
 selves: 
 
 The line displayed on a drug store counter. 
 
 Goods on shelves in drug store. 
 
 Table in a hospital receiving room. 
 
 On a laboratory work shelf. 
 
 Placed, as if for study, on physician's desk. 
 
 Grouped within outlines of prescription blank. 
 
 It is always permissi])le to present different perspective views 
 of the same composition. Thus, the cabinet could be shown 
 full front view, from various not too acute angles, from above 
 and ])elow, and under widely different lighting conditions. The 
 cabinet on the wall might be illumined by a beam of light from 
 an unseen electric source and this shaft of radiance would pro- 
 vide another attention-compelling feature. 
 
 There is really nothing unusual in such ideas for group com- 
 position, and this, in a sense, increases their value. That they 
 are so obvious doubtless accounts for their infrequent use. The 
 ideas which are everj'where visualized around us are often the 
 last ones to be set down on paper. There is a strong tendency 
 to search for the exotic or the super-sensational. 
 
DISPLAY COUNTER IDEAS 
 
 85 
 
 Fig. 51. 
 
 Upper Left. — A somewhat cluttered composition, displaying the advertiser's 
 line, but there is a certain attention-compelling value to the poster layout and 
 the reproduction of cooked foods makes it intensely practical. One of the devel- 
 opments leading to the new style of composition. A much better page designed 
 for the same company visualized the line in a pantry. 
 
 Upper Right. — The shelves in a housewife's cupboard made to represent the 
 very natural and unaffected setting for the manufacturer's line 
 
 Lower Left. — More formal and catalog-like composition, with no attempt at 
 cleverness. Well-mannered and attractive. 
 
 Lower Right. — A very extensive line shown in a compact and business-like 
 setting. The scene is in a retail store, and the goods are arranged normally on a 
 display stand supplied the dealer. Such photographs may be taken from the 
 actual exhibit and with posed models. 
 
86 ILLUSTRATIOX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 A campaign given over in large measure to the showing of a 
 comprehensive Hne of canned goods was characterized l)y lay- 
 outs and art work which had a marked tendency to cheapen 
 the traditions of the concern. Crude borders held reproductions 
 of the various cans. This was about as far as artists had ever 
 gone in the direction of embellishing the series, and it was deemed 
 advisable to picture not one or two, but many, of the leaders 
 in the line. 
 
 At last came a study of the housewife's pantry, with the shelves 
 attractively covered with scalloped paper. She had neatly 
 arranged the canned goods on these shelves, and, as in the case of 
 the medicine cabinet, an almost perfect composition was achieved. 
 
 Another advertiser of a grocery line simplified his problem by 
 creating what was virtually turned into a secondary trade mark, 
 which could be introduced in every display in a variety of sizes. 
 A typical home market basket was filled with the products, each 
 label turned outAvard. 
 
 It is the scattering of a number of articles which dissipates 
 interest and inartistic composition. Segregate them and bind 
 them together pictorially, and the display profits vastly. 
 
 A type of group picture wh'ch serves its purpose well, while 
 delighting the dealer, is reproduced in this chapter. The line 
 of IVIirro aluminum ware was photographed on the special store 
 stand supplied by the manufacturer and under conditions which 
 bring out the individual pieces. 
 
 The presence of customer and shopkeeper in the same composi- 
 tion supplies a touch of animation which is too often missing in 
 such illustrations. The camera is the artist and specific attention 
 is paid to lighting. 
 
 Where it is practically impossible to arrive at pictorial settings 
 of the character described and where products must be grouped 
 rather formally, background accessories may relieve the com- 
 mercial aspects of the composition. The advertising displays for 
 Oneida Comnmnity silver plate demonstrate a very high stand- 
 ard in this respect. Backgrounds are formed of photographed 
 linen pieces, exquisite and intricate as to hand work, lace, inlaid 
 design, and of pieces of silverware superimposed upon these 
 beautiful surfaces, relieved by shadows and highlight reflections. 
 It should be mentioned in passing that some of these extraordi- 
 nary laces were photographed from rare examples at a New York 
 museum. 
 
DISPLAY COUNTER IDEAS 
 
 87 
 
 SCIUIBB Wee1<j 
 
 N.u.-.ul Ofic, Du.iT« S<|lllll(> WVvk ()iil 
 
 
 "^ar-Ever" 
 
 ^-^■^Aluminum Cooking Utensils 
 
 iVv ■*'iVC Oil Her Kan^c Oirisimas Morning 
 
 Fig. 52. 
 
 Upper Left. — Helter-skelter composition, making a pattern background of 
 the many products and effective, none the less. 
 
 Upper Right. — What could be more natural and decorative and unaffected 
 than this line of medical accessories grouped within the art-frame of a typical 
 bath-room medicine cabinet? The problem of picturing many different articles 
 in a compact manner, is thus shrewdly achieved. 
 
 Lower Left. — An ordinary kitchen range supplies the art setting for a series 
 of kitchen utensils. The old idea was to sprinkle them over the page, catalog 
 fashion. 
 
 Lower Right. — One of a familiar series for Community Plates. The line of 
 products is superimposed upon exquisite table linen and therefore makes an 
 appropriate setting. 
 
88 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERTISING 
 
 The Oneida campaign, used recurrently, is not without the 
 bounds of the general plan of procedure advocated here, because 
 silverware belongs on just such showings of fine linen, and the 
 rare patterns of the series will attract women who must recognize 
 the marvelous workmanship. 
 
 How are these effects obtained? One method is to fasten the 
 fabric to a board, stretching it out evenly. If such fabrics, as in 
 the case of the elaborate lace designs are of open-work, they are 
 mounted on black cardboard which brings out their every detail. 
 
 Greater 
 
 i^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 ,^- 
 
 No3 
 
 Dodeie Brothers 
 
 Chevrolet 
 
 Fig. 53. — A simple method of Krouping three members of a family of products. 
 Rut the illustration.s are from skilfully retouched copy, tricked out with spark- 
 ling highlifihts and contrasting tones. The delicate decorative background lends 
 "class atmosphere." 
 
 The silver is then arranged on the lace, held in place by putty 
 or art gum, but unseen from the camera's angle. Special 
 mortises, name plates, and captions can be painted in on the 
 print. Retouching may be necessary^ particularly in the matter of 
 shadows and highlights. It is also possible to make separate photo- 
 graphs of the two planes of interest and to patch them together. 
 
 Consider the problem of an advertiser of decorative linoleums, 
 whose products depended largely on their attractive patterns, for 
 reader response to campaigns. It has long been a common prac- 
 tice simply to incorporate swatches, or squares of patterns, l)ut 
 this was never wholly satisfactory because of their limited 
 range of design, and to place them artistically in a composition 
 is a nightmare to the layout artist. 
 
 A remarkable photograph taken in a linoleum department 
 formed the basis for an entire series of far more satisfactory 
 illustrations. As in the majority of the instances mentioned, the 
 
DISPLAY COUNTER IDEAS 
 
 89 
 
 setting was a thoroughly natural one and a battery of complete 
 rolls of the product was featured, to say nothing of the linoleum 
 rug spread on the floor for a prospective purchaser. A more 
 complete showing of patterns was not the least of the advantages 
 of this idea. Reproduced in colors, the photographic studies 
 were strikingly successful. 
 
 A similar case has to do with a campaign for fine linens. Job- 
 lot compositions, with individual pieces clumsily arranged on a 
 
 STANLEY 
 
 Fig. 54. 
 
 Left. — Rather ruthless in the manner of grouping, but strong, compelling and 
 original. The basic idea has been used for a year's campaign. 
 
 Right. — An admirable grouping of a wide line of hair-brushes, made into a 
 decorative composition, and given added charm through the medium of an 
 original pen and ink rendering. 
 
 gray background, gave way to human interest pictures, with the 
 product introduced as a living part of the scenarios. The 
 housewife might be just arranging her linen supply in a cabinet, 
 with every drawer open and shelves exposed; or, she might be 
 just removing them from the large basket of the week's laundry. 
 The best show counter displays are those, of course, which permit 
 of touches of life and of action closely associated with the products 
 advertised. 
 
 Where, as in the case of a manufacturer of many brushes used 
 in homes, a salesman's sample case supplies an ideal setting, the 
 
90 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 campaign may adopt this one idea as a standard pictorial theme, 
 perhaps featuring in hirger size one certain brush from the Hne. 
 
 A great packing house has used a toy kitchen with its sundiy 
 articles of furniture and of utensils in miniature. The toy is 
 lithographed in full color, and the tiny packages are faithful 
 reproductions of the larger container of the hne. This cutout 
 is supplied to dealers, given to those who write in, for a nominal 
 sum, and reproduced adequately in national advertising. 
 
 It is seldom wise, in a composite drawing of many objects, 
 to throw one or more out of size key. People are apt to get 
 the wrong impression from such illustrations. It is well enough 
 to enlarge one or two leaders so noticeably that the disparity is 
 understood. 
 
 The modern catalogue displays a tendency to emploj^ these 
 animated group studies, where from six to a dozen articles are 
 included on a single page ; and some ingenious layouts have been 
 evolved. 
 
 A book containing the complete line of a china house formed the 
 cutout cover of a period china closet, while the inside pages were 
 photographic reproductions of a dozen and a half equally effec- 
 tive closets, the china artistically arranged and visible through 
 the glass doors. 
 
 A somewhat similar idea made use of backgrounds of jewel 
 caskets, in which the manufacturer displayed to admirable 
 advantage, the 200 products put out by his companJ^ 
 
 Display counter layouts have come into their own of recent 
 years. They were doubtless first inspired not only by a desire 
 to get away from the conventional page makeup of a past regime 
 but also by the novel display racks and devices supplied dealere, 
 where there is a line to place on exhibition. The National Biscuit 
 Company, featuring a dozen or more kinds of products in as 
 many attractive containers, invented a practical store self-seller, 
 which, when reproduced in its natural colors, became a magazine 
 illustration of far-reaching sales value. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 IMPORTANCE OF WHITE AREAS 
 
 One of the most dangerous practices connected with modern 
 advertising composition, layout, and art embellishment is to 
 measure the value of space by how much can be crowded into 
 it. That the uninitiated and sometimes those who should know 
 better periodically misjudge in such matters may be credited to a 
 quite natural consideration of the economics of space buying. 
 
 An advertiser, using a number of newspapers the country over, 
 decreases the space used in each advertisement of a series, a line 
 or two, and the saving aggregates thousands of dollars. It is an 
 actual fact that by cutting his copy and eliminating eighteen 
 words, one national advertiser kept $43,000 in the till. Every 
 fraction of an inch of space, in any medium, costs money, and 
 when a sizable list of publications is on the list, these fractions 
 loom large in the reckonings of the man who foots the bill. 
 
 It is, therefore, excusable to cut sharp corners and to make the 
 selection of sizes a matter of scientific and even psychological 
 analysis. It has happened in any number of instances that a 
 single-column campaign has achieved practically the identical 
 results as the schedule which called for twice the amount of 
 linage. That advertisers should zealously watch this problem 
 is at once logical and wise practice. 
 
 There is a point, however, beyond which it is dangerous to go 
 in building the advertisement, with such economies in view. 
 To pack the space to the brim with text and illustration is to 
 proportionately decrease its interest, its power to command 
 visual attention, and its artistic atmosphere. An advertisement 
 must attract the eye and must combat competition in display. 
 However worthy its contents and however perfect its illustration 
 and typography, little avails if, physically, it fails to make a suit- 
 able appearance. To make an advertisement stand out, in mixed 
 company is as great a present-day obligation as its message. 
 
 On a magazine page made up of four units, or more, or on the 
 newspaper page, where competition in display is aggressive, the 
 
 91 
 
92 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 builder of the adveitiseiueiit is virtually compelled to take neigh- 
 bors into consideration. 
 
 And of all the known methods of securing adequate display 
 value, liberal allotments of white space is conceded to be the 
 most effective and the most unfailingly certain. White space, 
 wisely distributed, is, in a sense, a protection for the type and 
 picture. Such margins of white fight off surrounding competition. 
 They provide essential contrast. 
 
 On a newspaper page, in testing this out, create two two- 
 column advertisements. In one, permit the material to run to 
 the outer margins and fill all available space; in the other, con- 
 dense picture and text and introduce a border of white around 
 
 Fig. 55. — White was actually made an artistic asset in this remarkable series 
 in which it played such an important part. By eliminating detail and allowing 
 an unusual volume of "white space," the cars were gracefully emphasized. 
 
 the message. Note with what absolute certainty the second dis- 
 play attracts, then holds, the eye. 
 
 It it not theory, it is science. For exactly the same reason it is 
 easier to read typography which is openly spaced and indented. 
 The advertisement which has open areas, or l)reathing spaces, of 
 white paper is more inviting to the eye and commands visual 
 concentration. 
 
 White space is an automatic creator of contrast, and contrast 
 is almost invaria])ly the secret of compelling display. On a 
 newspaper page, there is apt to be extremes of condensation, 
 compact masses of color, "tight" areas of type. When, in the 
 midst of this congestion, there is placed a simpler composition, 
 surrounded by empty space, the oasis formed is inviting to the eye. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF WHITE AREAS 93 
 
 Paste a piece of white paper of even the most modest width on 
 a printed page, and it will catch one's gaze instantly, although 
 there may be accompanying elements of interest, such as headlines, 
 half-tones, and heavy black illustrations. 
 
 Confidence 
 
 |o^i/mrgn* |cli/rvyorv 
 
 roi'liDIWGGIST IS MORS THAN A MEIICHANT' Inlmmiij,inscmcc,minowMceycin-<higfisnsmoreiJianam^ 
 SViarmac v is a liro/essio/l: tlitPrugaist cannot affitrd lo Hfllynu amlhhalrss than mlick^ ifmahly 
 
 Tiy theDriigStorcjirst 
 
 Fig. 56. — One dominant word "set off" by a liberal expenditure of plain 
 white paper. Surely, by way of contrast, such compositions will attract added 
 attention. 
 
 There was a time when advertisers believed that power of 
 display, in commercial designing was dependent upon how much 
 
94 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 
 [Lislerine used as a mouth wash quickly overcomes Halitosis (unpleasant breoth)\ 
 
 Fig. 57. — White space becomes a quite material part of the plan of this cam- 
 paign. With so much "cluttered" advertising, the simplicity of the composition 
 is refreshing to the eye. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF WHITE AREAS 
 
 95 
 
 black was employed; the more masses of black in a picture, the 
 stronger it was sure to be. The fallacy is quickly uncovered 
 when several densely set illustrations on the same page compete 
 for attention. One black area nullifies the other. It is equally 
 true, however, that if many advertisers adhered to the principles 
 of white space as an attention compeller, the novelty would not 
 be so pronounced. They do not, and it is doubtful if they ever 
 will. In any event, the display protected and held aloof by white 
 
 I k 
 
 ^ 
 
 A) 
 
 Fig. 58. — No backgi-ound, no unnecessary and complicating accessories. And 
 white paper is made to pay its way. 
 
 margins is certain to be more dominant, regardless of competition 
 in its own sphere. 
 
 White space must be looked upon as a practical business asset. 
 White space must be considered as essential as the illustration 
 itself or the type display. When one paper manufacturer issued 
 a series of messages, his slogan was : " Paper is part of the picture." 
 It might well have been paraphrased to suggest that liberal 
 margins of white are also a part of the picture. That nothing is 
 actually printed on these white areas does not mean that it 
 represents waste. The advertiser is paying for a frame for his 
 advertisement; he is buying a target, to the bull's-eye of which 
 vision speeds with uncanny accuracy. White paper is restful 
 
96 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 to vision. The eye has no work to do here, and in an area 
 of much advertising and of continuous battle for domiaating 
 overwhelming display, these rest zones lure the average person's 
 gaze. 
 
 FATIMA 
 
 Fig. 59. — Throughout this campaign, strategic use of "plenty of wliitc space" 
 made the displays "stand out" in newspapers, regardless of illustrative com- 
 petition on every hand. 
 
 Advertisers are led into error by the common custom of judg- 
 ing an advertisement, in a physical sense, by its appearance in 
 sketch form or as a proof, detached from the environment where 
 
 Fig. 60. — Greatly reduced showing of a large-space newspaper advcrtisomont 
 in which the judicious employment of areas of white space made it powerfully 
 dominant. 
 
 it must at last seek its audience and compete with many other 
 advertisements. 
 
 A layout which provides for text and illustration monopolizing 
 all of the space may present an entirely conunendable and satis- 
 
IMPORTANCE OF WHITE AREAS 97 
 
 factory appearance. There is no competition It has no battle 
 to fight. There is no confusion of attention. One advertise- 
 ment is seen and one only. 
 
 Place a presumably admirable piece of copy in mixed company 
 and there is disillusionment. Elements which appeared to 
 provide power are, in reality, weakening influences. The adver- 
 tising display relieved and safeguarded by safety zone of white, 
 most surely proves itself when it is in the midst of competition. 
 Nothing can seriously detract from it because it has erected a 
 barrier across which no confusion may leap. It is segregated by 
 its frame of paper. It bids competitive display stand at a 
 distance. 
 
 Considered in the light of attention-compelHng value, and as a 
 means of making an advertisement stand out where display 
 competition is unusually keen, the following fundamentals in 
 the use of white space may be looked upon as academic. White 
 space: 
 
 1. Isolates type and illustration from surrounding matter. 
 
 2. Furnishes the advertisement an immaculate, well-groomed 
 appearance. 
 
 3. Compels attention; scientifically, it attracts the eye. 
 
 4. Provides individuahty of layout over the conventional 
 average advertisement. 
 
 5. Tends to make type more inviting and legible. 
 
 6. Helps to emphasize the illustrations. 
 
 7. Provides essential contrast. 
 
 8. May erect natural hurdle, over which the other fellow is 
 unable to climb. 
 
 9. Gives tone, character, and aristocracy to composition. 
 
 10. Makes everything centered in it more dominant and 
 compelling. 
 
 11. Provides the most sensible of all settings for the message. 
 In its more important phases, therefore, aside from the artistic 
 
 consideration, the use of open margins is, first, a means of attract- 
 ing added attention to the advertisement. No display which 
 employs it liberally and wisely need fear being overlooked. 
 There are, of course, other points of commendation, and these 
 are largely concerned with the illustrative feature. 
 
 The greatest harm which can befall a picture is a confusion 
 and congestion of unnecessary detail. Although the advertiser 
 may not care to use wide margins around or up one side of an 
 
98 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 
 
 
 ELSIE DE WOLFE 
 
 
 ■T 
 
 lg^*^^^^l 
 
 
 ^^^^^^^^^gs 
 
 
 Interior Decorations 
 
 
 
 "^^^1 
 
 Antique Furniture 
 
 
 
 Objets d'Art 
 
 
 
 HI V 
 
 677 FIFTH AVENUE 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FiQ. 61. — Examples of the expeditious use of white space. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF WHITE AREAS 99 
 
 advertisement, the illustrative feature will profit by white space. 
 In many instances, the picture without a background is vastly 
 preferable to the one in which every inch of space is cluttered. 
 
 Art work of all kinds is susceptible to the beneficial influence 
 of such vivid contrast as white paper provides. The newspaper 
 illustration is at its best when the artist eliminates non-essentials 
 of detail. 
 
 When it chances that one object, or figure, in a composite 
 picture must be emphasized and limelighted, the areas of white 
 come bravely to the rescue. 
 
 An experiment of this kind has been tried by an advertiser 
 of automobiles. Because pages in magazines were the rule, in 
 at least one phase of the work, the element of competitive dis- 
 play was not a factor. The advertiser "owned" the page in 
 advance. Attention was not divided. Competition was a 
 negligible quantity. But this advertiser was desirous of making 
 the car the dominant note in all illustrations. 
 
 These canvases portrayed cars and occupants, with a guarded 
 amount of background. It was no mere case of silhouetting an 
 automobile in an area of white paper. There were trees and 
 hints of distant hills, houses, and landscape. In every composi- 
 tion at least 50 per cent of the total space was given over to 
 paper stock. There were no over-all tints and no wide areas of 
 shading. As a consequence, attention was fastened upon the 
 car which was, in every case, the center of the pictorial target. 
 
 When the campaign calls for single columns, half pages, or 
 quarter pages for magazine use, here again margins perform an 
 unfailing service in the matter of providing that contrast which 
 holds competition at a safe distance. And, after all, this is one 
 of the secrets of the attention-compelling display; it does not 
 mix with other advertising. The segregation is priceless. 
 
 Several newspaper pages, representative of their class, are 
 reproduced in this chapter, in greatly reduced form. They form 
 strikingly uncontrovertible evidence of the practical asset of 
 white space. They prove that the eye will seek the open areas 
 and the advertisements which are noted for their breathing space. 
 In natural size, the same truth is intensified. 
 
 No advertiser need fear that his display will be lost or smoth- 
 ered by other advertising and other distractions, if he will study 
 the possibilities of marginal doctrine. And this is just as true 
 of the very small advertisement as it is of the larger campaigns. 
 
100 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 A famous national advertiser pays a visualizer for his knowledge 
 of what to leave out. 
 
 Why is it that certain editorial forms of makeup in straight 
 typography win the tribute of concentrated attention from the 
 reader? The eye pounces on them with a sense of obvious 
 relief. There is a desire to read, even before the character of 
 the message is sensed. Spacing, marginal work, and areas of 
 white are a relief from the everlasting condensation of the general 
 run of type setup. 
 
 Nothing is gained by cutting down the amount of copy, and 
 then spreading it out to fill a given space. Nothing is gained 
 by showing illustrations in bold closeups and then permitting 
 them to run from side to side and top to bottom of the layout. 
 
 The volume of white space around and about them is the 
 deciding factor in their power to arrest attention under any and 
 all circumstances. Advertisers will do well to look upon white 
 paper as one of the most valuable and constructive forces in 
 modern display. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 STRATEGIC USE OF BLACK AREAS 
 
 One of the most common errors in any consideration of the 
 carrying power and attention-compelling value of a commercial 
 illustration is to assume that unusually liberal areas of solid black, 
 either in a line drawing or in a wash original means invinci]>ility 
 of display. This belief is particularly prevalent among those 
 who prepare advertising for newspapers, trade journals, and farm 
 magazines. Heavy masses of black are injected with little or 
 no consideration as to the fitness of things. It is used because it 
 would appear to dominate over surrounding displays. In a 
 sometimes selfish desire to "kill off" the competitors' advertising, 
 these campaigns smash their way, rough shod, through the press. 
 
 This situation reached a state where many of the more exacting 
 newspapers set up office rules which promptly prohibited solid 
 blacks, save when there was a legitimate reason for them. If 
 the thing portrayed is black, then the advertiser may employ it; 
 but if masses of black are introduced for no better reason than to 
 dominate ruthlessly, such areas are officially edited in the news- 
 paper office by a department specializing in it, or the advertiser 
 may after a warning, handle the problem himself. 
 
 From the newspaper publisher's point of view, the objection to 
 overly dominant blacks is fundamentally sound. Spotted, 
 broken pages, considered in the aggregate, are displeasing to the 
 reader. They disturb any restful contemplation either of news or 
 of advertising. They are brutally distracting. Nor does this 
 mean that the eye is pleasingly lured to them. They are not, 
 of necessity, attractive. The modern well-conducted newspaper 
 strives for pages which, while strewn with advertising, are never- 
 theless a composite, closely knit mass, with no one thing standing 
 out to a considerable degree. 
 
 Ethically, the newspaper does not look with favor upon any 
 advertisement which palpably elbows other advertising off the 
 page and out of the vision. Campaigns should share and share 
 alike. If they dominate at all, they must do it by virtue of 
 
 101 
 
102 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Fia. 62. — Black, boldly dominant, made to serve a useful purpose in emphasiz- 
 ing a white product. 
 
 FiQ. 03. — Another example of the 
 strategic use of black. 
 
 l''io. 01. 
 
 -The backgruuiid i)n)\i(lcs 
 strength. 
 
STRATEGIC USE OF BLACK AREAS 
 
 103 
 
 skill in composition, artistic or illustrative quality, or power of 
 text and headlines. 
 
 A picture of a black automobile can be shown exactly as it is; 
 a picture of a building may not have heavy black shadows. The 
 distinction is obvious. Masses of black are in good taste when 
 they are an inherent part of the character and appearance of 
 the product itself. Even black lettering is stippled and made 
 lighter in tone. 
 
 The process of bringing illustrations, violating newspaper rules, 
 to an acceptable appearance is mechanical. There are numerous 
 
 Fig. 65.^ — Three skilful adaptions of black, featured, as a campaign trade-mark 
 touch of individuality. It is unfair to judge them from these greatly reduced 
 engravings. The series was considered revolutionary. 
 
 engraving methods of arriving at it and in the majority of cases, 
 the actual plates are "treated." Advertisers who are insistent 
 upon black illustrations for newspaper use might study their 
 schedules in advance and make copy conform with the rulings 
 accepted by other successful advertisers. 
 
 There are no such restrictions in the matter of standard 
 magazine advertising. The amount of black used is entirely 
 discretionary with the advertiser. Satisfactory printed results 
 are certain, which is not always the case with reproductions on 
 cheap paper stock. The use of large areas of black becomes an 
 artistic study. It is done with wisdom and with restraint. 
 Black may become something akin to a mark of advertising 
 identification for a campaign. 
 
 An instance of this can be cited : The firm of Black, Starr and 
 Frost, jewelers, after a careful investigation of the advertising 
 
104 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 in such journals as the firm was compelled to use in making up a 
 scientific schedule, found that while there were numerous cam- 
 paigns of photographs, of original wash drawings, reproduced in 
 haK-tone, and of pen-and-ink, dry-brush, and other art mediums, 
 there were practically no campaigns using heavy black to such a 
 liberal extent that the public might grasp it as individuality in a 
 series. 
 
 Pages were originated with black as the one dominant note. 
 The area of black constituted no less than 80 per cent of the 
 display. Black, with poster combinations, was actually trans- 
 formed into an advertising asset. A string of precious pearls 
 was superimposed against a simple square block of ebony, with 
 no accessories. Two pieces of silver, in half-tone, were likewise 
 featured on a single page. A startling composition was that of 
 one blue diamond lying on a block of black. 
 
 This was not done, however, to dominate, to detract from other 
 advertising. It was the soul of the campaign. It was the 
 note which individualized it. Diamonds, silverware, pearls, 
 whatever the product, stood out as never before in any previous 
 series. The areas of black were valid because they constituted a 
 display counter for the products advertised. The effect was 
 much as if any one of these articles had been placed upon a large 
 piece of costly black velvet. 
 
 The series was not permitted to grow monotonous. If several 
 articles must be shown in a single page, then they were artisti- 
 cally arranged, as if they were lying upon an ebony tray, but the 
 characteristic effect was not weakened. The most unimaginative 
 person could quickly distinguish that this was one of a scries of 
 advertisements. Here was an instance, then, of black used 
 advisedly to individualize a campaign and to provide contrast 
 for the products. 
 
 A manufacturer of combs, alert to the knowledge that his 
 product was not one unusual from a pictorial standpoint, sought 
 a means of making it so. The combs were black. In the illus- 
 trations employed by the company, white, grey, and solid black 
 were used. Flat masses of gray background, relieved by simple 
 delicate motifs of white, held representatives of the combs and 
 these were practically in black silhouette, with detail all but 
 eliminated. 
 
 The product itself, normally black and intensified in the art 
 treatment, was given bull's-eye position through the wise use of 
 
STRATEGIC USE OF BLACK AREAS 
 
 105 
 
 -And 3-m-One 
 
 3-in-One 
 
 black and was provided with contrast by the gray tone and the 
 intermittent whites. 
 
 In magazine work, illustrations in line and in graduating shades 
 of half-tone are often made decorative, compelling, and poster- 
 like through the use of solid black backgrounds. In the illustrat- 
 ing of a campaign for refrigerators, an advertiser employed these 
 black backgrounds because the ice box was of white enamel, and 
 the black, aside from its other virtues in the series, intensified the 
 spotless finish of the product. 
 
 Black is valuable in an illustration, only when it is a means to 
 an end. Too much black defeats its own purpose. An illustra- 
 tion overburdened with large areas of black 
 is a vexation to the eye and tiresome to 
 vision. It becomes somber, depressing, and 
 heavy. For black, after all, is not cheerful; 
 contrast gives it its true value. 
 
 An outKne drawing in pen and ink can be 
 made and a single cautious area of solid black 
 introduced where it has a right to be ; it will 
 seem strangely interpretative. Use several 
 similar areas and the value of any one 
 decreases in rapid proportion. 
 
 Too much cannot be said on the subject of 
 the relation of black with contrasts. Black 
 may easily nullify the power of black, if there 
 is too much of it and there are too many 
 points of distribution. 
 
 The silhouette has attained its popularity 
 solely on the basis of contrast, plus individ- 
 uality of technique, but the more success- 
 ful silhouettes are those which distribute 
 values with scientific discrimination. Place 
 a single figure, for example, in black 
 against a white background, and it is startling and compelling. 
 Muddle it up with background blacks, in addition to the main 
 figures being in black, and the results are not satisfactory. 
 The silhouette in black has a fascination, particularly when 
 figures are thus represented. 
 
 Imagination fills in the missing detail. Show only the profile 
 ■of a face in black silhouette and the observer's own mind begins 
 instantly to imagine the details. Such silhouettes, however, 
 
 Fig. 66. — In its 
 half page size, the 
 bhicks in this design 
 served an interesting 
 purpose, for, despite 
 the strength of these 
 areas, they only 
 served to elaborate 
 the detailed package. 
 
106 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 retain strong points of individuality. It is possible, as a conse- 
 quence, to retain an almost photographic likeness of the 
 individual. This fact is familiar to all. 
 
 The use of solid black in any illustration, regardless of its sub- 
 ject or its art medium, is strong or weak, in proportion to the 
 discretion used in surrounding material. The placing of con- 
 trasting notes in correct juxtaposition is one of the secrets of 
 this. If there is a considerable area of black, it should be 
 quickly relieved by a corresponding area of white or of some light 
 tone value. 
 
 
 '/ itmtijtt ^rtS Urn bt aiuimd b} lit (naljn jnnliT. 
 
 iwanrr jm hifrnj; umi. It^uiti *rr rtal ttftSi »f ^tl, vhUb 
 
 Cijmng Ji.-trjin • rfKh » />/«//■ ^f»fJ itt ^ul plwnfi ilmi « ii^nl 
 
 mm, iummdi. tmppbnti ««</ mtt^Ui by tbt ftrfte maiit «/ «Tt and ^ttlily. 
 
 
 Fig. 67.- — Large areas of solid black made to serve a serialized purpose through- 
 out a progressive campaign. Line or wash objects superimposed against such 
 areas, boldly and without fear. Yet there is nothing "funereal" about the 
 illustrations as seen in their page size. 
 
 Too nmch black, in large areas, will cheapen an illustration if 
 precautions are not taken. This applies more specifically to 
 campaigns in magazines, where an aristocracy of atmosphere is 
 desired. 
 
 That it can be made to work sympathetically with class com- 
 positions, however, is evidenced by the wholly artistic results 
 attained by the Black, Starr and Frost campaign. Several of 
 these fine advertisements are reproduced here and justify study. 
 It would appear impossible to splash a magazine page with a solid 
 black and at the same time preserve dignity, artistic merit, and 
 
STRATEGIC USE OF BLACK AREAS 
 
 107 
 
 an atmosphere which must be associated with products of this 
 character. 
 
 Specific attention is called to the display in which a pearl 
 necklace is superimposed against a black panel. 
 
 The decorative elements, together with perfect composition 
 in this case, hold the page aloof from such cheapening influences 
 of solid black as have been mentioned. By placing the string 
 
 Columbia 
 
 Dry Batterie^/ 
 
 Fig. G8. — Various uses of generous amounts of black in order to give striking 
 contrast where it is most essential. 
 
 directly in the center of the black area and by looping the pearls 
 with rigorous, mathematical precision, the eye does not rebel at 
 the volume of this black. The background becomes part of a 
 design. And the tiny decorative motif at the bottom supphes an 
 essential relief. With equal skill and understanding, the name 
 plate display and two blocks of typography seem to fall into per- 
 fectly alloted spaces. They also serve to take some of the harsh- 
 ness from the simplicity of the background. 
 
108 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 It is interesting to find that combinations of these same ele- 
 ments, in the main, are apparently without end. This campaign, 
 long continued, did not find it necessary to repeat a composi- 
 tion. The same typographical makeup was not employed twice, 
 and always those substantial squares of solid black provided 
 illustrative and decorative character which individualized the 
 series. 
 
 The use of areas of black is a responsibility. In the hands of 
 the novice, it may do irreparable damage to any campaign. It 
 may dominate to such an extent that the message in tj'pe becomes 
 weak and inconsequential, or it may defeat the true purpose of 
 the illustration as a whole. 
 
 An artist who has specialized in this field has his own effective 
 method of knowing how much black to use and where to place it. 
 He makes his layouts in outline, has photographic prmts made 
 the same size, and experiments with them until the best possible 
 combination is secured. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 THE ANGLE OF PERSPECTIVE 
 
 The abundant possibilities of perspective are by no means as 
 fully understood or applied as they deserve to be. Perspective 
 brings fresh viewpoints to compositions. It is such a plastic 
 science and so adaptable that the most prosaic subject can be 
 given new interpretation by even casual application of its rules. 
 
 In a rudimentary way, many persons appreciate that perspec- 
 tive includes elements of vision. To stand on the observation 
 car platform of a moving train and to see the tracks converg- 
 ing on the far horizon is a simple visualization of perspective. 
 The amateur who places his camera too near the base of a tall 
 building and tilts the camera upward, to include the entire 
 structure, discovers to his dismay that perspective has its pitfalls. 
 Every snap shot enthusiast is familiar with the grotesqueries of 
 unstudied perspective in the abnormal and distorted results 
 which follow. The dictionary defines perspective as the "art or 
 the science of representing, on a plane or on a curved surface, 
 natural objects as they actually appear to the eye." 
 
 There are several technical branches of perspective, all of 
 which are essential to a complete mastery of art, but the present 
 treatise does not call for detailed analysis. What concerns 
 the student is the application of the simpler forms to advertising 
 art. It is a study in itself, heavily charged with diagrammatic 
 analysis, although many artists seem to be born with a con- 
 sciousness of its most subtle ramifications. Results are achieved 
 without recourse to "vanishing points" and ruled lines. It will 
 be well, nevertheless, to understand that the "station point" 
 represents the individual's place and position, as he focuses his 
 eyes. 
 
 Because there is such a thing as a universal station point, 
 the tendency is in the direction of sameness. As things are seen 
 in everyday hfe, under perfectly normal conditions, so are they 
 put on the advertising canvas. This is the eye range and the 
 station of the greatest number of individuals. Advertising, 
 
 109 
 
110 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 for Indiana 
 
 <■, 
 
 
 
 Fia. 09. — (Seo opposite page for explanation). 
 
TUB ANGLE OF PERSPECTIVE HI 
 
 Explanation of Illustrations (Fig. 69) 
 
 lu the "E for Indiana" illustration, perspective permits a broad \'ista of 
 streets, many little figures and a "look-down" thoroughness of detail which 
 would be impossible were the usual street-level perspective to be employed. 
 
 A very novel use of photographic perspective. The plan was used by the 
 Advertiser in catalog work, in mailing folders and in standard magazine copy. 
 Figures and products are posed, and the camera pointed downward on the 
 scene from a balcony above. As it was advisable to show the INSIDE of the 
 washing machines, when tops were removed, many of these perspective illus- 
 trations were, therefore, unusually serviceable. 
 
 Unique perspective for an illustration, by means of which the tires are shown 
 unconventionally, strikingly and are forced into immediate eye-range. 
 
 The product advertised in this airplane view was roofing, and by looking 
 DOWN on his scene, the Advertiser brings out his story in admirable detail, 
 to say nothing of the asset of originality of composition. Such pictures as this 
 are very certain to command attention. 
 
 Vacuum cleaner illustration. It has been characteristic of many campaigns, 
 the products of which are difficult to portray in pictorial form, to "look down" 
 on various scenes, thus elaborating detail. Aside from the fact that the picture 
 becomes commercially valuable, as telling a story, the compositions are strik- 
 ingly different from the "average run." 
 
 Factory scene. Normal \'iews are those which are most often observed from 
 the street level, from floor levels. But where buildings are to be illustrated, in 
 groups, and where one structure is behind another, covering acres of ground, 
 it is manifestly impossible to secure the panoramic effect save by looking down 
 from above as in the accompanying characteristic drawing — an original, not a 
 photograph. In a case of this kind, the camera is apt to distort. 
 
 By looking down on the desk, as well as other manufactured pieces, the adver- 
 tiser allows you to see the more important details and features. In designing 
 this campaign, the basic thought was: "Where people USE a desk is the part 
 which looms largest in their eyes, therefore it was our desire to not only create a 
 novel style of illustration but to show the roominess of the product." 
 
 Photographic example of the wide horizons which are made possible, by 
 means of "Bird's-eye" views as the camera is placed above the scene or the 
 object. When artists are called upon to produce original illustrations of such 
 panoramas, the camera may supply supplementary working data. 
 
 Rutty road. An entire series of accumulative interest and advertising value, 
 was devised by this advertiser, to exploit shock absorbers, depending for its 
 originality, its unusual characteristics, upon the elements of applied perspective. 
 The viewpoint of the artist and of the reader, is that of the person at the wheel 
 of the car, skilfully portrayed. The series brought out the hazard of rough 
 roads. 
 
112 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 however, quite properly seeks the unconventional. It is urged 
 to do so by virtue of the ever-increasing volume of similar cam- 
 paigns. It is just as valuable for an advertiser to conceive a 
 fresh viewpoint, pictorially, as to seek untrammeled ideas and 
 copy. 
 
 And it is here that perspective comes to the rescue. It takes 
 the most prosaic object or idea and suppUes innovation both of 
 atmosphere and of technical details. And because the pubHc 
 does not commonly see things from this viewpoint, it is more 
 than ordinarily interested; its imagination is stimulated. 
 
 The average magazine, or newspaper, reader would discover 
 nothing startling in the skilful painting of an automobile, if 
 the artist should select as his perspective the visual street 
 range commonly used. If, as was actually done, a campaign 
 of illustrations was prepared, looking down upon cars and their 
 environment, attention would be intrigued. 
 
 To present pictures of people and of things as they are not com- 
 monly seen is a proved advertising asset, provided attention- 
 compelling value is of primary importance. Sometimes, an 
 advertiser sets out to do this because he wishes to present an 
 illustrative novelty, well off the beaten path. The far more 
 legitimate use of perspective is related to an advertising need 
 and a selling requisite. The product difficult to show is handled 
 satisfactorily when perspective is varied. In other words, there 
 is a commercial value to the idea. 
 
 It is possible more clearly to demonstrate this by referring 
 to a number of conspicuously successful and workman-like 
 examples. Studied perspective makes the illustration a better 
 picture for the purpose. It assists chiefly in selhng goods and in 
 clarifying some special talking point, aside from its novelty 
 and its appeal to the imagination. 
 
 The manufacturer of an appliance which is used in practically 
 all of the departments of any large business had to tell the story 
 of an intercommunicating system, whereby a dozen or more 
 offices were benefited and served by the work performed. To 
 picture one office, or one desk, would not be visualizing the story. 
 Nor would a view of large offices, as customarily seen from the 
 main entrance, fill this order. Offices were separated by parti- 
 tions. No normal vista or photographic panorama could be 
 made to cover the ground. An artist, working in skeletonized 
 pen outline, dispensed with partitions and, from a station point 
 
THE ANGLE OF PERSPECTIVE 
 
 113 
 
 above, drew his picture of the complete floor space of a luodcrn 
 business, inckuling workers at their desks. At a glance the eye 
 took in this diagrammatic illustration and its message. Normal 
 perspoctivc would not have permitted a picture of this character. 
 
 Ives Toys 
 
 MAKE HAPPY BOYS 
 
 TRAIKS AND ACCESSORIES 
 
 CLT TH IS CX'T WITH \. 'l 
 
 h 
 
 Fi(i. 70.--Persijective permits the showing of the entire niiniudire 
 railway system. 
 
 In practically all of the instances here cited, the perspective 
 idea involved belongs to the "bird's-eye-view" classification, 
 and this is by far the most popular and serviceable. It is as if 
 the artist had drawn his picture from some position above the 
 scene selected. He looks down upon it. The result is invariably 
 a canvas which wins unusual attention, while delivering a pre- 
 cious selling message. 
 
114 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Remember this: There is nc subHinite 
 for Ditto. No other known form of 
 "short run"dupIication rivals its speed, its 
 accuracy, its economy. Wherever there 
 are orders or invoices to be reproduced, 
 wherever there are requisitions, ac- 
 counting forms and the like to be 
 exa<flly copied— there Ditto will serve 
 and save. Invite him, and the Ditto 
 Man near you will be glad to show yew 
 how— or, send for the Ditto Book 
 and get the £iory complete. 
 
 Ditto, Incorporated 
 
 3nl Floor. S30 South Dearborn Sim 
 Chicago 
 
 Ditto 
 
 THE QUICKEST WAY TO OUPUCATE 
 
 rAut k^tftitt •" rMtMf 
 
 y 
 
 ^ ^ .* 
 
 Fig. 71. — By the aid of perspective, an advertiser presents an illustration of a 
 look-down view of an entire business-office floor — which would be impossible 
 otherwise. The perspective thought was utilized throughout a connected series. 
 
THE ANGLE OF PERSPECTIVE 
 
 115 
 
 A firm advertising metal roofings at first could hit upon no 
 pictorial scheme of an original character other than to secure 
 photographs of buildings and installations exactly as had been 
 done for years. Such illustrations would not feature the roofs. 
 The side elevations were forced extravagantly upon the vision. 
 And there was an added reason why 
 the old-style idea did not look en- 
 couraging; a part of the argument 
 was to tell about certain types of 
 roofs, structurally, such as, for ex- 
 ample, the "standing seam." 
 
 An artist made an obvious sug- 
 gestion. "If you wish to show roofs," 
 he declared, "why not look down on 
 them from above. A bird's-eye per- 
 spective is what you require. In 
 this way, we feature the roofs, and 
 dispense with almost all other non- 
 essential detail." 
 
 A series was made after this fashion 
 and it was instantaneously successful. 
 By placing one large building in the 
 foreground and by including just 
 enough surrounding scenic investure 
 and figure animation, the severity of 
 the subject was relieved. It may be 
 interesting to note that the artist 
 made technical notes from airplanes 
 and skyscrapers. 
 
 The picturization of large factories, 
 industrial plants of all kinds, and views fig. 72.— Perspective opens 
 
 of institutions made up of countless up more liberal \istas for the 
 
 11 •, 1,1 , r ,1 i- advertising illustrator. In this, 
 
 small units would be out of the question ^ne of a remarkable series. 
 
 were it not for the possibilities of per- action is magnified and many 
 , • 1 • 11 •j.t. a little individual zones of inter- 
 
 spective drawmg, whereby, with floor ^3^ ^^^ be introduced. 
 plans and separate photographs, the 
 
 artist pictures his complex scene as from above. Ordinary cameras 
 distort such panoramas. A picture made from the street would 
 include no more than the buildings in the immediate foreground. 
 
 In the production of such illustrations, the modern airplane 
 camera is of invaluable aid. Although the pictures taken can 
 
116 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 seldom be used, they supply the architectural artist and pano- 
 ramic expert with the material he needs. The production of 
 illustrations of this type is a distinct specialization, and it is 
 here that the rules and the mechanics of perspective are put int9 
 intensely scientific practice. Nothing is taken for granted and 
 the eye is not trust otl. 
 
 Fig. 73. — Perspective allows the advertiser to show liis product when said 
 product is in a hard-to-see place or position, as in this very striking example. 
 The heater happens to be under the feet of the occupant of the automobile and no 
 average, normal \'iewpoint would bring it out clcarlj\ The artist, however, 
 looks from above and down, over the shoulder of his figure, and immediately the 
 advertised product becomes dominant in the comjiosition. Moreover, it means an 
 unconventional posing of the human interest units. 
 
 For a number of years, advertisers of carpets and rugs were a 
 little disturbed and perplexed because illustration failed to ade- 
 quately present the product. Sharp perspective displayed more 
 
THE ANGLE OF PERSPECTIVE 
 
 117 
 
 of everything in the room than the floor coverings. It has not 
 been until recent years that resourceful artists put the look-down 
 view to work, thereby visualizing the product as never before and 
 making it possible to show pattern details. Even human figures 
 are introduced and the most unusual views of them are obtained. 
 
 Bird's J^cponsct Ru^s 
 
 DEFY WATER AND WEAR ^^ 
 
 Fig. 74. — A most ingenious application of the rules of perspective. Looking 
 down upon the product ... a rug . . . the artist not only introduces pat- 
 tern detail, which would be otherwise out of the question, but visualizes figures in 
 a refreshingly attractive manner. To "look across" at a rug, as if standing on 
 the floor level, would mean distortion. 
 
 which automatically adds another virtue to the idea, because 
 novelty is an essential adjunct to advertising art. It has been 
 often said by experts that there are few things more difficult to 
 
118 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 draw than a heavily patterned rug, or carpet, in sharp perspective. 
 The modern method of simphfying the task is to spread the floor 
 covering out in a large room and to photograph it in the exact 
 perspective required. 
 
 This photograph may be mounted, and figures and accessories 
 painted on its surface, the print serving as an accurate guide for 
 colorist, for retoucher, or for the artist who may employ the 
 photograph as a technically correct guide from which to paint 
 or draw. 
 
 The value of perspective, in a commercial sense, as helping to 
 elaborate a sometimes hidden or clumsily positioned product, is 
 to be observed in a remarkable series for a manufacturer of auto- 
 mobile heating devices. The mechanical part which it was desir- 
 able to call to the attention of the prospect was the metal grill 
 work plate set into the floor of the car. Because closed cars were, 
 of course, the rule, the problem of properly illustrating this 
 feature may be well understood. The task was made still more 
 involved by the necessity of introducing figures which, in every 
 case, were to reflect the comfort of the heating system. By 
 looking over the shoulder of an occupant and down to the floor 
 of the limousine, the artist overcame every supposed obstacle. 
 The pictures were always striking and original in composition. 
 
 Photographs and original drawings of a certain electric washing 
 machine proved of passive advertising value, because the exterior 
 of the device counted for less than the inside mechanism. But 
 to picture sectional views and strip off the outer frame meant to 
 run the risk of presenting illustrations which were mechanical 
 and complex and therefore not particularly interesting to women. 
 Accordingly, several models were photographed from above, 
 their tops put back. Enough of the exterior features of the 
 washer remained in the picture to identify the machine, and the 
 mechanism, which was novel, was shown admirably. 
 
 An advertiser's story for an entire campaign had to do with 
 multitudes of people, hurrying along crowded routes of traffic. 
 Four out of five of these people suffered from a common ailment. 
 A perspective from the angle of the soaring bird helped to make 
 this advertisement differ from the usual study. 
 
 A series of ingenious illustrations for another advertiser 
 selected as their basic theme vistas of the street life of various 
 communities. As many as two or three hundred persons and 
 numerous duildings, animals, and motor cars had to be included. 
 
THE ANGLE OF PERSPECTIVE 119 
 
 They were cross-sections from city life. That the artist 
 employed as his station point the view which might be had from 
 the window of a four-story building allowed him to picture 
 objects in full detail and with no overlapping of subjects. 
 
 The best perspective studies are the result of analysis. The 
 artist does his best to see the object or the scene in the same way 
 and under the same conditions which are to govern the reader's 
 station point. This is more particularly true of technical draw- 
 ings. In another generation, perhaps, when the airplane becomes 
 demonstrably practical for the masses, the look-down view 
 may lose its present novelty and attraction. 
 
 Some years ago, a genius drew a series of pictures which were 
 worm's-eye views; that is, the artist looked up from underneath 
 at the subject. Advertisers will go to any extreme to bring out 
 their specific talking points. One maker of cars wished to feature 
 parts of the chassis, and the worm's-eye illustration was exactly 
 what the situation demanded. To see a thing and to picture it 
 as it is not customarily seen by the majority of persons has 
 brought out the unconventional advertising illustration. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 THE PRODUCT IN HEROIC SIZE 
 
 The illustration of the groups of tiny men tying the "giant" 
 Gulliver to the ground in " Gulliver's Travels" serves as a striking 
 example of what vivid contrast will accomplish, pictorially, when 
 two opposing elements are placed side by side. Similarly, again, 
 when Swift reversed the idea and the insignificant Gulliver was 
 held in the palm of a great Brobdingnag hand, imagination was 
 stimulated. Small objects may be given heroic proportions and 
 added advertising value or they maybe fitted into unique environ- 
 ment by the same interesting process. 
 
 The unusual in illustration is invariably sure of its following. 
 Pictures which present the striking, the unaccustomed, the 
 daringly original, are attractive to everyone. They are fairy 
 stories told to an audience wiUing to make the story come true. 
 
 Advertisers frequently feel the need of concentrating solely 
 upon their products. They desire the public to think in terms of 
 a certain package, a machine, a cake of soap, or a kitchen cabinet. 
 Where the thing advertised is new, its form must be quickly 
 impressed upon public consciousness in a business-like manner. 
 
 One of the obligations of advertising, of course, is to familiarize 
 the consumer with the physical attributes of the article it is 
 hoped he will buy. He should not only recognize it inmiediately, 
 when he sees it on display, but should also look for it. All 
 of this has to do with the acknowledged psychology of purchasing- 
 hour contact, and is less a theory than it is thought to be. 
 
 The type of advertiser whose need for these odd pictorial 
 approaches is peculiarly valid is one whose product is small and 
 therefore difficult of illustration where accessories are employcil. 
 If the product happens to be a spark plug for an automobile and 
 the illustration incorporates the showing of the entire car, plus 
 figures, it is obvious that the actual reproduction of the product, 
 if normally introduced, will be insignificant. Here is where the 
 Gulliver-in-Lilliput idea makes a likely case for itself. 
 
 120 
 
THE PRODUCT IN HEROIC SIZE 121 
 
 An entire series of illustrations for an automobile battery feat- 
 ured the product in giant size, as compared with the cars. The 
 Battery became the Gulliver of the campaign, and the automo- 
 biles surrounding it, were tiny Lilliputians. A battery is a thing 
 hidden from sight. It is not seen when the machine is viewed in 
 action. The advertiser is therefore faced with a double handicap; 
 not only is the object he wishes to show small, by comparison 
 with its native accessories, but it is also beneath the visual surface. 
 
 Fig. 75. — A storage battery is a product which, when performing its service, is 
 hidden from sight. A mere reproduction of it, unembellished, would not provide 
 impressive illustrative material. By giving it heroic proportions, however, and 
 surrounding it with tiny cars, it is made to loom large in the consciousness of 
 the public. The E.xide series in which this plan was adhered to throughout, 
 was spectacularly successful. 
 
 What are his opportunities? To visualize a faithful still life 
 of the battery would not constitute a spectacular or unusual type 
 of illustration. Indeed, it would be very commonplace. And, 
 all the while, able competitors are to be considered. There is a 
 likelihood of duplication of layout. To rise above the common- 
 place, each advertiser must plot out an illustrative scheme of his 
 own. There is something of the orator and of the showman in 
 
122 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 every advertiser, and justly so. He must make his product 
 dominant. 
 
 In the case of the advertiser mentioned, the problem was over- 
 come by deliberately emplo^dng the Gulliver idea. Immense 
 battery boxes were shown, rising from miniature scenic investure 
 and toy cars. If cars are contrasted to a battery visualized as 
 higher than a skyscraper, it is certain than an illustration will be 
 conceived which must attract far more than ordinary attention. 
 The product gains secure dominaiice by a feat of contrast. 
 If a battery a quarter of a mile high stood on the public square, 
 passers-by would most assuredly pay it a tribute of interested 
 speculation. 
 
 There has always persisted a mystery in connection with illus- 
 trations of this character, much as if there was a " catch" in it or 
 a species of "black art " of the studio. The mystery of its accom- 
 plishment deepens where the picture is photographic throughout. 
 The camera does not lie, according to popular fancy; therefore, 
 if it is a photograph, it must be largely true. 
 
 But the mechanics of production are simple enough. It may 
 mean no more than the skilful dovetailing of two prints. The 
 result, in the case of the automobile battery, may be achieved by 
 taking a photograph of a street scene and fitting into and over it 
 an enlargement of the product. It is necessary to be sure that 
 the perspectives match and are wholly consistent. They must 
 both be on the same visual planes. In fact, the perspective must 
 be perfect when building a print or the illusion is destroyed. It 
 is a not uncommon practice to make a pencil sketch of the 
 illustration and to use it as the floor plan for the making of the 
 separate photographs. A man, as tall as the highest building, 
 can be made to walk along a city street, his head above the roof 
 tops, and, to all intents and purposes, it will carry the conviction 
 of some amazingly authentic camera study. Retouching may be 
 necessary, of course, such as the silhouetting of the superimposed 
 print, the shaving down of the abrupt edges, and the painting 
 out of all places which might show up in reproduction. Occasion- 
 ally, shadows are of practical assistance. The secondary techni- 
 cal requirement in combining prints is that the lighting cannot 
 have two sharply defined sources but must seem to come from one 
 direction. 
 
 The same general rule as to photographically prepared illus- 
 trations of this sort applies to all subjects, animate or inanimate. 
 
THE PRODUCT IN HEROIC SIZE 123 
 
 The foundational, or background, print is mounted and the 
 second subject placed over it in an advantageous position. 
 
 Giving the product vast proportions is a popular idea, and 
 probably always will be, because of its remarkable possibilities. 
 Unimportant and insignificant objects may be given exalted 
 strength. Detail can be emphasized. Things which are not, 
 in their own right, dramatic, can be given dramatic power. 
 
 By the mere pictorial expedient of placing the small figure of a 
 golfer, in action, in direct juxtaposition to a large showing of the 
 face of a club, an advertiser of such products creates an illustra- 
 tion which is in no sense commonplace and which serves several 
 significant advertising purposes. The following elements of 
 selling interest surround the article advertised in this way: 
 
 1. Possibilities of manufacturing detail, featured. 
 
 2. Creating of a spectacular type of illustration. 
 
 3. Combining of human interest with still life along new and 
 original lines. 
 
 4. A picture which automatically creates its own interested 
 audience. 
 
 Contrast in the techniques employed often assists in these pic- 
 torial illusions. It is not uncommon, where an advertiser 
 desires to give added importance to his product, to render it in 
 realistic style, while miniature accessories are in an entirely 
 different mood. 
 
 Use will here be made by way of illustration of a series which 
 was popular in its day and which ran continuously for several 
 advertising seasons. The methods employed will be every bit 
 as workman-like a century from now. It is a scheme which time 
 may not wither. 
 
 In this case, a maker of hinges felt that former showings of 
 his goods were far short of stimulating. The public in general 
 could not be expected to grow enthusiastic over a photograph or 
 original wash drawing of a door hinge. Certainly it lacked any- 
 thing approximating the dramatic Besides, when a hinge was 
 shown on a door, in relatively normal proportion, it could scarcely 
 be seen. 
 
 A series of colorful studies of hinges was made; and super- 
 imposed across the lower portions of them were line or pencil 
 drawings of various models of houses. The hinges loomed in 
 gigantic proportions above the roofs of these tiny dwellings. As 
 a consequence, hinges began to take on astonishing significance. 
 
124 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 It was rightly argued by the advertiser that hinges arc of far 
 greater importance than most people imagine. 
 
 Here, however, combination art techniques were of practical 
 assistance. When placed side by side, the sketchy, outline pencil 
 and pen drawings of the houses provided rugged contrast for the 
 half-tone of the hinges. One relieved the other; one set off the 
 other. There was no confusion and no melting of one object 
 into its neighbor. Where such campaigns are planned, combina- 
 tion plates are advisable, that is, part line and part half-tone. 
 This need not handicap the artist to any extent. The engraver 
 knows how to secure technical perfection. 
 
 Fig. 7G. — Illustrating a pair of hinges on a door, under normal conditions, 
 would scarcely provide the advertiser with adequate material. The moment 
 contrast is supplied however, and this contrast automatically making a small 
 product seem giant-sized, the result is a serial theme which may lay strong claim 
 to accumulative power. 
 
 Wearied of the monotony of illustrations, advertisers periodi- 
 cally break away from convention and go on a Gulliver tour, pic- 
 torially. They can be sure of one point at least; the product will 
 not be submerged. It will claim the center of the stage. It 
 will loom large on the horizon of the vision and of the mind. A 
 cereal manufacturer with an unpretentious package placed a 
 mountain-high container in the midst of a wheat field, 10 miles 
 across, and at once the unassuming product is made to seem of 
 aggressive visual importance. Such illustrations, contrary to 
 popular opinion arc no more difficult to make than others. 
 
 In a street parade of the industries of a community, the float 
 which attracted the most attention was the perfect replica of a 
 smoker's pipe, reproduced fifty feet in length and naturally 
 
THE PRODUCT IN HEROIC SIZE 
 
 125 
 
 colored. Smoke was made to rise from its bowl. People are 
 attracted to such displays because of their original and uncon- 
 ventional character. They represent the unexpected, things not 
 ordinarily seen. 
 
 It may well be asked, "Is exaggeration ever wise in advertis- 
 ing, even when obviously for effect?" The answer must be in the 
 
 Fio. 77. — A bitiiery box rises high above its surroundings and would appear 
 to be a gigantic product, by virtue of relative values, as interpreted by the 
 artist. 
 
 fact that people do not look upon illustrations of the Gulliver type 
 as attempts to deceive. An enlarging glass is thrust before the 
 product, with the best intentions in the world. 
 
 The human eye is strangely atuned to the normal. Anything 
 which honestly startles it causes a sudden flash of interest, not 
 to say admiration. Concentration is assured. For that moment 
 or two an advertiser has undivided attention. There was 
 
126 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 recently placed on exhibition in a museum the faithful reproduc- 
 tion of a common ant, enlarged to the proportions of a horse. 
 The exhibit was crowded on all occasions. People were inter- 
 ested in detail and intricate organism. Ordinarily, a tiny ant 
 might not have attracted a score of investigative persons within 
 the space of a year. 
 
 THATCHER 
 
 BOTTLES for MILK 
 
 IC'hcn llici/ sat/ a quart Ihei) mean it 
 
 Fio. 78.^ — An ordinary milk bottle may not be said to form tlie basis of an 
 extraordinary illustration. But when the artist combines unique technique, with 
 a showing of the container, hundreds of feet high, sitting in the midst of attrac- 
 tive outdoor environment, a commonplace product takes on immediate ^•isual 
 interest. 
 
 To essories place accin the Lilliput cla.ss is no more than good 
 advertising art. There is always a tendency for illustrations to 
 minimize the importance of the product, because of the confusing 
 volume of background detail. If, therefore, an advertiser can 
 create a type of picture which puts the product forward, it fills 
 the eye, while holding down the attention-compelling value of 
 
THE PRODUCT IN HEROIC SIZE 
 
 127 
 
 accessories. In one way or another, advertisers of a certain 
 class of products are seeking just such solutions as this. 
 
 The advertising page is the show room, the shelf, the store 
 counter, and the salesman's display rack of printed contact. 
 The closer it comes to a fulfilment of the retailer's demonstra- 
 
 FiG. 79. — A jar of salad dressing is made to seem as large as the island of Man- 
 hattan by a comparatively simple perspective expedient. 
 
 tion the better. If the background vista of the store can be seen 
 through a haze, with the attention of the customer concentrated 
 upon a single object, an ideal has been attained. If an advertis- 
 ing illustration focuses attention upon the product itself, glorify- 
 ing it, giving it every advantage, and making it appear a giant by 
 contrast, it would appear to fulfil its major obligation. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 OUTLINE TECHNIQUE 
 
 There are any number of constructive reasons why an adver- 
 tiser seeks a distinctive technique. It is commonly supposed 
 that a sameness in technique throughout an entire campaign 
 is employed more or less to hold the schedule to a common 
 family resemblance as to physical attributes. In reality, the 
 requirement is as fixed as law. People finally associate the 
 technique of the illustration with the product and with the cam- 
 paign in its aggregate sense. Keeping an entire series in exactly 
 the same spirit is an advertising asset, in addition to making 
 identification easy. Often a technique is chosen for the reason 
 that it will attract greater visual interest in mixed company. 
 
 The "pure outline" school is important enough to have a 
 chapter devoted to it. It is most commonly employed for the 
 purpose of fighting off illustrative competition and it has no 
 worthy rival in this field, strangely enough. This statement 
 would appear, at first reading, to disregard tradition. It would 
 be reasonable to assume that the more color or the more black 
 and the greater volume of shaded area there is in a drawing the 
 greater the power to offset surrounding illustrations. 
 
 But competition in display is to a not inconsiderable extent 
 regulated by contrast. If statistics show that on the average 
 newspaper page or on the average mixed magazine page the 
 preponderance is largely of shaded illustrations or of those 
 carrying large areas of black, it may be safely set down that a 
 picture drawn in delicate pen outline, with no shading, no blacks 
 and no variation of values or tones will make its presence felt 
 immediately and in no uncertain terms. The element of con- 
 trast has entered into that of vision. It is for the same reason 
 that, in a row of fifteen or twenty full-color street car cards 
 competing for attention through power of rainbow extrava- 
 ganzas, a simple black and white card will catch the eye first, 
 provided it has been scientifically put together., 
 
 128 
 
OUTLINE TECHNIQUE 
 
 129 
 
 In the newspaper field, one advertiser, an experienced and 
 investigative student of the possibilities of display, has gone 
 through laboratory tests to arrive at his conclusion. Because 
 
 To men 'wh.o attend banqiuLets 
 
 
 The favorite peroration of orators and 
 after-dinner speakers begins, "What 
 
 this country needs, therefore, is ," 
 
 and the may be anything from 
 
 bener hairpins to bigger, brighter, 
 better after-dinner speakers. 
 
 But since 1879* you haven't heard 
 anyone say, "What this country needs 
 is a better soap." 
 
 For in that year arrived what may 
 be called the soap-millennium. All 
 the under-sea work in the bathtub — 
 the constant searching for sinker-soap 
 — which had wasted so much of 
 men's time and patience, became at 
 once unnecessary. The gymnastics 
 of lather produaion were automati- 
 cally cut down. And from an incon- 
 clusive labor of faith, rinsing grew to 
 
 be a mathematically exact science. 
 Soap purity changed at once from a 
 theory to a condition. 
 
 As the use of Ivory Soap ("It floats 
 — 99"/ioo% pure") spread country- 
 wide, there was a noticeable improve- 
 ment in men's dispositions; the home 
 atmosphere became brighter, and 
 much surplus energy was stored up, 
 to be released later in the pursuit of 
 fame, golf balls and cynical fishes. 
 
 Gentlemen, it is necessary to admit that there 
 are still men who have neglected the opportuni- 
 ties for self-improvement and social betterment 
 offered by the daily use of Ivory Soap for bath- 
 ing, &ce-washing and shampooing. What the 
 country needs, therefore, is that these stragglers 
 be brought into the fold. What makes our task 
 so pleasant is that when such insouciant souls 
 finally do succumb to the blandishments of 
 Ivory, they always become the most enthusiastic 
 of its champions. PROCTER & GAMBLE 
 
 mA( ^ lt*ry 5^f 1MJ fU. 
 
 IVORY SOAP 
 
 5i9"/i«r. PURE IT FLOATS 
 
 Ac home — 
 
 When you have Ivory (medium iiie) 
 fot youf ba(h and shainpoo, and GueM 
 Ivory (che new smaller Ivory calre) for 
 your face and hands, your soap njuip- 
 mcnt rates 100%. 
 
 Fig. 80. — It was never intended, from the inception of this significant series 
 of magazine pages, that the illustration should be more than a mere postscript. 
 The type story is the thing. An outline technique not only accomplishes this 
 objective but provides individuality of campaign atmosphere. 
 
 he uses more space in a larger list of newspapers than any adver- 
 tiser -within knowledge, the results of eighteen years of con- 
 
130 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 scientious experience must be taken seriously. No picture drawn 
 for him is shaded; on the contrary, the lines are strong and sim- 
 ple. Having tried every available technique, he settled upon 
 the most abbreviated of all, because he has found that by doing 
 so his small-space displays are more certain of visual attention 
 than larger pictures in unbridled detail. The many blacks in 
 surrounding material and the full-shade techniques emphasize, 
 by contrast, the vastly simpler compositions. Exactly the 
 opposite would be true if the majority of advertisers suddenly 
 
 Fig. 81. 
 
 Left. — The use of a pure, delicately fashioned outline pen technique, for sec- 
 ondary illustration purposes, and to pro\'ide contrast for the main picture in 
 halftone. Thus, one illustration does not detract from the other and each 
 becomes a wholly separate unit. 
 
 Right. — Aside from the fact that the outline pen technique gives first 
 importance to the typographical message, it also serves as a buffer for the product, 
 which, in the present case, is made sufTiciently strong to dominate. 
 
 began to use delicate outline pictures. Then the picture made up 
 of strong blacks would most certainly hold first place. 
 
 An excellent method of testing this out is to select a dozen 
 or more heavily illustrated newspaper pages, whereon many 
 competing displays are to be found, and to analyze the relative 
 values. The outline illustration will hold its own and even 
 
OUTLINE TECHNIQUE 
 
 131 
 
 more than its own in this mixed company. Heavy blacks form 
 a setting for it and supply desirable contrast. 
 
 The same principle prevails on a magazine page which is 
 composed of from four to eight individual illustrated advertise- 
 ments. Contrast is invariably the life and essence of attention- 
 compelling value. And there 
 arc more full-shade, photo- 
 graphic, heavy black illustra- 
 tions than there are 
 illustrations in delicate skel- 
 etonized form. Aside from 
 the novelty of their style, 
 there is a scientific justifica- 
 tion for their use. 
 
 Some advertisers feel that 
 the reading matter is of 
 greater importance than any 
 illustration. If the picture 
 is strong, cluttered with de- 
 tail, aggressive, it is, of course, 
 certain to overshadow the 
 type. In the order of visual 
 power, the picture comes first. 
 If the illustration is in pen 
 outline, there being no con- 
 trast and no change in the 
 weight of these lines, the 
 lightest-faced type will domi- 
 nate, and display lines or 
 name plates will be relatively 
 more vigorous. 
 
 It is unquestionably true 
 that where an advertiser has 
 a prejudice against illustrations which overwhelm the text, the 
 shadowy cobweb pen picture is a certain means of establishing 
 his form of display. 
 
 Nor is it necessarily true that any type of subject material 
 need lose by this handling. Figure compositions or still-life 
 studies can be made equally charming, atmospheric, and con- 
 sistent with the stories they are to tell. 
 
 THERE'S sound reasoning behind 
 the man who asks about the bear- 
 ings in the tractor he's buying. Keen- 
 sighted farmers know when the dealer 
 says "Hyatt" they need ask no more — 
 because Hyatt bearings are an indication 
 of the service built into the implement 
 
 For d amfitit liil of }ijaaEq^pP€d Tiaemn uni fmplenmD, vnitt 
 
 Hyatt Roller Bearing Company 
 
 Detrort Wotceacr Ntw.rle HontlnRton 
 
 Chicago Clevelind Buffalo Minneapolis 
 
 NewYoik Milwaukee Plrtibumh PhiladelphU 
 
 San FranciKO IndianapolU 
 
 ROLLER BEARINGS 
 
 Fig. 82. — Clean, yet detailed outline 
 drawing, skeletonized to the last degree. 
 In the complete advertisement, it is sec- 
 ond to name plate and display type. 
 
132 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 That outline has its technical exactions any artist will at once 
 admit. Elimination and simplification, are difficult from the 
 studio standpoint. It is far easier to make a drawing in full- 
 shade or emphasized by masses of black than to leave out every- 
 thing except the bare essentials. In this simpler technique, 
 every line must count, and there is a peculiar quality to the 
 lines, a flowing, liquid freeness which few artists master. 
 
 HaTe^ 
 
 xpliatbook? 
 
 Fia. 83. — A very dominant illustration, held down in strength, by an outline 
 treatment, in order to give display lines the chief attraction. 
 
 The methods by which "pure outline" illustrations arc pre- 
 pared are as varied as they are interesting. Some artists believe 
 that it is best to finish a drawing in which there is consider- 
 able detail, and then with a brush and white i)aint, to stop out 
 slowly and studiously portions which can be dispensed with, 
 until the skeletonized version is attained. They find they can- 
 
OUTLINE TECHNIQUE 
 
 133 
 
 not start out deliberately to draw in outline. It is a handicap, 
 of which they are unduly conscious. 
 
 One of the most successful series used in recent years was 
 largely an accident. The drawings in line, intended for magazine 
 reproduction, were later to be used instead in newspapers. 
 But it was immediately recognized that there was too much fine 
 shading for reproduction on newspaper stock. The artist was 
 
 Fig. 84.- — -Four interesting outline illustrations, used in a comprehensive 
 series, the objective of which is two-fold: First, both in newspaper and maga- 
 zine campaigns, the novelty of the idea made the series individual and different. 
 Secondly, type was never dominated by illustration. 
 
 asked to go over them and to eliminate as much as he could. 
 They came forth a series of outline drawings of a peculiarly 
 attractive and novel technique. Indeed, after their appearance 
 in newspaper space, it was the unanimous verdict that the cam- 
 paign for the following year would do well if the same outline 
 plan were adopted. What impressed this advertiser most was 
 
134 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 that, as used in magazines, the series stood out, as contrasted 
 with the far more elaborate surrounding advertising illustrations, 
 the majority of which were either from wash or photographic 
 originals. 
 
 Another method of production is to first lay out an unusually 
 complete pencil sketch, into which much feeling and considerable 
 detail has been worked. Over this elaborate preliminary, the 
 artist works, in outline, with a fine pen. But he has a perfect 
 foundation on which to draw and is therefore far surer of what 
 must go in and what can be eliminated. 
 
 The more pleasing illustrations of this school are made, incident- 
 ally, with one pen, which makes an even, uniform line. The 
 moment too many qualities of line appear the charm of the 
 technique is decreased. 
 
 When the subject matter has its base in a photograph, as 
 sometimes happens, it is customary to have a silver print made 
 from the original copy, and the artist works over it with water- 
 proof ink. Then the detail of the foundation is bleached white 
 with chemicals. Again, it is thought best, by some artists, to 
 pantograph from the photograph on a clean white surface of 
 board or paper, and prepare the skeleton outline from this guide. 
 
 Experiments, with a prepared full-shade pen illustration, are 
 of the greatest possible assistance in arriving at an acceptable 
 technique. An advertiser, having had a complex pen drawing 
 made, began a system of graduating reproductions from the one 
 original, down to the point, where, in the last example, the simple 
 outline was established. There were eight steps, ranging from a 
 plate made from the first shaded drawing down through various 
 stages of elimination of detail. 
 
 These pen outline techniques are indispensable where, in a 
 single display, combination of half-tone and line are necessary. 
 Thus, the main illustration may be in half-tone, from a photograph, 
 while accessory vignettes, equally important, are in line. 
 
 A sparkling contrast is secured, doing justice to both. But 
 when the pen design, in juxtaposition, is heavily shaded, one 
 detracts from the other. 
 
 If an outline drawing is desired, and an entire campaign is to 
 be so mapped out, it is no more than good judgment to proceed 
 slowly and to have several line engravings made, if necessary, 
 printing i:)roofs on the same grade of paper stock as will eventu- 
 ally receive the campaign. 
 
OUTLINE TECHNIQUE 135 
 
 Having made his illustration, the artist goes over it a last time, 
 with (Chinese white, studying possibilities of further elimination. 
 An engraving is made, the size of the completed series, and passed 
 upon. It is likely that still further simplification will better the 
 entire illustration. Faults which exist in a drawing may not be 
 so obvious in the larger original and may only present themselves 
 in proof form. 
 
 As a rule, originals in this technique should not be made very 
 much larger than their reproduced proportions. Gradations of 
 lines, and the composition effects are deceiving. Some of the 
 more strikingly attractive outline campaigns have been drawn 
 actual size, which means no disappointment in reproduction. 
 
 One of the advantages of the outline drawing, of course, is 
 its infallible printability on even the poorest newspaper stock. 
 It is only necessary to see that the etching is deep and that the 
 areas of white are routed clean. Otherwise, there will be blurred 
 "shoulders," where, because of the exigencies of fast presses 
 and hasty make-ready, the plate shows up when not intended. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 GLORIFYING THE HOMELY PRODUCT 
 
 Of comparatively recent development is the technical glori- 
 fication of products which are commonplace, drab, uninteresting, 
 and even ugly. Because modern advertising undertakes to 
 introduce the consumer to the mechanics of production, and 
 because it is a common practice to bare the hidden springs of 
 merchandise in all lines, it is obvious that something must be done 
 to give color and atmosphere, to objects which, in their own right, 
 could lay no claim to popular interest. 
 
 The man who manufactures a lathe, an automobile motor, or 
 a heating system, may see some beauty in his product but to the 
 consumer, these are products, homely, crude, and lacking in 
 imaginative pictorial appeal. 
 
 And there are thousands of such products, born of factory dust, 
 steam, grit, and dirt, and appealing only to the creators of them. 
 Industries, which, a few years ago, thought only of advertising to 
 the plant manager, now undertake, wisely enough, to interest the 
 ultimate consumer. It is a logical step, because it is all a process 
 of education. The buyer of the automobile of today is asked to 
 look deeper than body finish and orchid holders, and to demand 
 this sort of motor and that sort of spring. And the cumulative 
 power of the reaction is felt by the manufacturer of the 
 automobile. 
 
 The principle holds good in almost everything manufactured. 
 Advertising itself has cultivated an insatiable hunger for tech- 
 nical, mechanical knowledge. In order to make his campaigns 
 appealing to the amateur, it has been necessary for these adver- 
 tisers to search for a more attractive method of visualizing their 
 goods, and the surprising part of it is that the artist has solved 
 the problem. He has shown that technique, atmosphere, and 
 artistic understanding, can give inherent charm to the ugliest 
 object. 
 
 The working out of the theory has depended largely upon the 
 operations and initiative of a now school of tal(Mit. A mechanical 
 device, in the past, when pictured in advertising, went through 
 
 136 
 
GLORIFYING THE HOMELY PRODUCT 
 
 137 
 
 certain traditional phases. It was photographed under ordinary 
 circumstances, and retouched by an expert whose catalog design 
 training had fitted him for strict fidelity in matters of detail 
 and formal, uninspired handling. He was not an artist; he did 
 for his department what any engineer would do within his own 
 province. He was painfully literal and that was what people 
 
 Fig. 85. — The little Ford tractor is not in the " beauty" class, ])ut as presented 
 here, glorified by means of a fine technique as to art, and surrounded by inspiring 
 atmosphere, it takes on a new spirit. This was the spirit, indeed, of all Ford 
 advertising art, once it struck its stride, because the public had grown to look " too 
 far down" on a low-priced product. It was the object of the art embellishment 
 to change this public idea. 
 
 expected of him. The difference between his efforts and the 
 illustration of the modern school of art is fully as great as that 
 between the portraiture of the photographer of yesterday, and 
 the camera study of today, which brings people to life, by a 
 hundred ingenious and subtle artifices. 
 
138 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Retouching, as it was known a generation ago, has become 
 almost obsolete. Original drawings, or paintings, are made 
 which are every bit as fine, as artistic, as the most ambitions 
 figure composition. An inanimate object is humanized by 
 sundry tricks of light and shade, elimination and addition, com- 
 position and pose, surrounding tlccorative embellishment, and 
 
 ^ \\ 'he last word in plant and equipment, m 
 addition to the finest design and highest 
 \l grade ol materials, w-as necesSSr)' in oraer to 
 ^c a select levs' builders ol line motor cars an 
 electrical s>"siem Ixyond anypre\1ous slandanL 
 ol excellence- E\idcnce ol the quality eHort 
 behind DeJon is found CN'en in the atmosphere 
 when.' DcJon is built, in the modernized lactor>' 
 with its ivy^ grown walls and park-like sur- 
 roundings- Ample proof of De Jons superiontv 
 is foimdin the wAy it endows a hnc car with 
 an unprecedented degree of clficicncy. 
 
 Fig. 86. — An example of how dc i (,i:iii\c borders and the "stage set" of an 
 adverti.scmont may surround the liomt-'ly pruduct with quality atmosphere. Any 
 picture of the product itself, in this case, would Ik.' inlu'reiitly commonplace, but 
 well groomed typography and highly artistic trappings have taken the place of 
 a mechanical drawing. 
 
 simplification. It is less essential to depict detail than to create 
 an artistic impression of the thing in aggregate form. 
 
 The salesmanager of a large tire concern had ideals when it 
 came to his advertising art. Returning from a trip abroad, 
 during which he had visited every salon of any consequence, he 
 
GLORIFY L\a THE HOMELY PRODUCT 139 
 
 called his advertising manager into conference and wrote out 
 the following significant memorandum: 
 
 We have many competitors. Tire campaigns are at every turn, and 
 it is the accepted desire and very natural precedent to show the product. 
 But I have not yet observed an illustration of an automobile tire which 
 was anything more than a catalog cut, a dull and inanimate representa- 
 tion of something made of rubber. 
 
 Now I see our tire in a different light. It is a bearer of burdens. 
 There is something at once fine and human in its physical appearance. 
 I want no retouched photographs, no cold mechanical reproductions of 
 "just an automobile tire." I am firmly convinced that we can do 
 more. Where is the artist who can paint a portrait of our tire? We 
 must find him, and when we do, we will illustrate our campaign far more 
 compellingly than our competitors. 
 
 The task was undertaken seriously. The unique point in 
 connection with it was that a portrait painter was chosen 
 for the problem- — an artist widely known, who had painted 
 royalty, society, and official Washington. But first, he talked 
 his assignment over with the salesmanager. He became afire 
 with enthusiasm. Could he paint a picture of an automobile 
 tire which would make the tire seem {o live? No mere retouched, 
 catalog illustration. The artist thought he could. A tire was 
 posed against dark red velvet curtains; spotlights were turned 
 upon it, with cunning regard for shadows and reflections. There 
 were counter-lights, from another direction, and, while he worked, 
 the artist "forgot" that his model was not alive. 
 
 The knowledge of what could be done if the proper methods 
 and ideals were applied, came to manufacturers of all kinds 
 of machinery when advertisers of automobile power plants 
 approached the consumer and interested him in the most impor- 
 tant part of his car. The manufacturer of machinery also appre- 
 ciated that no catalog diagrammatic illustration of motors 
 would appeal to the unmechanical mind, so long accusomed to 
 allowing that which was beneath the hood to remain a mystery. 
 
 Several remedies were immediately applied. They were all 
 allied with the one common need, however, that of looking 
 upon a mechanism as something more than an inanimate thing. 
 Once this changed angle was established, the illustrations began 
 to assume new interest. Principally, it is a matter of lighting, 
 for light is an animating influence, of course. One institution 
 resorted to photography and the man who made the camera 
 
140 
 
 ILLCSTRATIOX IN ADVERTISIXG 
 
 studies was not a commercial photographer at all; his specializa- 
 tion was portraits of people. But he put into his negatives 
 feeling, sympathy, art, and keen knowledge of lighting effects 
 and their influence on vision. 
 
 By placing the motor against a piece of skilfully draped 
 plush and by playing batteries of special lights on it, from 
 one side only, the mechanism was at once given charm, sup- 
 posedly remote from a subject of this character. Parts were in 
 shadow, parts mistily shown, parts touched with stray shafts 
 
 FiQ. 87. 
 
 Left. — This strikingly successful photographic illustration proves most conclu- 
 sively that machinery can be handled in an artistic manner. By dexterous 
 lighting, an art background and appropriate settings, the automobile i)o\ver 
 plant becomes indeed a pleasing picture. 
 
 Right. — Ordinarily, the picture of a tire is inanimate and rather conimonplaco. 
 This handling is an indication of what can be done when a "portrait" is made of 
 the product. It is a blend of photograph and highly artistic art accessories. 
 
 of light, as scintillant as gems. There is, indeed, a vast diffcroncc 
 between an unstudied, crudely posed object, retouched to bring 
 out 100 per cent detail, and the inanimate subject which comes 
 under the hand of a true artist, who sees beyond the metal and 
 the mechanism to a story of service performed. 
 
 One of the most notable examples within knowledge of glorify- 
 ing the inanimate or the inherently homely is that of the recent 
 
GLORIFYING THE HOMELY PRODUCT 
 
 141 
 
 Fig. 88.— Examples of a notable serie.s, in which, by the use of color and 
 luxuriant accessories, a homely product is given "class atmosphere.' 
 
142 ILLUSTRATIUX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 remarkable series of paintings, in full color, prepared for The 
 American Radiator Company. 
 
 A heat plant, Cinderella-like, hidden away in the cellar, can 
 in no wise be looked upon as an inspiring theme for an artist of 
 true sensibilities. The Grand Dame and the pampered pet is 
 the piano, the handsome set of furniture, the oriental rug, the 
 bit of tapestry, but how can the furnace, covered with the dust 
 and grime of a darkened place, be pictured? 
 
 This advertiser could not be reconciled to its lasting pictorial 
 exile, such as it had been relegated to for so many years. Somehow, 
 somewhere, a better idea could be found — must be found. And it 
 was possible as several accompanying illustrations will testify. 
 
 There is a vigorous object lesson in the plan, because it is one 
 which may be applied to any subject. The campaign began 
 with the wholly relevant and sound assumption that a heating 
 plant is as significant in the conduct of a home as pianos, costly 
 rugs, furniture, tapestries. Moreover, it was interlocked in 
 nuich the same manner with the happiness of the home owner. 
 The homely product first received a baptism of prestige and 
 homage from its own manufacturers. They saw it not as some- 
 thing ugly but as something most attractive, an obligation ful- 
 filled, a duty faithfully performed. 
 
 Observe these scenarios for illustrations: "What! guests in 
 the cellar! Yes, indeed. Invite them down. No reason why 
 they should not see the cellar if there is an Ideal Heat Machine 
 installed." The illustration shows a party at a handsome resi- 
 dence. The host has invited his guests to see the heating plant 
 of which he is justly proud. The red glow from the open door 
 of the furnace lights them charmingly. It is a beautiful picture. 
 And color has, of course, added materially to it. The artist has 
 not attempted to make a technically and mechanically detailed 
 picture of the furnace; he has been content to suggest it and to 
 allow it to fit snugly and neatly into the composition, where in 
 reality it plays a leading part. 
 
 Another scenario runs on this wise: "A last look at a well- 
 dressed friend. That last trip down cellar — before you go out 
 for the evening." 
 
 A man, in evening clothes, has just looked in to see how the 
 fire is burning and is on the point of closing the door again. 
 The yellow and gold and red reflections, dance on his face and 
 on his entire figure. Because of a pride in the most modern heat 
 
GLORIFYING THE HOMELY PRODUCT 
 
 143 
 
 plant, the cellar has been improved. There is an ornate door 
 into the heater room, red tile floor, sundry refinements every- 
 where in evidence. Painted in color, it is at once an effective 
 
 The man who heats his home 
 with a Capitol Boiler and United 
 States Radiators knows the deep 
 and lasting satisfaction of pride 
 of ownership. 
 
 C<mto)te 
 
 He knows that his heating 
 system is a preferred quality 
 product which will justify every 
 penny of the investment through 
 years of dependable service. 
 
 LsSTtED jStATES liADIATOR ^RPOR^VTIOS 
 
 (Jciu-ral Offuos. Delroll. Michigan 
 
 I -Hill....... Brunch u.i J S..lt. <W«"-» .11.U.,. -s 
 
 *«'■ -ru'.Vl'iS'' •liJllSi'"'" •i'".''"'"?il?'' ~ ^"1 
 
 I'lG. 89. — By handling the product in an artistic manner and placing a figure 
 shrewdly admiring it, the homely Boiler is given sentimental value. 
 
 canvas, the work of Dean Cornwell, an American illustrator 
 of note. 
 
144 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 IVew wheels^ IVO/i 
 
 VACUUM CUP 
 
 BALLOON TIRES 
 fit your rcaular rims 
 
 QnU 
 owners 
 
 PACKARD 
 
 CADI L L A C 
 
 Fia. 90. — Methods of artistic retouching and of composition have made it 
 possible for the advertiser of mechanical subjects to show his products 
 uncommercially. 
 
GLORIFYING THE HOMELY PRODUCT 145 
 
 A talented artist can make anything Ijeautiful. What might 
 have been merely a picture of a homely furnace in a dark and 
 gloomy cellar has become a theme of almost atmospheric delight. 
 It's all in the desire, the sympathetic hand, the technique, 
 the idea. 
 
 In much the same manner, manufacturers of bathroom fix- 
 tures have idealized their subject, although not long since no 
 advertiser of the product believed that there was artistic material 
 here. Accessories, handling, color, and skilful plots around 
 which picture stories could be woven have been leading influ- 
 ences for improvement. Glorifying the homely product may 
 lead to any number of possible channels, mediums, or basic 
 plans. 
 
 The objective may be arrived at by any one or all of the follow- 
 ing methods, each one of which has been tested and found thor- 
 oughly efficient : 
 
 1. Artistry of technique: refinements in the interpretation, 
 individuality of the artist's own mood, style, manner. 
 
 2. Unique and effective lighting effects with resultant shadows, 
 contrasts, monotones, sparkling reliefs. 
 
 3. Basic idea: surrounding the product with animation and 
 action which, of itself, suggests quality. The American Radiator 
 method is characteristic of this. 
 
 4. Class atmosphere, as expressed in the garnishments. The 
 homely product surrounded by beautiful and artistic accessories. 
 
 5. Atmosphere of an exclusive and refined type, supplied by 
 an association of ideas. Thus, a kitchen cabinet placed near a 
 window around which flowering plants are shown and a vista 
 of a well-groomed garden. 
 
 6. Decorative embellishments. Handsome, highly ornate 
 border effects, superb compositions, and classic typography. 
 
 7. Beauty and manner of general layout. Sometimes an 
 arrangement of simple border of lines, trim type faces, and 
 hand-drawn headlines, will supply the essential atmosphere. 
 
 These represent some inter-related schemes which are effec- 
 tive. No product, however "ugly," commonplace, or unin- 
 interesting, need carry these handicaps into its advertising. 
 
CHAPTER XVTTT 
 ATMOSPHERIC BACKGROUNDS 
 
 To say that advertising illustrations should be reduced to 
 the lowest terms of detail is to restrict the objective they are 
 planned to attain. There cannot and should not be fixed laws 
 governing the subject matter of advertising art; every problem 
 is unique. It is for the advertiser to decide just how simple or 
 how complex a picture should be. The telling of a story, the 
 visualization of a service, the creating of desired atmosphere, 
 or the staging of a spirited drama are all governing influences. 
 
 Those who prefer simple compositions, one-figure ideas and 
 illustrations uncluttered by accessories, have reasons for just 
 this type of pictorial treatment. But the illustration which 
 features a background as the helpmate of prior interests has a 
 sure and a legitimate place in the general scheme of things. 
 
 There is, however, an important difference in the values of 
 such backgrounds. Long since, indifferent handling has ceased 
 to lend any aid to a composition. The ideal background not 
 only assists in telling the story and in establishing a definite 
 atmosphere but it is also so surely welded into the whole that 
 foreground and background arc virtually one. 
 
 No background should seem to be placed there palpably to 
 fill in. If it does not serve a purpose it is better eliminated. 
 
 "News" backgrounds are of paramount pul)li(' value. As an 
 instance of this, advertisers will do well to watch with a sharp 
 eye the comings and the goings of public interests. Radio has 
 swept the country. Ten years ago, the background atmosphere 
 might have included airplanes or automobiles; today, it would 
 be radio. The advertiser of a cereal wishes to picture a child 
 having its supper. In the modern version of such a comjiosi- 
 tion, the receiving set and the loud speaker nearby could link the 
 child's bed-time story with his evening meal. There are as 
 surely fashions in l^ackgrouiids as there are fashions in clothes, 
 in architecture, or in the furnishing of homes. 
 
 146 
 
ATMOSPHERIC BACKGROUNDS 147 
 
 Backgrounds may be passive or active. The active back- 
 ground is conceded to be the best up to the point where it does 
 not detract from some more important performance in the 
 foreground. There should of course be a sympathetic tie-up 
 between these two picture planes. 
 
 After a study of automobile advertising in general, a manu- 
 facturer decided that backgrounds for campaign illustrations 
 
 Fig. 91. — To suggest various qualities of the tire, by illustrative comparisons 
 and parallels, the advertiser has a number of specialists paint backgrounds of a 
 scenic character which would accomplish the objective. 
 
 had been worn threadbare. They were all very much the same 
 and, for the most part, non-committal and passive. A car before 
 a handsome residence along a country road, near a club house, 
 or in a park were in the undramatic class. They were as custom- 
 ary as they were dull. Because the automobile carries people 
 everywhere and on the most diversified missions, why not illus- 
 trate that which was capable of a plot, a story, a romantic or an 
 unusual interpretation? 
 
148 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 The inspiration for the series came from letters in the company 
 files and it soon developed that the user himself could give the 
 artist an idea for a background. A Pittsburgh owner used his 
 car to drive out to immense steel manufacturing plants. To 
 picture the car drawn up near such a giant enterprise and 
 to visualize its owner seated comfortably beside a guest 
 both interestedly talking of the mighty plant dramatizes the 
 back-ground. 
 
 In another composition, a car was shown standing on the dock 
 of a quaintly picturesque dock along the Mississippi, just at the 
 
 Fig. 92. — \i\ unconventional background introduced without affectation. 
 
 moment when an old-fashioned Memphis sidc-wheclcr had dis- 
 charged its cargo and passengers. Two arrivals by this boat, 
 a young man and a young woman, were hiu-rying to the auto- 
 mobile. The activity of such an hour was skillfull}' visualized. 
 The negroes wheeling cotton bales and the many types of river 
 travelers hiu-rying on their way. The backdrop was the old 
 boat, its fluted funnels spouting black smoke. 
 
 It is generally the tendency to select far too obvious l)ack- 
 ground ideas or themes which are not in any way related to the 
 product featured. The steamer illustration is here described 
 because it suggests a new background investure and because it 
 is intimately linked with the product. 
 
A TMOSPIIERIC BA CKGRO UNDS 
 
 149 
 
 With a world of episode to select from, there is really no excuse 
 for non-committal or passive backgrounds. An advertiser of 
 luggage, dress suit cases, and traveling bags had been accus- 
 tomed to rather conventional scenes of men, indoors, packing 
 such luggage, opening bags, walking as if to catch trains, etc. 
 It had not occurred to him that his background could be invalu- 
 able as an added feature of every display. 
 
 The drama of the last-minute at the train gate, the jaunty 
 walk up the gangplank, and a hand wave back to friends on the 
 
 Fig. 
 
 93. — A pictorial "back drop " thoroughly alive with action and 
 industrial modernism. 
 
 dock, or similar incidents, entirely relevant and always with 
 the spirit of "something happening" adds thrill and suspense. 
 If there is to be a background at all, why not put it to work in 
 the product's behalf? Why not, in fact, cause it to assist the 
 chief features of an illustration, emphasizing them and bringing 
 them into still greater prominence? 
 
 For many years, the advertising of a certain kitchen cabinet 
 clung to traditions, as far as background accessories were con- 
 cerned, which offered little or no opportunity for atmospheric 
 change. The cabinet, a kitchen panorama, and the figures of 
 housewife, children, or father were monotonous illustrations. 
 It was an interested woman reader who inspired the advertiser 
 with the thought that a home need not be eternally humdrum. 
 
150 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 The advertisement was changed. Through an open door could 
 be seen the grocer's boy, berries and fruits for the canning and 
 preserving season. And the cabinet would soon be put to useful 
 work. His smiling face beamed as he stood in the sunlight. 
 In the background could be glimpsed the garden. 
 
 Another advertisement pictured a mother peering into the 
 yard where children could be observed hurrying from school. 
 In full view near her is the cabinet on which is piled a between- 
 meals luncheon. 
 
 Fig. 94. — "News value" to this thoroughly modern scenic invcsture. 
 
 For every product, however homely, there is a better type of 
 background. It should be sought if the illustration is to be 
 dramatic, effective, and generally interesting to the greatest 
 number of persons. Any background which fails to work in 
 harmony with the body of the illustration, is virtually wasted. 
 It is taking up valuable space which must be paid for and, 
 when not helping to deliver a message, is clogging its action. 
 
 Of equal importance in the background for the inanimate or 
 still-life object. What this prosaic rendering of a lifeless ol)ject 
 lacks in reader interest, visually, can be made up by the anima- 
 tion of the background. The very large showing of a child's 
 play shoe is dominantly strong and in detail because the adver- 
 tiser wishes to show the article and to illustrate it in such a 
 manner as to elaborate the features of workmanship. If shown 
 on the foot of a child, the product would be too small. 
 
ATMOSPHERIC BACKGROUNDS 151 
 
 This docs not mean that an advertisement need take on a 
 dull appearance, pictorially, which it surely would were nothing 
 but the shoe presented. The copy writer's imagination has sup- 
 plied the necessary background theme, when he relates: 
 
 Hoiv the hoys in a small New England village help make Keds the 
 longest-icearing sports shoes in the world. They're much like other 
 boys. They race and tear through village streets, play baseball, 
 climb fences and trees and are in general "hard on their shoes." 
 The shoes they wear look much like the shoes other boys are wearing 
 too. There's a difference, however. They wear Keds on one foot 
 only. On the other they wear shoes that are not Keds. At the end 
 of several months' time boys report to the big Ked factory at one 
 end of town. Here, in the testing laboratories, the wear of both 
 shoes is carefully checked and compared. 
 
 A novel copy idea, and one which supplies sufficient drama for 
 the modern type of background. In a pen technique which 
 might well do credit to a book or to a magazine story, the 
 artist portrayed the quaint New England street with its rollick- 
 ing boys and girls playing baseball. There are giant elms shad- 
 ing lawns and dim vistas of homes with high white columns. It 
 is atmosphere of the most inviting type, plus an irresistably 
 sensible tie-up with the product which, after all, is the com- 
 manding color note of the composition. It is a charming foot- 
 note, a gauzy curtain let down behind the detailed drawing of a 
 prosaic shoe. 
 
 Naturally, the still-life study stands in greater need of relief 
 than the illustration which is a composite of action, human 
 figures, and story value. The package of tea with no back- 
 ground is weak, by comparison with the composite illustration 
 which shows the same package, set off by a panorama of tea 
 plantation atmosphere. 
 
 Backgrounds are sometimes thought to complicate the picture 
 which is true when a counter feature detracts from the main 
 issue. No such fault can be found with composition which 
 observes the two major rules here set down. 
 
 The background should invariably be inseparable from the 
 main detail in its action and story. 
 
 The background should be original, unconventional, where 
 possible, that is, to the extent of discovering themes which have 
 not been used, over and over again. A background containing 
 
152 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 elements of news value and of ultra-timeliness is assured of a 
 more receptive audience. Backgrounds can, as a rule, be largely 
 "news." But it should always be kept in mind that the time 
 schedule of the campaign must be watched and that the seasonal 
 characteristics of a background should conform with the period 
 of its running. 
 
. CHAPTER XIX 
 VIGNETTES 
 
 Opposed to the all-enclosed illustration, which is arbitrarily 
 confined by some set form or shape, is the vignetted picture, 
 adapting itself to its subject material, to the space it occupies 
 and to the accompanying typographical setup. In the old days 
 of the half-tone, it was the custom to define sharply an illustra- 
 tion. Engravers had not mastered the vignette. 
 
 To vignette means to shade off gradually and to soften off 
 the boundaries of a design which might otherwise hold to very 
 definite lines. The benefits to the advertiser are numerous. 
 The vignette has provided for a greater variety of compositions 
 and of typographical effects. An illustration may be neatly 
 fitted into the scheme of the type. Unimportant parts may be 
 subdued. Concentration on others may be secured. An illus- 
 tration may be made to seem larger than it actually is. And 
 not least of all the sympathetic relation of picture to the theme of 
 the advertisement may be sustained in a more professional 
 manner — an achievement which was by no means easy when all 
 illustrations were either squared or mortised into circles and 
 into ovals. 
 
 The preparation of the original must be considered, in the case 
 of the vignetted picture. This is a problem which can not be 
 left to the engraver. For the important and more interesting 
 compositions are those which have been deliberately constructed, 
 in advance. The visualizer and the layout man consider both 
 typography and illustrative features as an indivisible whole. 
 
 Vignetted illustrations are used for the following reasons: 
 
 To provide layout individuality. 
 
 To minimize the importance in the composition of non-essen- 
 tials. 
 
 To provide for unique typographical effects. 
 
 To get away from the traditional sameness of arbitrary shapes. 
 
 To distribute the illustrative part of the display more evenly 
 over the space. 
 
 153 
 
154 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 To assist in arriving at a cumulative effect, which, in time, 
 may become ahnost a trade mark virtue. 
 
 To bring out special elements in an illustration. 
 
 It is best, in any description of the fundamentals of vignet- 
 ting, to study and to analyze specific cases. Campaigns which 
 have successfully handled this problem are -therefore herein con- 
 sidered, with reduced illustrations of the more striking instances. 
 
 Hoover Vacuum Cleaner. — It was the desire of the advertiser 
 to call specific attention to the rug, which, in this case, was being 
 cleaned by the device. It was just as important, however, to 
 introduce accessories of background detail so that the picture, 
 which has no figures, might hold attention. The atmosphere 
 must suggest that the purchaser of the vacuum chvmcr is a 
 discriminating person with a home of the best api)ointnients. 
 
 Squared off, the illustration could not have achieved these 
 points, and it would have been smaller in size. Note that now 
 the rug is entirely dominant in its relation to the cleaner. 
 
 As it is, in vignetted form, the background fades away and 
 is finally lost. Yet there is always sufficient to suggest a dis- 
 tinctive atmosphere. Also, the typography is given a natiu'al 
 frame, and is embedded in the illustration, an element to be 
 desired because attention is concentrated at this point, and 
 picture and text work in sympathy. 
 
 It is also to be noted, from a mechanical viewpoint, that 
 difficult vignettes, which require expert engraving tactics and 
 equally difficult printing requirements, are minimized. The 
 soft half-tone vignette, which fades away, is always precarious 
 even in this age of expert plate-making and printing. Such 
 vignettes may at any time develop a ragged edge. 
 
 In the case of the Hoover illustration, vignetting is accom- 
 plished not so much in the accepted sense of softened edges as 
 of clean cut demarcations where the design stops. This permits 
 the engraver to cut away the half-lone* with no delicate phantom 
 effects. The rug is almost in silhouette; the stair carpet, the 
 railing, the doorway, the chair, and the walls are sharply defined, 
 although, in the aggregate, they constitute a vignette. 
 
 Daniel Green Comfy Slippers. — Vignetting is used in order 
 to give prominence to the product advertised. To cut off the 
 figure abruptly would mean a distracting jiicture, with the eye 
 ever seeking and expecting the remainder of the person pictured. 
 The vignette softens these effects. Here the engraver's skill 
 
VIGNETTES 
 
 155 
 
 is more apparent. Delicate lines are sketchily retained and 
 white is introduced to accomplish the most satisfactory and 
 artistic results. The vignette concentrates attention on the 
 slippers and on the action of such parts of the figure as are shown. 
 With its innumerable shadowy lines this plate is difficult to 
 engrave. The illustration is drawn exactly as it appears in the 
 finished plate, although it is invariably wise to designate on a 
 tissue overlay exactly where to vignette and where to "cut 
 out" whites on the half-tone plate. 
 
 ^y jVotc of (,7/an// 
 
 You Ala y Hcrcc (hcrlookcd 
 
 \ Daniel Green 
 
 ; Camfy 
 
 Slippers 
 
 "% 
 
 Fig. 95. 
 
 Cadillac Motor Cars.- — Every line and tone and "sense of 
 direction" is dedicated to concentrating vision on the car. The 
 squared-off half-tone, occupying the entire top of the space, 
 would be far less effective. Here, in its most modern version, is 
 the smartly up-to-date vignette avoiding all of the mechanical 
 pitfalls and printing dangers of the old regime. The so-called 
 soft and graduating vignettes have been practically done away 
 with. To take their place are crisp cutaways, made possible 
 by the painting itself. Wherever possible, the vignetting runs 
 to well defined lines and picture demarcations. This, of course, 
 the artist has carefully planned in advance. His original shows 
 exactly what registers in the finished plate. 
 
156 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 By the elimination of half-tone screen in the background, 
 above and around the car, the car is pushed into the vision and 
 dominates the entire design. But there is more in this vignette 
 
 
 LAC 
 
 ^f^ZZ 
 
 T!u- owner of the V(,% Five P.i*<n- 
 j!i'r Sedan travels in an atniix^r'"'''e 
 of richness aiiJ refinement. . 
 
 Its beautiful Cidillac-bisher Hody. 
 appointed with the care used in 
 dcci )riiting ;t n exc]Ui^ite Jra wtn^ room, 
 alinrdi every (.iciliiy for the convcn- 
 inicc and comfort of its piassenger*. 
 
 But the dominant appeal of the 
 Setlan, as of all V-ftj model's, w its 
 extraordinary pcrtorniance. 
 
 Its hartnonUed and balanced V-Type 
 eight cylinder engine - CadilUc'n 
 greatest contribution to automotive 
 
 CADILLAC MOTOR CAR COMPANY, DETROIT, MICHIOAN 
 
 proores* in recent year* lunctions 
 Willi a jmoothnes.-* and quietnctts 
 row 1(1 motoring 
 
 To the speed and power of this eni;inc 
 is added the siilcty of Cladillac Pour 
 Wheel Brakes and these qualities, 
 combined with instant acceleration 
 and exceptional ease of control, in- 
 spire the one who drives with a 
 sense of complete rMd-master>'. 
 
 Cadillac invites you to approach the 
 V'6j Sedan with great expect.ations, 
 and is confident that a single ride will 
 convince you of its surp;issing quality. 
 
 Corfor. 
 
 w 
 
 Fit!. 9G. 
 
 than might at first appear. There is to be taken into considera- 
 tion artistry, composition, and skill in adjustment to type and to 
 superimposed headline. 
 
VIGNETTES 
 
 157 
 
 It would not have accomplished anything if the half-tone 
 detail of the masonry around the doorway had been permitted to 
 remain in the illustration. Its only effect would have been to 
 congest the layout and to detract from the automobile. Artists, 
 who are the best judges of vignetting, will encourage the sug- 
 gestion that they be permitted to make a diagrammatic set of 
 instructions to the engraver, in case the original illustration itself 
 fails to suggest all that should and can be done by the engraver. 
 
 The Cadillac illustration is an instance of how a vignette may 
 in every way avoid the graduating tint, while suggesting it. 
 
 CLDsen Car HaMFORT 
 
 New BeaLiTv 
 
 Fig. 97. 
 
 Where a shrub in a vase or the outline of a doorway appears, the 
 vignette becomes a matter of tooling up to well-defined tones 
 and lines. In the aggregate, however, the appearance is that of a 
 soft vignette. The white space which always follows as a natural 
 consequence of a vignette of this type, is, of course, an asset. 
 
 Dodge Cars. — Vignetting was made a constructive feature of 
 a series which ran for more than a year. Illustration and text 
 became a mosaic of composition. Subjects which might otherwise 
 have been much smaller, if confined to a square space, were made 
 to seem larger. 
 
 In this campaign, however, there is a return to the old style 
 of vignette, that is, there are areas where the half-tone screen is 
 
158 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERTISING 
 
 made to fade off into white paper. Such plates require special 
 make-ready and alert attention on the part of the printer. 
 Mechanically, the vignette offers problems to any engraver. 
 And these difficulties are magnified when the printing is 
 done. Some vignettes are accomplished by tooling work while 
 others demand the fadeaway process described. 
 
 The vignette makes it possible to show only a part of an 
 object, while suggesting all of it. If the cutoff were sharp, no 
 such pleasing and imaginative suggestion could be supplied in an 
 illustration. A border line virtually calls a halt on imagination. 
 The vignette, however, seems to say: 
 
 "There is more beyond; you may supply what is missing." 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 BRINGING TRADE MARKS TO LIFE 
 
 Any discussion of trade marks, advertising characters, sym- 
 bols, monograms, and other set devices has no place in this book, 
 but where such devices become the pictorial theme of an adver- 
 tising campaign, the subject is valid and worthy of analysis. 
 It is by no means an uncommon practice for advertisers to make 
 a trade mark, whatever its specific technical designation, the 
 dominant illustrative theme of an entire series. 
 
 During the past few years, a remarkable change has taken place 
 in the attitude of the advertiser regarding his trade mark, whether 
 it be a character or a lettered device. He is no longer content 
 with allowing it to remain set. The flexible trade mark is the 
 more modern plan. Where once it was considered a violation of 
 every sensible law of advertising to tamper with these insignias 
 and characters, to put them in motion, or to give them new 
 aspects, it is now the custom to recreate public interest by any 
 number of worthwhile deviations from the original rule. 
 
 The modern trade mark is the one which bids for constantly 
 recurrent public interest. People may tire of it or they may 
 take it too much for granted. Yet it remains the calling card of 
 the company and of the product. If an advertiser places a 
 trade mark or a character which is always the same in every piece 
 of advertising, it is only natural that popular interest should 
 begin to wane. 
 
 One of the most experienced advertisers has said of his trade 
 mark: 
 
 I am not so sure that the public is as interested in my trade mark as I 
 am, for I originated it and sponsored it from the beginning. Therefore, 
 it is my custom, every so often, to make it the feature of my advertising. 
 There is a popular re-christening. I bring it out in new frills and fur- 
 belows for the new generation and for the edification of the old timers, 
 who may be taking too much for granted. 
 
 I have grown lenient as regards my trade mark; I am willing to change 
 it about, to give it new perspective and new viewpoints, and to enliven it. 
 
 159 
 
160 ILLUSTRATION IK ADVERTISIXG 
 
 If a man stood on the public square, motionless, ahvaj's the same as to 
 pose, I fear people would soon grow to pass him by. I do not want to 
 make a sort of monument of my trade mark. 1 do not insist that it be 
 fixed as to its showing. I vastly prefer to bring it to life. 
 
 The advertiser does not always know how he can bring an 
 inanimate trade mark to life. The symbol which has been 
 created and which may have become sacred in a sense, through 
 long use does not appear to lend itself to vaudeville. It has 
 always been shown in a set form, and unvaried. It has been 
 stamped on the goods in this original style. Will the public 
 recognize it, if it appears in new accoutrements, with fresh 
 atmosphere, and from unaccustomed angles? 
 
 The answer is to be found in the far more modern handling of 
 trade marks. The spirit, the form, and the physical attributes of 
 a trade mark may be preserved, while its presentation changes 
 materially. To confirm and illustrate this fact, we have only to 
 turn to innumerable instances of its picturesque application. 
 
 The American Telephone and Telegraph Company, since its 
 inception, has presented a simplified silhouette bell as the trade 
 mark symbol of its operations. This bell is everywhere seen, 
 on booths, in literature, on signs, etc. It is one of the best 
 examples imaginable, because of its far reaching application. 
 Everybody is now familar with it. 
 
 But the bell is, at best, commonplace, pictorially, and after 
 it has been reproduced for many years, it is obvious that the 
 original power and significance might become dulled. The Bell 
 System, conscious of this, touched the insigne with a semblance of 
 life. The bell was formed of people and such primary attributes 
 as the lettering and the cross lines were duplicated. 
 
 The illustration will be quite imperishable because it is an 
 ideal example of how an advertiser may preserve all the tradi- 
 tions, ideals and characteristics of a life-long insignia, and yet 
 depart from it sufficiently to create fresh public interest. 
 
 Advertisers are unshaken in their belief in trade marks, whether 
 they be the most pretentious characterizations or the simplest of 
 monograms. They constitute the official signature of the manu- 
 facturer. But if they are to remain consistently effective, public 
 interest in them nmst be sustained, season after season, and they 
 are to be impressed upon the new generation. It must always 
 be kept in mind, in the case of a trade mark, that each new gen- 
 eration demands a new campaign in its behalf. 
 
BRINGING TRADE MARKS TO LIFE 
 
 161 
 
 The advertiser either beheves in his trade mark thoroughly 
 and stands squarely back of it, year after year, or gradually 
 loses faith and interest, and permits it to die a natural death. 
 Unquestionably, these reactions are regulated by the intrinsic 
 value of the device itself. The trade mark created under the 
 spur of impulse and weak as a selling agent from the start does 
 not deserve perpetuating. 
 
 Fig, 98. 
 
 Left. — The Whitman's Sampler advertising character while not exactly flexible, 
 is reproduced here, in small size, from a full page in magazines, because it illus- 
 trates a popular tendency to allow such characters to occasionally dominate. 
 They become the sole feature of the message. In the present instance there was 
 no text, no display type of any kind, apart from the name on the box which is a 
 part of the design jjropcr. 
 
 Ri(]ht. — An ingenious and imaginative method of "bringing a trade mark to 
 life," by forming it of a vast mass of people, representing the employees who make 
 the Bell System possible. Aside from paying a handsome tribute to these men 
 and women, the public is encouraged to look upon a trade mark as something 
 intensely alive and human. 
 
 The showing of a trade mark, regardless of its character or 
 type, in time fails of results. It is a plant which must be tended 
 ever so often or it dies. There is the instance of the manu- 
 facturer of soap whose trade mark at one time was nationally 
 
1G2 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERTISING 
 
 known. But a change in advertising policy relegated it to small 
 space. It gradually became an incident in the advertising. At 
 the expiration of several years, sales fell off, and the manufac- 
 turer came to realize that his trade mark had always meant more 
 than he himself, realized. 
 
 This trade mark, or, more properly, an advertising character, 
 was lifted out of its inconspicuous corner and made the spot- 
 
 Jmooths the Hpad 
 
 J0gg^ '^'1 r.'.,.l< .irc Mnr.ll. nnds when 
 
 ^^^^^^L ^"'1' '■i*r ts Bo^ch ci|iiip|icJ. 
 
 r-|B (d I "" I' '^-l> Sh<K-k A!»<irhcr is 
 
 ' I^^^^P "^^'' '" {•rtnctpic anil desiga. 
 
 J^^^^^ '' iuncfions continuously nni) 
 
 w (iivcs a new comfort to ndini; 
 
 K-^pjir ^ and i new protection to the 
 
 f„ ~ car. Insist on Bokch Shock 
 
 ISw?' Absoiticn! and riJc in comfort 
 
 ^"^" and safety. .Made by the 
 
 V»4MAUn makers of dlt fl<-s^h Ma'jncKi. 
 
 TiffMnlMofi 
 
 SHOCK 
 
 ABSORBER 
 
 ■». A-. / Bosih Sp.„k IMui; .".1. ^...,«l .IS iIk li.".Ji M.i^nct.^" Il..s.-h 
 
 dcM'^ncd .Old B-i^h hnilt— a ijujlity ji* thnMli;li..lit. The excliisitc IWjsch 
 
 ",Amh),n." ii'MiUtor — pr.iclicalls unlncakahle, ini(>cr\ n >ii> to hc-at or hijjh 
 
 Nickel »tccl jIIov elcctroiles. One piece sticl shell. Leak 
 
 (.r.H.r. Specilv Bosch H„l I'loys and l..r>.el all s|.ark plug 
 
 •' f. Ill »i\e t\pcJ» and si/es. Remilar si/.c-s $i.oo. Foni si7.c 75c. 
 
 A. \l IK lew RO.SQH ^^-^ .M A O N E T O C O K P. 
 
 SPARI^LUGS 
 
 Fig. 99.- — Throughout niany years of advertising, this symbolic advertisiiiR 
 character is shown in every display, busily at work. The artist is iierniitted to 
 place him in any position, any pose, just so long as his true identity is preserved. 
 
 light feature of all advertising. No actual change was made in 
 its physical presentation, but it was shown larger tliun ever before, 
 even in the gala days of its initial appearance. The text paid 
 tribute to it. It occupied the center of the stage. 
 
 Now and again, investigations made by an advertiser in retail 
 centers convince him that his trade mark is of greater significance 
 than he had imagined. If competitors have been encroaching 
 upon his field, the most valuable curative influence may be to 
 
BRINGING TRADE MARKS TO LIFE 
 
 103 
 
 feature the trade mark and to ask people to look for it and to 
 insist upon it. 
 
 One of the most notable campaigns ever launched, wherein a 
 flexible trade character was utilized in a seemingly endless 
 variety of compositions was a series of newspaper and magazine 
 advertisements for the Rolls-Royce automobile. There had 
 been designed for this car an exquisite figure of speed, easy 
 flight and winged victory over space. Wrought in silver, it 
 was poised on the radiator cap, a fair face inclined toward the 
 
 
 <, 
 
 
 
 56 1« iuit A number — S8 is jtist a nuniSci — hul .^.'nHjrK c-khI ihincs tu c: 
 
 Here are Heinz 5/ Varieties. Hou' many du ymi know! 
 
 ?i£^ 
 
 SSsK'SSj-"' 
 
 GINGBR AI/E. 
 
 Fig. 100. 
 
 Left. — For many years, the Heinz trade mark of the familiar numcral-s, "57," 
 were merely introduced as an incidental somewhere in every advertisement. 
 But periodically, it becomes necessary to revive interest in such de\'ices and to 
 manufacture fresh public interest in them for new generations. By embellish- 
 ment, by the magnified space allotment, and by the whimsical background, the 
 Heinz 57 is clearly dramatized. 
 
 Right.- — The quaint little Eskimo Kid, of Clicquot fame, is an example of the 
 type of advertising character which is set to work in numerous compositions, and 
 not arbitrarily held to one position. He is one of a con.siderable family in the 
 modern scheme of things. The Little Fairy of Fairy Soap does not climb down 
 from the chill aloofness of her oval cake, and the Old Dutch Cleanser girl "chases 
 dirt" in exactly the same pose throughout the years. It appears to be an accepted 
 theory that active characters make it easier for variety in the advertising 
 schedule. 
 
 open road ahead, and flying draperies floating behind like the 
 wings of a poised bird. 
 
 Although the Rolls-Royce had adopted a trade mark mono- 
 gram of two graceful initial R's, the silver figurette became 
 
1G4 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 increasingly popular, and began to make its appearance in all 
 advertising. But the characteristic phase of these displays was 
 in the startling number of different poses. The silver symbol 
 was not pictured twice in the same position. Its identity was 
 not lost because these liberties were taken. That the illustra- 
 tions were of one fixed master model was evident. Repetition 
 at last gave the radiator cap figure all the virtues of an accredited 
 advertising character. 
 
 Attention is called to reproductions of a number of the Rolls- 
 Royce magazine and newspaper compositions. Here the flexible 
 
 teRoCifavtr'iiirt' 
 
 ROLLS-ROYCE 
 
 ROLLS-ROYCE 
 
 ROLLS-ROYCE 
 
 Fig. 101. — -While the same figure is used throughout, as the pictorial feature of 
 the campaign, observe that no two poses are alike. The artist has selected ever- 
 changing perspectives and viewpoints. Trade mark characters never grow 
 monotonous when handled in this manner. A significant feature of the Rolls- 
 Royce series was the apparently endless variants secured. 
 
 trade mark^ — it has now grown to this estate — is employed wisely 
 and with real initiative. It does not become tiresome. It does 
 not wear out its welcome. Had a fixed pose been arbitrarily 
 chosen to appear in every advertisement, the result would have 
 been less pleasing. The campaign in its entirety illustrates that 
 more liberal viewpoint regarding trade marks antl advertising 
 characters makes for less conventional displays and is nicely 
 calculated to prevent such devices from "going to seed." 
 
 It is the modern idea to put trade marks to work. Relegating 
 them to some inconspicuous part of the advertisement and giving 
 them no more than casual emphasis is an echo of the past. A 
 trade mark is no seasonal advertising problem. It should make 
 its presence felt always. If a design or a figure has been chosen 
 which does not lend itself to variants of display and exploitation, 
 
BRINGING TRADE MARKS TO LIFE 
 
 1G5 
 
 this is the advertiser's misfortune. Today's campaign characters 
 are studied out in advance and in their relation to copy and 
 pictorial possibilities. A smiling baker, who is a composite of 
 all the bakers in the country, a sweet-faced mother, who is 
 symbolic of universal motherhood, a likable old shoemaker at 
 his bench, a master chemist in his laboratory, a garage service 
 station worker, a house painter, a servant girl, willing, eager, and 
 efficient who becomes the humanized symbol of the service ren- 
 dered by electrical household appliances — these are a few of the 
 
 Fig. 102. — In a very remarkable campaign, the chief objective of which was to 
 rekindle interest in a name, a trade mark, the Buick advertising devised this 
 transparent lettering novelty, whereby the reader is compelled to look through 
 the trade mark at the changing panorama of scenic interest upon which it is 
 skilfully superimposed. This is, then, an example of how a rather commonplace 
 and uninspired device can be given pictorial interest. The backgrounds were 
 different in every display. 
 
 interesting host of new advertising characters, which are sur- 
 rounded by no rules, and bound about by no restrictions. They 
 are ever changing. The public sees them day by day in new 
 guises and at new activities. Their flexibility keeps them very 
 much alive. 
 
 A parallel case with the Rolls-Royce campaign is the strategic 
 series created for the Buick automobile. Here the advertiser 
 was somewhat handicapped by the fact that his trade mark was 
 
166 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERTISING 
 
 Why keep FRICTION 
 on the Pay-roll? 
 
 L 
 
 qA cosily discredit 
 to good management 
 
 ) he partly 
 iig ]>ower— 
 
 pulV, .Ira^ and Iml.l 
 
 .iiffcrcnr u) 
 the jniquw 
 
 What oUs should you use .' 
 — what ihould ^-ou p«v f"r thcm! 
 
 Vhai wc knuw your oquipmcnr and op- 
 r.i!iag contl'ttion^ il<v makjng a Lubrtca- 
 lun AiiJit c¥pUin€il in column at right), 
 re can pfcachbe the correct mts for the 
 
 1 Lubrication Audit 
 
 REcOMMEND/,X10NSt 
 
 J wit. 
 
 •M »iU Jian^c (aggiT(( mathincTV into 
 h^nrry whtHc c^^crjtiun U a crAlir to 
 
 W' ycHi rcAti^ that neatly every pU 
 •ni- tinw nr aitothcT ha^ xJiul 
 li.wn (o^ rtuair>— due 'o lawlM 
 
 G^^*^^ 
 
 recommend wilt be corrcrt fc^ 
 d ritli in luhrit«infi (tualltici - 
 I to k«p in inmd (hut the brt! 
 OiU arir thos* that luhricaic most, llw)' teill 
 cn*t jou, projufHy. a fc» ttnti rmwr jvr galkwi 
 than oiU rif lower luhricaling qtuliucs. 
 
 Vou will |«y the pritx of high quality oils 
 whether you uw them or not. In not uiing 
 thori, you Nimply j»ay for them in power losses. 
 repairs and shut<<lowiu. 
 
 Wr invite you to let us dctnonMrite the 
 Miivrior rCwwHny of Gargoyle Luhritailng Oil^, 
 vr! i(i.\l hv u* lo meet your particolar hihri 
 caiing problems. In writing 
 kmdlv ajdrcw our nearest branch 
 
 Lubricating Oils 
 
 y/gmjf/r.r (Hili type of <<T(ke 
 
 t. HtCKINUi l>.Uk>nc»> 
 
 VACUTJIM OIL COIVIPANY 
 
 Fig. 103. — Although the Vacuum Oil ('()iiii>:iny lias an established trade mark 
 in its Gargoyle feature, the far more popular and interesting device is an allegorical 
 figure of Friction, used consistently throughout numerous camijaigns and always 
 in different po.ses, as different stories are related. l-$y running the figure proi)er in 
 a brilliant red, its ghostly (lualities are emphasized. 
 
BRINGING TRADE MARKS TO LIFE 167 
 
 the hand-lcttcrccl name plate. There was no dramatic and 
 imaginative human figure. 
 
 The trade mark was brought to life by allowing it to partly 
 merge into constantly changing backgrounds which were atmos- 
 pheric to a degree and which were not duplicated. If a series 
 was to be used on the inferior paper stock of farm journals, 
 then the illustrations were in pen and ink, for line reproduction, 
 and the scenic backdrop, behind the trade mark, was colored 
 with rural activities. If another series was to appear in standard 
 magazines, the backgrounds were higher in the artistic scale, and 
 reflected the atmosphere of this market. But in order to see 
 the illustrations it was necessary to look through the trade mark, 
 which was done in the "ghost technique" transparent, of the 
 X-ray school. It was this feature which made the campaign 
 distinctive. 
 
 The worker trade mark has taken the place of the drone. 
 The awakening to this better application has caused advertisers 
 to adopt in reality two trade marks. Acknowledging the futility 
 of breathing inspiration into devices which were conceived 
 many years ago, manufacturers look about for suitable insignia. 
 
 ]\Iore significant in the advertising history of the Vacuum Oil 
 Company than the gargoyle, from which the product takes its 
 trade name and which, years ago, was selected as a business 
 symbol, is the cunning figure of Friction. This figure is a living 
 trade mark; it is susceptible of innumerable changes and applica- 
 tions. It may stand arrogantly atop the industrial plant in one 
 display, or retard the easy movement of factory wheels in the 
 next. Friction is made a tangible though imaginative reality. 
 
 Another modern development is advertising characters which 
 are truly alive. They are either drawings or photographs of 
 actual people with whom the reader is apt to come in contact. 
 In their effort to sell direct, and in building up great nation-wide 
 selling organizations for door-to-door calls, a number of advertis- 
 ers picture these selling agents in their campaigns. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 ANIMATING THE INANIMATE 
 
 Many years ago, as a feature of the famous Eden Musee in 
 New York, there was a strange, uncanny chess player. It was 
 no more than a dummy, richly garbed in oriental silks, but those 
 who wished to do so, could sit at a chessboard, and when its time 
 came to make a play, the lifeless hand moved, the composition 
 fingers grasped the chessmen, and the game proceeded. Every- 
 one knew that it was a dummy, but the semblance of life gave it 
 popular attraction. There were always crowds in that corner of 
 the gallery. 
 
 When inanimate things are made animate, people are interested. 
 In an advertising sense, this constitutes an infallible method of 
 arousing attention for commonplace objects. To put the prod- 
 uct to work is an accepted expedient and one in which the 
 artist has become remarkably proficient. A tin of salad oil 
 might have little attraction. There are thousands of products in 
 boxes and cans and few of them are unusually distinctive. But, 
 as in the case of Wesson Oil, give the container legs, arms, a body, 
 and put it in motion, and it immediately wins reader attention 
 which did not exist before. It is an unusual type of illustration. 
 
 As the feature of a most unconventional newspaper campaign, 
 the advertisers of Wesson Oil brought the homely container to 
 life. It was represented, to all intents and purposes, as a thrifty, 
 busy housewife, although no actual face was required to suggest 
 this idea. A checked apron and rolledup sleeves constituted 
 the only addition to the can, with now and again a glimpse of 
 quietly shod feet. In some large displays, there were progressive 
 illustrations, which pictured the Wesson Oil can first rolling the 
 dough, then fitting it snugly into the pie tin, then cutting the 
 apples into bits, and slicing off the edges of the crust, and finally 
 the finished pie, ready for the oven. 
 
 The advertiser gains in the following ways by bringing his 
 product to life: 
 
 168 
 
ANIMATING THE INANIMATE 
 
 169 
 
 Attention concentrated upon the container. 
 
 Makes for remembrance value of product. 
 
 Provides interest in an object which, of itself, may not be interesting. 
 
 Supplies connected theme for a series of advertisements. 
 
 Closely associates the product with the service it performs. 
 
 Gives full credit to the product instead of to the individual user. 
 
 Secures reader interest in advertising subjects which are commonplace. 
 
 Fig. 104. — Members of a jolly, thrifty little family, as a can of oil is imbued with 
 life and becomes a housewife of the old school, ready for any problem. Features 
 — eyes, nose and mouth are not even necessary to accomplish this interesting 
 objective. 
 
 There are numerous methods by which an inanimate object 
 may be brought to life, but the obvious and perhaps the best 
 idea is to give it arms, legs, and a face. There are rules and 
 observances, however, which should always be kept in mind and 
 one of the most important is to hold the product itself adequately 
 clear of added accessories. The value of the plan is to famihar- 
 ize the consumer with the article in such a manner as to make it 
 easier for him to recognize it when he sees it at its point of sale. 
 It has been found that comparatively few persons can instantly 
 identify a package, for example, when it is placed with many 
 other brands. 
 
 A still more valuable attribute is that of an association of 
 ideas. The product itself does the work. A fundamental 
 thought in connection with it is visualized. When considered 
 
170 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 from one point of view, heating plants, for examples, may be 
 pictured as tyrants, making their owners step lively and over- 
 whelming them with fussy exactions, or they may be conceived as 
 self-sufficient helpers, cheerfully attending to their own affairs, 
 without complaint or assistance. A manufacturer of boilers 
 and radiators for homes believed that this humanizing of a 
 commonly known device, would more surely convey the basic 
 idea of a certain advertisement than much technical descriptive 
 talk. And to visualize it, he had drawn a man, shovel in hand, 
 looking at two heating plants. One plant, chosen at random, 
 
 Fig. 105. — The product, a can of oil, given life and made to take the part of 
 a traffic officer, while Noise, Carbon and Wear with hands, arms and legs, enter 
 into the spirit of a humorous situation. 
 
 had a surly, glowering face drawn on its asbestos surface. The 
 ugly mouth was drawn down into a leer, the brows were con- 
 tracted, and the entire expression one of insistent, unflinching 
 selfishness. It pointed significantly to a huge pile of coal, as 
 much as to say: "I'll use all that before the winter is over, and 
 more. Whatcha got to say about it?" The manufacturer's 
 heating plant, on the opposite side, wore a wholesome smile. 
 It looked affable as it pointed to the small amount of coal it 
 demanded. A humanized contrast was established by means of 
 animating the apparently inanimate. The method often requires 
 the viewpoint of the trained cartoonist. 
 
 To bring a product to life by giving it eyes, nose, mouth, arms, 
 and legs, with no adequate selling and advertising objective. 
 
ANIMATING THE INANIMATE 171 
 
 is apt to strip it of its dignity. It is by no means a good practice 
 for continuous advertising usage. Where a whimsical turn of 
 copy gives an illustration of this character validity, it makes a 
 valuable addition to any campaign. 
 
 Anything from a factory building to a can of soup may be 
 animated by the resourceful and imaginative artist. A notable 
 series for use by a manufacturer of paints and varnishes used, in 
 most remarkable and amusing pictures, innumerable types of 
 houses from the bungalow to the mansion and from the small 
 factory to the industrial plant covering many acres. Windows 
 became eyes and doors were mouths. The buildings, although 
 architecturally sound, had a delightful way of expressing their 
 moods. The house which had been neglected and which was 
 therefore falling into decay bore the most desolate and dejected 
 expression, as it huddled behind a clump of leaf-shorn trees, 
 against the grey and windy autumn sky. No hope left! Its 
 owner had for too long a period thought paint unnecessary. 
 "Woe is me!" moaned the unhappy edifice. 
 
 On the other hand, the advertiser gave the public spritely, 
 smiling, jaunty homes, their eyes dancing with content and their 
 complete expressions at once visualizing the joy of the surface 
 saved. Advertising illustrations must be obvious to a degree; 
 such illustrations, primitive as the cartoon idea which gave them 
 birth, are essential to the campaign of a well-balanced year. 
 
 The surprising part of it is that the possibilities appear 
 unlimited. "But I can't bring my product to hfe," complains 
 the advertiser to whom the idea appeals. "It is not suited to 
 that sort of thing." There are practically no limitations. But 
 a special type of talent is required to do the thing naturally, 
 without straining for effect, and with the true sense of humor, 
 which largely regulates success. It occurred to an artist recently 
 to draw a series of studies of trees. He felt that they were nearly 
 human, being happy or unhappy, sick or well much like people. 
 From this inspirational idea came an impressive series of 
 drawings, wherein trees actually did become human. The 
 characterizations ran all the way from the elf-like dancer to the 
 cringing, hand-clasping Uriah Hecp. 
 
 An equally significant method is that of lending form to sensa- 
 tions, to conditions, and to words for which there is no true 
 illustration. An insurance company has created a symbol of 
 fire — a sinister figure, dressed in funeral black, a cowl on 
 
172 
 
 ILLUSTRATIOX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 the head, and features, hands, and feet of carmine. Because the 
 advertising is always run in two colors, the significance of the 
 flaming face and hands is peculiarly impressive. 
 
 The picture of a fire would not, under any circumstances, stand 
 the advertiser in as good stead as this human symbol of it, crafty 
 and eager to destroy. It insists during its progress, from week 
 to week and month to month, that persons think in a new 
 way of the subject of fire and of the responsibility to guard 
 against it. Fire has been pictured as beating at the metal 
 
 Keep Fire. Out! 
 
 Fig. 106. — An insurance company makes the public see Fire as a crafty, 
 malignant, revengeful figure, of leering red countenance and the black habiliments 
 of disaster and death . . . more effective than illustrations of burning houses, 
 it must be admitted. 
 
 windows of a factory, as shying from the patent e.xtinguishers, 
 as juggling with human lives, as a domineering swaggerer, strid- 
 ing across miles of damaged homesteads and business buildings. It 
 is easier to grasp the significance of what fire is and what fire does, 
 when it is brought to life and given an individuality of its own. 
 Power has been animated and given material form in numerous 
 ways, more habitually as a giant doing things which require feats 
 of terrific strength. As an indication of the almost inexhaustible 
 fund of art ideas, attention is called to a vividly imaginative 
 illustration reproduced on these pages. The accompanying 
 text gives a word picture of the advertiser's basic thought — how 
 much more effective is the picture: 
 
ANIMATING THE INANIMATE 
 
 173 
 
 The most expensive walk-out in the world — the Power Strike, Power 
 is continually going on strike. Up the chimney it goes, or dribbles 
 away through packing leaks, through bare, hot pipes and surfaces, or 
 elsewhere tliroutihoiit the plant. Wasted power is wasted fuel. 
 
 Your Boiler is your Boss— f>ick a good oiie 
 
 TO MEN 
 IN IND 
 
 Tlu-nu..,.xrcn.Mvc g 
 
 MU 
 
 h,r^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 «» 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 wnrk. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 in~).l| 
 
 
 
 
 .. fbm 
 
 
 '}c''\ 
 
 ,::;;r 
 
 Tr'I: 
 
 
 
 
 JOHNS-J>^ISNVILLE 
 
 SAVES T" POWER 
 
 HE HOWLS 
 
 Let him howl! 
 
 Penny- shelving' 
 
 ] dangcnius pr.icTicr in plant niaiiiigenunt 
 
 o^«2^ 
 
 Lubricating Oils 
 
 VACUUM OIL COMPANY 
 
 Fig. 107. 
 
 Upper Left. — Bringing two types of heating plants to life, cartoon fashion, to 
 elaborate a sales argument. The gruff and "bossy" furnace, a coal consumer, 
 and the smiling example of economy, given character by a few deft strokes. 
 
 Upper Right. — Winter, made into something more than snow and ice, by an 
 artist who pictures it as a lone wolf, howling on a wind-swept hill. Animals, 
 because of their familiar characteristics, are often employed in this spectacular 
 fashion. 
 
 Lower Left. — Waste power, animated and given "personality," which permits 
 the copy to draw an apt comparison with labor and the sullen strikers. A 
 dramatic type of illustration is the result. 
 
 Lower Right. — Friction may be "animated," but visualizing it by a less effec- 
 tive method than the above, would be exceedingly difficult. For several years, 
 the advertiser always portrayed friction as the great, retarding giant, thus more 
 definitely establishing an idea for the multitudes. 
 
 This text is quoted because it so perfectly fits the mood of 
 the illustration which has been drawn for it. The conven- 
 
174 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 tional picture might well have been a mere industrial panorama 
 of factory buildings and high chimneys. In the foreground 
 loomed the topmost brick masonry of a wide-throated chimney, 
 hundreds of feet from the ground. From it, rose heat waves, and 
 escaping steam. Into these elements were sketched brawny, 
 
 Tramp labor or skilled help? 
 
 Success in fanning demands 
 that you weigh these facts 
 
 retUy yaad lubrMidnf }o(> i> u rsoliiK » MibniluIiKf o* MobUoJ. hriojKl ■! itifftrmi pli 
 
 •litrflni irimp tibw fcf umir tip-Wt Wp •">*« Vou -lU fa«l i» <l.l*ne«t 
 
 fht itiony l«l-H.twJ hy GxtfoyU M<*.lo.l KMilly >tm«K». 
 ien icramplith mort, jux at rou irttMncli-Ji mvrc Til ) tc|Hritf (illont offhfip a 
 
 iSc* )<« *Sy trimp Itbonn Oi* wnple lMi<l> «l 
 
 tndnttd ttpiriaify for in ntrdi (J) EsttrimeeAnlf 
 
 ^•nt ytM. bill for thnr lutmlfH 
 
 t o( >h( V.(uun. CM Boird of E 
 
 
 
 Mobiloil 
 
 TRACTOR Lubrica 
 
 rc:-rf 
 
 VACTJUIVI OIL COMPAN^Y ^ 
 
 Fig. 108. — Cheap, inferior oil, and the efficient kind, characterized aptly 
 enough by means of human figures. Poor oil may be compared with unskilled, 
 lazy tramp labor, always eager to avoid responsibility. 
 
 broad-chested toilers, their sledge hammers over their shoulders, 
 upper parts of swarthy bodies bare, and faces sullen. Power 
 was put into picture form and given dramatic illustrative interest, 
 for a subject which might easily have been commonplace. 
 Winter! How could such a theme be animated, given more 
 than passive character? Surely, not by even the most adequate 
 picture of a snow-covered landscape. A manufacturer of radi- 
 ators sees winter through the eyes of a dreamer with colorful 
 
ANIMATING THE INANIMATE 
 
 175 
 
 imagiaation. On the crest of a white hillside stands a wolf, at 
 bay, the frosty breath steaming from its red nostrils. And, down 
 in the valley, there are snug homes, protected from the most 
 severe weather by proper heating plants. "The Wolf of Winter! 
 He howls. Let him howl. He lurks at doors 
 and windows. He preys on the health of 
 children. His cry is the biting north wind." 
 
 A lubricant for farm machinery is visual- 
 ized as the efficient farmhand, who is up and 
 on his job, as opposed to the lazy, unskilled 
 idler asleep under a tree, when supposedly at 
 work. A working quality is pictured, ani- 
 mated. Poor, cheap or indifferently made 
 oil is represented by the slacker under the 
 tree. 
 
 Such illustrative devices as these give all 
 advertising a welcomed and necessary variety 
 of illustrations. Otherwise, all available 
 material would be used up, and monotony 
 would be inevitable. 
 
 Another advertiser of automobile and fac- 
 tory oils has for many years based all adver- 
 tising illustrations on a crafty ghost and 
 the enemy of efficiency — Friction — put into 
 human form, forever holding back the wheels 
 of progress. For a campaign may talk the 
 facts of friction without ever once actually 
 visualizing its evil intent toward public 
 welfare. The moment it is shown actively 
 retarding production, the most unimaginative 
 mind can grasp the story. 
 
 Because its manufacturers claim that a radiator valve is a 
 saver of heat and therefore a saver of coal, an advertising trade 
 mark character has been invented which animates a service 
 performed. "The watchman of the coal pile" is the slogan and 
 the standardized picture shows a neat, efficient watchman, in 
 uniform, deftly worked in the outline of the valve itself. Illus- 
 trative advertising of the idea has a broad field of wealth, as 
 yet utilized only by the more progressive advertisers. 
 
 Fig. 109. — An inani- 
 mate product, an air- 
 valve, made animate 
 by the simple expedient 
 of suggesting it as a 
 watchman of the coal 
 pile. Both product and 
 figure are skilfully 
 fused in one composite 
 illustration. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE ATTENTION-COMPELLING THEME 
 
 There are occasions, in every advertising campaign, when 
 something in the text, a hne, a reference, a happy headUne, will 
 provide for the use of a peculiarly compelling method of illustra- 
 tion. There is a demarcation between the purely sensational, 
 melodramatic type of illustration and the one which is obviously 
 and frankly fantastic. As one advertiser has said, 
 
 Niagara, as it is, attracts millions, but if the waters of Niagara 
 tumbled up, instead of down, the entire nation would flock to see it. 
 We attempt, in our campaigns, to use with great frequency illustrations 
 which are absolutely irresistable and we have the known reactions of 
 human nature to reassure us. People must "stop and look." Any 
 campaign stands in need of this "Picture tonic" wisely administered. 
 It requires a great deal more thinking to arrive at such illustrations but 
 they automatically guarantee a receptive audience. 
 
 For the most part, these whimsical, striking, and even fantastic 
 and unreal ideas proceed from a subtle element in the opening 
 lines of the text. They are most valid when this sympathetic 
 association does not strain too hard for tieup. 
 
 The object of most illustration is to amplify visually what is 
 said. In this hurried generation, illustration must serve largely 
 as the ballyhoo of the "big show." 
 
 The artist draws a picture of an energetic small boy sawing a 
 piece of plank on one of the most expensive chairs in the library. 
 Unconsciously, the reader shudders with apprehension. That 
 invaluable Jacobean chair will be absolutely ruined. Whatever 
 can be happening. The boy is using a Simonds saw. One thing 
 is certain although the association of ideas may be unpleasant, 
 the eye has been lured and attention more than ordinarily con- 
 centrated. It is the type of picture which refuses to be ignored. 
 
 "Let's go back along the Road to Yesterday," states an equally 
 compelling headline, and even now, the objective of the illustra- 
 tion has not been brought out. It is necessary to continue: 
 
 17G 
 
THE ATTENTION-COMPELLING THEME 177 
 
 Somewhere back among the days of the old swimmin' hole and cat- 
 fishin' along the river bank, there's one day that was long remembered — 
 the day that first tool-chest arrived. Mother probably worried about 
 you sawing up the legs of the old square piano. Dad probably looked 
 on and smoked himself into pipe dreams of your future . . . And you 
 — why you knew you'd grown up. Why not gratify the liking that 
 you've still got for good tools by including in your tool equipment a 
 Simonds Hand Saw. 
 
 The advertiser is willing to depart from the conventional 
 illustration found in campaigns for a product of this character. 
 
 Fig. 1 10. — An illustration which gives the reader a sudden thrill of apprehen- 
 sion, as the small boy saws a plank on the expensive parlor chair. The desire is 
 to read the text and find out "what's it all about?" 
 
 The idea which depends largely upon sentiment and fun and a 
 pulse quickening dash of action is out of the ordinary. A great 
 many men will grin reminiscently at sight of the small boy so 
 earnestly at work on the family's prize chair. 
 
 Illustrations coming under this classification, however, are 
 more generally based upon an even deeper indulgence in dra- 
 matics and in sensation. A large rugged hand reaches into 
 another picture and, selecting one car on a street teeming with 
 vehicular traffic, grasps it from behind, holds it, and prevents 
 it from easily proceeding. It pictures the headline thought 
 "The unseen hand that holds back your car. The 'drag' that 
 
178 
 
 ILLUSTRATIOX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 An outdoor heating systctn 
 Is ytnm one? 
 
 JoHNS'MANVILLE 
 
 ^._ » Improved , 
 
 a--Asbestocel 
 
 The Uiiscfn Hand 
 
 that Holds Back Your Car 
 
 
 — saves cnal 
 
 GAS-CQ-LATOR 
 
 
 When Your Motor 
 turns Broncho 
 
 ^>r' ''. —liim'l tntitli 
 
 Din and Wuler in Vuur Gav>Iiiii 
 Is What Makes V, 
 
 Ufuier/ieath tlmtpcyjectfmish 
 
 IF 
 
 ^ AL£MITE 
 
 GAS-CO-LATOR 
 
 ^Mtlihi^ takes the place of 
 
 LEATHER 
 
 Fig. 111. 
 
 Upper Left. — Illustrated conventionally, literally, the subject of steam pipes 
 and their insulation would not be apt to interest a very largo audience, but l)y 
 dramatizing an idea, the advertiser compels attention. 
 
 Upper liifjht. — Mechanically devised illustration for a product of this character, 
 might easily fall into the uninteresting and unattractive class. But by picturing 
 a condition known to all motorists, in this rather thrilling manner, the embel- 
 lishment of the advertisement forces attention. 
 
 Lower Left. — A mechanical theme given intensive reader interest, because of 
 an imaginative illustration which very cleverly \isualizes the idea of a "bucking" 
 automobile engine. 
 
 Lower Right. — Discussion of the importance of knowing the quality of the raw 
 material which is in the sole of a shoe, vi\'idly and irresistibly presented by 
 means of an illustration. A commonplace subject is given melodramatic action. 
 
THE ATTENTION-COMPELLING THEME 179 
 
 water and dirt in your gasoline puts on your motor." The 
 picture is used in an advertisement for a device for straining 
 gasoline on a motor car. 
 
 In a remarkable series for American sole and belting leather, 
 a giant shoe was turned on its heel, with the sole facing the 
 reader. It is surrounded by a crowd of interested people neces- 
 sarily in miniature. The shoe towers above their heads. A force 
 of six men are sawing the shoe in half. The two parts of the 
 sole fall apart at the top. The text for the advertisement is a 
 plea with the public to give greater consideration to "what is 
 underneath that perfect finish," the inside facts about shoes. 
 And, in order to give drama to a subject which might be difficult 
 to illustrate compellingly, the artist has had recourse to a com- 
 position which is sure to command universal attention. To 
 cut a shoe in two for example, and make this the illustration for 
 the message would have been to invite a limited and indifferent 
 audience. 
 
 It will be observed, then, that advertisers are literally forced 
 to turn to "attention compellers" where the subject in hand is 
 of passive reader interest. Many products could not have been 
 exploited successfully had it not been for imaginative illustrations 
 accompanied by dramatic text, which, working together, created 
 adequate reader response. Inherently, these products possessed 
 none of the essential attributes of what may be termed good 
 advertising. Granted that the man who buys a pair of shoes 
 should take an interest in the soles of his shoes and the material 
 of which they are manufactured, he is apt to be aggravatingly 
 indifferent. But his enthusiasm can be stimulated by something 
 unusual in illustration and in text. 
 
 Incongruous as it may seem, to show an illustration of an other- 
 wise perfectly groomed man, wearing a pair of garters around his 
 neck, the advertiser is insistent upon making the prospect give 
 added attention to a new thought in connection with the prod- 
 uct. "If garters were worn around the neck, you'd change them 
 frequently." Right. No commonplace, conventional illus- 
 tration would make men realize that it is just as essential to 
 have garters always neat and free from perspiration and "that 
 wilted look," as it is always to have clean linen. 
 
 The attention compeller is often admittedly far afield from the 
 product itself, but this is no argument against its use, provided 
 the tie-up is founded on some logical selling conclusion, com- 
 
180 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 parison, or pictorial parallel. A manufacturer hit upon an 
 exceedingly ingenious and necessary idea. He was momentarily 
 deterred from producing it because he felt that the article was 
 not sufficiently sensational or out of the ordinary in the service 
 performed to provide a successful advertising campaign. The 
 advertising, in other words, would be tiresome. 
 
 If Garters were worn 
 around your neck 
 you'd change them 
 frequently. 
 
 Buy a fresh pair of 
 
 P/1RIS G/:iRTERS 
 
 No metnl c«n touch you 
 
 today. j'Zo'XL 
 
 oii^AGO ASTtlNA COMPANY Mw ronK .. 
 
 ■' Jf coal wereWmTE 
 
 f T^ rhf \>.yr\ ot vO.il ihiit bufn^ «vrc 
 L white and the p.»rT that cannot \< 
 burned were lilacL yaw uouIU rtjli:c 
 **hi<t clean coal nicaiuw At a jtl.tnve vou 
 wimld *ct what a \va<tc of nmnev and 
 encr^' it is to i>a\ fmitht charjjc* on 
 &\d full (tf tindoirable impurities ;ind 
 hovvtr\(vn»fvc poiv.unprrparcdc^'al i*- 
 
 C4>n<it>ltdntiun Ca«l \h mined actord- 
 inji to ciciin method^ It Is thorxmchlv 
 prcparcd for the furnace i»r k^'^p'''"' 
 after it i^ mined. When it rcacho ihc 
 consumer it is clean bttuminouit Ck>at, 
 with ihc hifihcM heating value — coal 
 which yield* more en<rv\ than ^vhen 
 full of free impurities and which in- 
 sures the maintenance of prtxUictive 
 efliciency. 
 
 nil: ( OXSOLIDATION 
 (COW. (X"^MPA\\ 
 
 Fig. 112. 
 
 Left. — Irresistible, is this unique illustration, and, withal, legitimatized by 
 its basic argument. One thing is certain — it will never be passed by. 
 
 Right. — White Coal! Whoever heard of such a thing? Yet there is a per- 
 fectly sound argument embedded in this amazing picture. 
 
 Nor did he put this article on the market until a resourceful 
 advertising man originated a serialized idea which was sufficiently 
 strong, pictorially, to compel the public to take a spirited interest 
 in a prosaic theme. Do the unusual, the imoxpectcd, and you 
 are certain to attract attention. But do it wisely and with the 
 
THE ATTENTION-COMPELLING THEME 181 
 
 justification that there may flareback no fecUng on the public's 
 part that it has been hoodwinked. 
 
 Select a product such as toothpaste. Twenty years ago, the 
 manufacturer would not have departed to any considerable 
 degree from illustrations which were looked upon as adequate in 
 that day. There might be the reproduction of the package, a 
 still-life study of a characteristic washstand, or illustrations in 
 countless numbers of grownups and youngsters brushing their 
 teeth. Repeated, year in and year out, the monotony of such 
 themes inevitably consumed their own vitality. They became 
 a story too old. 
 
 Today, the advertiser of a tooth paste, knowing that the 
 pubhc is rather "fed up" on the subject and unwilling to investi- 
 gate every campaign which comes along, strategically searches 
 for the unconventional in illustrations, in order to arouse an 
 arbitrary interest in his tooth-paste. 
 
 Animals and primitive savages are known to have superior 
 teeth; in any event, so the tradition runs. But then they are 
 not subject to civilization's ways of eating and living. There is 
 a copy tie-up. The bathroom scenes and the still-life stupid- 
 ities are avoided, and instead stirring pictures of a tiger, a lion, 
 or the character study of an African chief, with a back-ground of 
 palms. 
 
 If the campaign is approached from another angle, the picture 
 may be of dinner tables, starting in the foreground of the com- 
 position and reaching into the distance until they disappear on 
 the horizon. What has such an illustration to do with tooth 
 paste. The advertiser is prepared for the question: 
 
 The meals of yesteryear — what have they done to your teeth and 
 gums? This soft food of ours, appetizing and delightful to the palate, 
 does not give our gums the stimulation that rougher coarser food once 
 gave. And the food we eat has a great effect upon the condition of our 
 teeth. 
 
 Another advertiser bases his copy upon the motor car engines 
 failing to work, when there is gasoline trouble. A few lines of 
 the text will assist in visualizing the picture problem: ''When 
 your carburetor needle valves is clogged, your perfectly good 
 motor begins sputtering and bucking." 
 
 An illustration of a motorist fussing with the choker and other- 
 wise disgruntled over the way the engine is behaving would be 
 passive. A picture of the device, a clarifier of gasoline, would be 
 
182 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 even less interesting. How can the prospect be urged into 
 reading through the lengthy discourse, when the subject is 
 lacking is so many essentials of the advertising interest of the 
 thoroughly modern and necessary type? An artist with vision 
 accomplishes it dramatically. 
 
 And the headline, "When Your Motor Turns Broncho" dove- 
 tails to perfection with the illustration. A motorist is lifting 
 the hood of the car, none too pleased. In ghost-technique, a 
 mere shadow against white paper and fading into the detail of 
 the engine, is the striking study of a cowboy on a bucking broncho. 
 The broncho's head is lowered, its heels are in the air. It is 
 raising the "dickens of a fuss." The rider must watch himself 
 or be thrown. 
 
 Here is a thoroughly admirable illustrative attention- compeller, 
 packed with life, zest, and an imaginative quality, different in 
 every respect from the average of advertising illustrations and 
 sufficiently unconventional to arrest the lazy mind and eye. 
 All the while, the relation to the subject is legitimate. 
 
 A few 3'ears ago, no manufacturer of wrought-iron pipe would 
 have thought of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in an 
 attempt to interest the average citizen in a subject so far removed 
 from his general trend of thought and contact. In this adver- 
 tising generation, everything is made " advertisable " through 
 the brilliant association of ideas. And the illustrations used have 
 much to do with the ever-increasing success of these remarkable 
 campaigns. In a sense, they make the advertising irresistible, 
 by arousing the keenest possible curiosity. 
 
 There are object lessons in such campaigns as the following, 
 a characteristic illustration selected from each campaign to 
 designate how shrewdly the problems have been handled: 
 
 Scenario Plot for Picture: Bitterly cold winter day. Foreground: man, 
 well muffled (average home owner) desperately shoveling coal into furnace. 
 But the furnace is standing right out in yard, surrounded by snow. Over- 
 head pipes run from it to the cottage in the distance. Incongruous repre- 
 sentation in every way and made purposely so. Headline suggestion: "An 
 Outdoor Heating System — is yours one?" Copy lead: "You are very 
 much like the man in the cartoon above trying to heat all outdoors if you 
 allow the heat from your fuel to get away before it reaches the rooms you 
 want to warm." Article advertised: Asbestos covering, insulation, for 
 heating jjipes. 
 
 Scenario Plot for Picture: Brow of steep hill. On either side, giant feet 
 and legs of a human figure, taking immeasurably large strides. Between the 
 
THE ATTENTION-COMPELLING THEME 
 
 183 
 
 two heroic feet, automobile casilj' and gracefully speeding up the hill. Cap- 
 tion: "The powerful Paige walks up-hill in high." Point to be put over is 
 that this automobile possesses much reserve power. 
 
 Scenario Plot for I'icture: A typical business office. Many men working 
 at desks. Through the office, criss-crossing, dominant, incongruously 
 placed, immense pipe trunk lines. They join up with waste paper baskets 
 at every desk. Men shown thrusting paper, letters, booklets into them. 
 Pipe line terminates in large display in fore-ground, where waste paper is 
 whirling into a very much larger basket. Headline: "Watch your oflSce 
 exhaust. An ounce of inspection may save you tons of paper." Objective of 
 advertisement: To convey the idea that: "Beside each desk in your office 
 
 Watch voiir office exhaust 
 
 -T?ic Powerful /\n>c Wcilki Up-hill in tii0i 
 
 MmiUusIioiSIu 
 
 PAIGE 
 
 Fig. 113. 
 
 Left. — No office ever claimed such an astonishing contraption as is hero 
 pictured, but the advertiser draws reader interest, and arouses his curiosity by 
 an exceedingly novel scheme. The commonplace is made uncommonplace by 
 an art "trick." 
 
 Right. — -The picture of an automobile racing up a hill would be ordinary as 
 compared with this dual visualization of an idea. The suggestion is immedi- 
 ately put over that the car in question can "walk" up a hill — with plenty of 
 power to spare. 
 
 stands a waste basket. Empty every morning; emptied every night. 
 Waste baskets live on paper. Some of them lead a normal existence. But 
 in the office where paper is bought in a haphazard manner, purely on a price 
 basis, waste baskets live in perpetual plenty." Product advertised: Busi- 
 ness stationery. Argument against waste. 
 
 Scenario Plot for Picture: Faint, hazy background of coal production 
 plant. Square mortise, with dark tone to set off large piece of white coal. 
 
184 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Caption: "If Coal Were White." Copy idea: "If the part of coal 
 that bums were white and the part that cannot be burned were black, you 
 would realize what clean coal means. At a glance 30U would see what a 
 waste of money and energj- it is to pay freight charges on coal full of undesir- 
 able impurities and how expensive poor coal is." Product advertised: 
 Consolidated Coal. 
 
 These examples, with their unusual illustrations, suggest 
 the wide possibilities of pictures which are attention compellers, 
 when linked with a sound basic selling idea and an agreeable 
 headline. But such methods are rather drab advertising sub- 
 jects made into intenselv interesting "reader copy." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 SUGGESTING THE PRODUCT BY INFERENCE 
 
 It is by no means always necessary to picture the thing 
 advertised. Although it would appear that one of the first 
 principles of a thoroughly practical commercial picture is to 
 reproduce the product, there can be no fixed rule in this regard, 
 nor should there be, in view of the continuous stream of cam- 
 paigns which the public is expected to digest. 
 
 The service performed by a product is as illuminative as any 
 picture of it. Then again, there are serious business reasons 
 why no definite article can be represented. There are several 
 imposing campaigns on the subject of automobile bodies. Page 
 space is used, and the illustrations are costly and beautiful, but no 
 car is ever shown. The entire atmosphere of these campaigns is 
 created by inference. Discrimination is woven into attractive 
 compositions, which, while suggesting that people are just going 
 somewhere in automobiles or are coming from them, but the 
 manufacturer's do not find it necessary to picture any one 
 machine. Because he makes bodies for many different cars, it 
 would be somewhat unjust to the others to select any one and. 
 feature it in an illustration. 
 
 A concrete example is selected from the year's advertising 
 schedule of Fisher Bodies: Set into an elaborate and artis- 
 tic decorative border, which is nicely calculated to suggest 
 *' class atmosphere," is an illustration of a charming young woman 
 on horseback. Her companion is leading up another horse, 
 and the faint hint of a grandstand in the background indicates 
 that it is an exhibition affair at some exclusive driving and riding 
 club. There is no automobile in sight. That such persons would 
 attend the show in their cars coming from long distances is under- 
 stood. But the advertiser desires, first and foremost, to surround 
 his product and its name with a cloak of aristocracy. The reader 
 inevitably receives the impression that Fisher bodies are the 
 choice of those who know and who are always accustomed to 
 the very best, 
 
 185 
 
186 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 MOTORS 
 
 A 
 
 ^ 
 
 fv 
 
 t.-.- 
 
 Fig. 114. 
 
 Upper Left. — Someone is expected. There is excitoniont in the air, as .1 skil- 
 fully portrayed scene is featured in a story roquiriiifz; no view of a motor car. 
 
 Upper Right. — Somewhere, out of the picture, standing patiently at a farmhouse 
 door, is the automobile which brought the doctor to the home during an emer- 
 gency. 
 
 Lower Left. — There was no real need to scatter spectacles and eyeglasses all 
 over this page, in order to deliver the advertiser's message. A biblical phrase: 
 "0 foolish people, that have eyes and see not," serves as text 
 
 Lower Rioftl. — A fair share of the now famous Fisher Hodies illustrations have 
 studiously avoided .showing a motor car and therefore the product manufactured. 
 Yet they suffer not at all, conimcrcially, for the campaign has succeeded in link- 
 ing the name with class atmosphere, and the pedigreed user. 
 
SUGGESTING THE PRODUCT BY INFERENCE 187 
 
 A campaign in behalf of the Dodge autniobile attracted 
 unusual attention, because, almost for the first time in the history 
 of advertising a product of this kind, the car itself was seldom 
 shown. Something, however, in every human interest picture 
 automatically made the reader think in terms of the car. An 
 old-fashioned home parlor, such as is in the average rural house 
 in the farming area, suggests the coming of guests. 
 
 A dainty old lady stands with plate in hand looking from the 
 window. An old man, his face all smiles, is just in the act of 
 pushing a baby's high chair up to the partly set table. 
 
 But there is not a word in the text of the advertisement regard- 
 ing his intensely human and sentimental illustration. The copy 
 man proceeds in a thoroughly business-like fashion to describe 
 why the Dodge car gives dependable service. He insists that 
 the picture is a complete unit in itself. It requires no explana- 
 tion. The story is all there- — a story of the loved ones of the 
 younger generation who are motoring out to the farm for a week- 
 end, in a car that will surely arrive on time, with never a mishap. 
 
 This type of illustration which shows the product by infer- 
 ence only has become popular because it makes it possible for an 
 advertiser to swing widely away from the expected. It admits 
 of a new campaign idea. And this of course is periodically 
 desirable. 
 
 Looking back over the advertising years of The American 
 Radiator Company, it would be possible to find thousands of 
 illustrations in which the product dominated absolutely. More 
 recently, the experiment was tried of omitting radiators and 
 boilers, intermittently, where copy ideas made it allowable. 
 Yet there has been no lack of selling sense and no let down in 
 responsibilities of any campaign to the cash drawer. 
 
 Two instances may be cited to show the method employed and 
 to demonstrate just how picture and text must work in perfect 
 harmony. 
 
 An illustration shows a dinner table scene, with father, mother, 
 and two children gathered about, doing their best to eat the meal. 
 Their expressions indicate that it is unpalatable. The small 
 boy is frowning; the father holds his napkin to his mouth. There 
 is a tiny insert of the wife throwing this food away. There is 
 no radiator, or boiler in sight. 
 
 The copy writer says: "Suppose your cook stove spoiled one- 
 third of your food!" 
 
188 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 It is a daFi'ng and startling statement, and one well calculated 
 to compel the reader to continue: 
 
 You wouldn't hesitate to get rid of it. The cost of the waste food 
 would soon equal the cost of a good stove. Keeping the old one would 
 be short-sighted economy. 
 
 Yet you may be making a mistake in your cellar which you could not 
 make in your kitchen. For if you have an old-fashioned heater, it is 
 
 Fig. 115. 
 
 Upper. — The advertiser, through research, found that a certain famous old 
 piece of artillery, dating back to 1489 was still in perfect condition because of the 
 fact that it was made of wrought iron. Is this picture not better and more 
 interesting than a reproduction of some piping? 
 
 Left. — Two American Radiator compositions in which the product itself plays 
 no part in the main illustration. The copy idea is sufficiently picturesque and 
 important to make up for its absence. 
 
 Right. — No actual picture of the product here but the illustration most 
 assuredly causes the reader to think in terms of heating plants. 
 
 probably wasting at least one-third of your coal. Coal is high; a one- 
 third saving is quite an item; over a period of years it would pay for a 
 modern boiler several times. 
 
SUGGESTING THE PRODUCT BY INFERENCE 189 
 
 The advertiser has told a compelling story illustrated with 
 the type of picture which attracts the greatest number; and no 
 actual product has been introduced. 
 
 An article is advertised by showing a gloomy cellar with a 
 pile of coal reaching to the ceiling, and spreading out in every 
 direction. A sign thrust into it says that here are 750 tons of 
 coal. A small, startled man, shovel in hand, stands looking up 
 aghast at this immense and impressive sight. The headline 
 explains everything: "The coal he shoveled in 30 years — a true 
 bedtime story for Fathers." 
 
 There follows a shrewd narrative, taken from real life, of a 
 man in Evanstown, Illinois, who did some figuring, which inspired 
 the picture described. The illustration is in every sense a wise 
 and permissible advertising argument in behalf of American 
 radiators, despite the fact that the product itself is not reproduced. 
 
 A national advertiser of hosiery deliberately selected a slogan 
 which would permit him to get away from the sameness of the 
 inevitable hosiery illustration. This phrase was: "You just 
 know she wears them," and it has become a popular saying 
 everywhere. The embellishment of the campaign sought not to 
 disclose stockings at all. 
 
 A vigorous campaign for General Motors eliminated the pictur- 
 izing of cars or power plants. The advertising was none the 
 less effective; in fact, it has been generally conceded that the 
 campaign has been phenomenally successful. 
 
 A characteristic picture is of a country physician who has just 
 arrived and is bending over a sick child. An anxious mother, 
 with the light of fear in her eyes, glances across at the doctor. 
 Will he have come in time to save the little life. The artist 
 hints that this will be the case. But what has this to do with 
 General Motors, motor cars, and automobile engines? Every- 
 thing. For it is brought out that before the coming of depend- 
 able motor cars, country doctors were compelled to travel 
 behind a slow-going horse, in a buggy, which faced the night 
 roads with but poor results. Hours and hours were required to 
 traverse short distances and people who lived on farms and other 
 remote places were entirely dependent, in times of emergency, 
 upon just such crude modes of travel. The country doctor often 
 arrived too late. But now, with the motor car, all that has been 
 changed. The long distances and the rough roads hold no terrors. 
 It is a really magnificent indirect appeal, and more ruggedly 
 
190 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISIXG 
 
 impressive because it is not illustrated conventionally with a 
 picture of a doctor in an automobile. 
 
 An idea connected with a product, a comparison, or a parallel 
 may be more important, as illustrative material, than the prod- 
 uct itself, particularly if it happens that the product is like a 
 hundred others or is not interesting or unusual to the eye. 
 
 Piping might come under this classification, with no audience 
 waiting hungrily for a message on the subject. An audience 
 would, however, find interest in a dominant illustration of a 
 wonderful old cannon, facing out over plains and hills, from its 
 position in a crumbling fortress. This is '' Mons Meg," a monster 
 gun named after Queen Margaret, of Scotland. It received its 
 baptism of fire during the siege of Dumbarton in 1489. The 
 advertiser saj^s of it, as justification for such an unusual picture 
 in an advertisement for piping: 
 
 This ancient piece of artillery, made of wrought-iron bars, bound like 
 a barrel with hoops of the same material, may be seen today at Edin- 
 burgh Castle. Unprotected by grease or paint, it has braved all 
 weathers for four hundred years, and its surface is hardly pitted. 
 Remarkable? Not when j^ou remember that it is made of wrought iron. 
 
 There is a smaller scene of a great modern building, in which 
 wrought-iron piping has been used throughout. The product 
 itself is not pictured and is not missed, because the story is 
 dominant. 
 
 Because advertising art is so interlocked with the text which 
 accompanies it, the two must be mentioned in any discussion of 
 the relative merits of different methods. Thus this message 
 concerning Wellsworth products (optical goods) automatically 
 visualizes the illustration used: 
 
 Out of the mists of the past flashes the warning: "0 foolish people, 
 that have eyes and see not." More than twenty-five centuries have 
 rolled by since Jeremiah, on a hillside in Judea, uttered this searching 
 phrase. Its meaning, of course, was a spiritual one; yet maj' we not apply 
 these words to a condition which exists today? What could better 
 describe the unconscious victims of our own age of cj'cstrain, with its fine 
 print books, glaring artificial lights, and flickering motion pictures. 
 
 The headline reads: "Was Jeremiah speaking to you?" The 
 illustration is a masterfully conceived view of the venerable 
 Jeremiah, on the hillside, speaking to the multitudes at his feet. 
 Yet there is no reproduction of optical goods. 
 
SUGGESTING THE PRODUCT BY INFERENCE 191 
 
 The fact that a certain brand of coffee was taken, in bulk, by a 
 noted explorer and adventurer, on his notable cruise around 
 the world, is of greater news and advertising moment than any 
 coffee pot brand of picture or prosaic after-dinner composition. 
 The picturesque and romantic outlines of a sturdy three-masted 
 schooner invites the imagination to do the rest. If the owner and 
 the captain and his crew preferred this coffee to all others, it 
 would necessarily be the coffee for the average person's table. 
 
 Suggesting the picture of the product or of its service, by infer- 
 ence only, has given to advertising many of its most interesting 
 campaigns. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 NEGATIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 There was, at one time, a prejudice against what is known as 
 the "negative" iUustration. This prejudice has, to a consider- 
 able extent, disappeared, for it is more generally acknowledged 
 that advertising should be instructive, and that certain products 
 have as their sole reason for existence a safeguarding of human 
 life, or a check on carelessness. The chief objection to negative 
 advertising was that it presented disagreeable, alarming, and 
 sometimes rather repulsive suggestions, and that, in consequence 
 of this, certain lines of business and certain products were pre- 
 sented in a damaging light. 
 
 The manufacturer of tire chains for automobiles, used pictures 
 of accidents, of death, of extreme peril, occasioned by laxity, when 
 motor cars skidded under conditions which were favorable to 
 such perils of the open road. Thousands of letters of protest 
 were received by this manufacturer. But the majority of them 
 came from advertising men and students of advertising who had 
 as yet failed to investigate the psychology of this type of appeal. 
 
 It was pointed out that the illustration of horror would keep 
 people from buying cars. It was advertising which would prove 
 bad for business. It brought up mental dramas opposed to the 
 regular flow of sales. If advertising could not be cheerful and 
 altogether optimistic, it should not be used. There was enough 
 of the unpleasant in the world, without recourse to scenes of 
 danger and of accident. 
 
 So firmly entrenched was this theory that debates were staged 
 in many advertising journals, and correspondents demanded that 
 the practice cease. It would be as consistent to ask plays to 
 reflect only the Pollyanna atmosphere, and books forever to 
 preach the doctrine of Little Rollo. There are more negative 
 campaigns than ever and they are more strenously urged. The 
 sale of automobiles was contaminated in no way by the adver- 
 tising of the safety chain manufacturer, who truthfully pictured 
 and described what might take place if certain wise precautions 
 
 192 
 
NEGATIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 193 
 
 were not taken. Why dodge issues which are obvious and 
 uncontrovertible ? 
 
 But it must be admitted that negative ilhistrations and nega- 
 tive copy should be avoided where they do not, from every stand- 
 point, harmonize with the logical objective of the product. It 
 should not be dragged in for no better reason than to provide 
 sensational and melodramatic interest. 
 
 Many advertised products have no excuse for negative adver- 
 tising. That advertising, wherever possible, should reflect the 
 happier, constructive, educational, and pleasing echoes of life 
 and of service is not to be questioned. People are not drawn 
 to that which is unpleasant. Lecturing and sermonizing repels, 
 if either are not firmly grounded in everyday human experi- 
 ence. There must be an unusually valid reason to frighten a 
 prospect into doing something. The purposes of this chapter 
 will doubtless be best served by giving some concrete instances 
 of the quite proper use of the negative appeal. 
 
 An advertiser, incidentally, may ask himself certain pointed 
 questions which prove up the problem. Some of these are: 
 
 Will my product, if used, prevent serious accidents ? 
 
 Will my product, under certain circumstances, save life, by the service it 
 performs? 
 
 Is my product one which will safeguard the individual from the fruits of 
 his own folly or negligence? 
 
 Will what I say, in a negative mood, work for a more thoughtful consider- 
 ation of danger and what leads up to it? 
 
 Is my product one which does its service in the direct presence of scenes of 
 danger and alarm? 
 
 If my product is not used, is it logical to assume that an individual may be 
 liable to accident? 
 
 It has come to pass that any number of products are now manu- 
 factured which are interrelated with fire prevention, the avoidance 
 of unnecessary risks, even the positive guarantee of protection 
 from certain pitfalls of human peril. For advertisers in this 
 classification to preach only the affirmative would represent an 
 unfair and an illogical handicap. Their most virile line of attack 
 is opposition to neglect, and their most significant weapon is 
 reminding the negligent of the thing which they are thoughtlessly 
 doing. 
 
 Today that a vast number of persons must be startled into 
 doing what is right and wise and best calls for the extraordinary 
 appeal. Persons are impervious to moderate arguments. They 
 
194 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 are responsive only to the sharp checkrein of dramatic warning. 
 They act only when they are made to see what may happen to 
 them. The railroads of the country are fully aware of this. 
 The only effective mediums of education, where automobilists 
 and road crossings are concerned, for example, have been caustic, 
 unrelenting, and lurid with menace. Logic and quiet warning 
 was tried first, and found to be unavailing. 
 
 A conspicuously successful series, long continued and based 
 almost entirely upon the vigorously negative in illustration, has 
 
 Fig. 116. — The commercial phases of a product told in an uncommercial spirit 
 gives greatly added zest to an advertising campaign. Picturing familiar inci- 
 dents, where the reader unconsciously inlays a part, is powerful sales doctrine. 
 But they are effective only when skilfully and truthfully portrayed. 
 
 been conducted in behalf of a storage battery for automobiles. 
 This advertiser contends, and not without justification, that 
 because the battery is the life of the car, regulating not only its 
 running but also its starting, emergencies are apt to arise which 
 mean life or death. But in order to further validate this, the 
 advertisements were prepared from and inspired by experiences, 
 written by motorists. 
 
 A characteristic illustration portrays a railroad crossing. An 
 automobile has been stalled on the tracks. A train is rapidly 
 approaching and will smash the car to bits in another second. 
 A man is shown helping his wife from the front seat. It is a 
 
NEGATIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 195 
 
 tense, terrif^ang situation, and the picture so successfully rendered, 
 that it leaves the pulse quickened and the blood chill. 
 Beneath this picture the following text is run : 
 
 ... I heard the whistle of a train. In an effort to spurt the car 
 forward I stalled the engine and the car stopped on the tracks. The 
 train was coming rapidly, shrieking violent warning. I left the engine in 
 high gear and stepped on the starter. But my battery failed. We 
 escaped, but the car was smashed to smithereens! 
 
 This may not be a common accident, but it is one which might 
 easily happen to any motorist. Similar chronicles appear 
 almost daily in the public press. 
 
 Also based on fact and vouched for by the correspondent is 
 the following dramatic incident: 
 
 With our old battery gone "West" — a twelve-foot wall of water thun- 
 dering down on us — we left the car and ran for our lives. Our battery 
 was gone ; therefore our car was gone. 
 
 There could be no more stirring picture than the one which 
 accompanied this text, yet it was 100 per cent negative. A 
 narrow gorge between two high walls of ragged granite and clay, 
 up which it would be difficult to clamber. The driver, without 
 being conscious of it, had been traveling up a dry river bed in the 
 west Texas territory. But the flood waters from surrounding 
 mountains had broken loose and were sluicing down the make-shift 
 highway. The flood could be seen in the distance, racing nearer 
 and carrying boulders and trees on its angry breast. A mother 
 and child were frantically endeavoring to climb out of harm's 
 way up the steep bank. The father, having failed to crank the 
 car, sees that seconds will decide his own fate and the fate of his 
 family. Although the picture is negative, through and through, it 
 is constructively and sanely so. The entire series, all constructed 
 along the same general lines, is a conscientious effort to protect 
 people from their own short-sightedness and neglect. Such 
 negative advertising must be looked upon as ethical and legitimate. 
 A life insurance company in a series, frankly sets out to picture 
 accident, death, or sudden catastrophe. Its arguments are cut 
 from the negative bolt. Stirring action, feverish anxiety and 
 the throb and beat of daily tragedy, run rampant through copy 
 and illustrations. An excited citizen rushes to the nearest 
 policeman. A crowd is gathering. And the text reads: 
 
 Quick! — an automobile accident! Years of careful driving. . . A 
 growing sense of immunity from loss . . . then it happened. "Quick! 
 
196 
 
 ILL USTRA TION IN A D VKR T I SING 
 
 an automobile accident!" Tragedy is in that frenzied cry, for somebody 
 is badly hurt. Then a quick run to the hospital . . . doctors . . . 
 nurses . . . weeks of suffering . . . and a suit for damage! 
 
 Fig. 117. — Three characteristic illustrations for The Aetna Iiisurannc Com- 
 pany, all highly negative, all swift, stirring in action, and all presenting the 
 uni)lcasant side of life. But their mission is to compel thoughtfulness and to 
 stir people out of lethargy. 
 
 Such catastrophies the public has seen and is seeing every 
 day. There is no exaggeration. People know their truth and 
 finally admit the advertising logic which prompts a frank state- 
 ment of fact and a pica for more common sense. There is a 
 
NEGA TI ] 'E ILL USTRA TIONS 
 
 197 
 
 wholesome tendency, in this generation, to face issues bravely 
 and without petty covering of disagreeable facts. Fighting is 
 done in the open. Results are more certain when gloves are 
 removed and the job tackled bare-fisted. The application of 
 these principles to advertising is as permissible as it is beneficial. 
 To a lesser degree, the same forces have made the people want 
 better furniture, better homes, and better food. In the back- 
 ground of almost every advertising campaign, there is a subtle 
 
 Fig. 118. 
 
 Upper. — Legitimately negative. The little housewife is completely worn out 
 and the advertiser argues that this is unnecessary. She could save herself by 
 using better household methods. It is a scene which all women will sympathet- 
 ically recall. 
 
 Lower. — Negative in every line, but validated by the story the advertiser is 
 desirous of telling. A wrong is to be corrected; a common condition relieved — 
 weary feet. 
 
 hint at the negative, in one form or another. Progress is stabi- 
 lized and advertising is bent on creating either fear or unrest, 
 discontent or alarm. 
 
 Needless to say, because of its inherent ingredients, the nega- 
 tive illustration has the strongest kind of appeal. Such illus- 
 trations are vibrant with action. They contain the quality of 
 suspense. They leave the prospect questioning himself. They 
 foster personal moralizing and reasoning. They dig deep and 
 
198 
 
 ILLUSTRATIOX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 sway emotions. And in many instances, they are constructed 
 around such highly melodramatic scenarios or picture plots 
 that they are irresistible to even the most indifferent reader. 
 Melodrama has always boasted this power and this allurement. 
 How futile it would be to tax advertisers of certain products 
 with the extreme rule of avoiding the negative. Americans 
 have come to have the cleanest teeth in the world in part because 
 the public has been literally frightened by the perils of pyorrhea 
 and other diseases of the gums and teeth, into a morning and 
 evening measure of protection. One of the most widely adver- 
 
 D 
 
 on'l be quarantined lo city pavings 
 
 HAS3LER SHOCK ABSORBERS 
 
 MAKE BAD ROADS GOOD 
 
 Fig. 119. 
 
 Left. — Bad roads used throughout a connected series, as seen by any motorist 
 as he drives. Negative, surely, but the reader is reminded that shock absorbers 
 minimize the effects of such rough going. 
 
 Riff fit.— The idea of decay made into an unobjectionable allegory; a once 
 fine home disintegrating from neglect. 
 
 tised soaps with hygienic properties made little or no progress 
 with its campaigns until it began to picture the menace of the 
 ever-present germ. True, the picture of a man, hand in the 
 strap of a street car, surrounded by uncouth, unclean persons, 
 does not make a pleasant illustration, but it certainly does impel 
 a father to think twice on the subject of the disease germs on 
 his hands he may be carrying home to his wife and children. 
 Why not use a soap to clean them thoroughly? 
 
NEGATIVE ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 199 
 
 Is a manufacturer of fire-fighting apparatus not permitted to 
 show pictures of fire and the liorrors of it? 
 
 Brake lining for automobiles is an admirable example of the 
 type of product which depends upon the negative appeal. Life 
 actually does hang on a brake. Therefore a prominent institu- 
 tion depends to a large degree upon negative pictures of unex- 
 pected collisions, bad temper, ruined vehicles, and danger to 
 life and limb. 
 
 And this is sane copy, legitimate copy, from which to draw the 
 meat of such illustrations: 
 
 lappened ! 
 
 !-H ■, 
 
 "I have thie worst luck 
 with tires!" 
 
 Fig. 120. 
 
 Left. — A wrecked car — disaster, property loss and the general atmosphere of 
 serious accident, as a burning car rolls down hill. It is a scene rather common 
 to American roads. Pyrene, an automobile fire-extinguisher, has a perfect right 
 to use such pictorial ammunition as this. 
 
 Right. — Nothing very pleasant in this illustration — -suggestion of tire trouble, 
 expense and delay, with the motorist grumbling over his ill-luck. It is a reminder 
 that it is his own fault. Buy a tire gauge and know the pressure in the shoe. 
 
 Look over your morning paper. There you get only the serious 
 accidents, involving life and limb, in one locality. Think of all the 
 "might have been serious" smashes for the whole country! One a 
 minute is a conservative estimate. 
 
 A maker of shock absorbers for motor cars advertised "Bad 
 Roads" for a year. He pictured bad roads in a large, dominant 
 
200 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 way with all their ruts, boulders, muddy bog holes, hidden 
 obstructions, detours, and dangers. 
 
 Yesterday, many would have contended that this was a bad 
 idea. It might turn people away from motoring. Nonsense! 
 Just so long as negative advertising is truthful, normal, and within 
 the bounds of reason, there need be no fear. People know there 
 are bad roads. A shock absorber is a solution. And the series 
 of illustrations merely presented a truthful picture of what all 
 motorists have seen at one time or another. 
 
 Will there be less automobile tires sold because the advertiser 
 of a tire gage uses an illustration of a despondent automobilist 
 watching a garage man put on a new tire, with the headline; 
 "I have the worst luck with tires!" The illustration merely 
 points out that tires suffer from over or underpressure of infla- 
 tion. The negative picture, in advertising, can be made one of 
 the most effective of human correctives aside from its service to 
 the product it exploits and amplifies. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 POSTER VALUE IN THE PICTURE 
 
 There are times when an advertisement may take on all the 
 characteristic art qualities and technique of poster influence. 
 Such displays, because of their simple, direct, and uncluttered 
 layout, plus brevity of message, are virtually outdoor displays. 
 This similarity is strengthened when two or more colors can be 
 employed. Certain advertisers, working on the assumption 
 that the volume of advertising prohibits individual 100 per 
 cent assimilation strategically adopt messages which can be 
 absorbed at a glance. 
 
 The marked improvement in outdoor posters has undeniably 
 given impetus to miniature posters for magazine and newspaper 
 use, and "those who run may read," indoors as well as out. The 
 poster advertisement must possess the following points: 
 
 Bold display of the name. 
 
 Flat, unshaded areas of color or black and white tone. 
 
 Art treatment without fuss and furbelows. 
 
 Exceedingly simple compositions. 
 
 The least number of words as to text. 
 
 Uninvolved figure or still-life ideas. 
 
 Simplicity in handling throughout. 
 
 Such advertisements can be seen and read at a considerable 
 distance. If, for example, someone is holding up a magazine 
 at one end of a common carrier, the advertisement is decipher- 
 able in its essential features, from the opposite end of the car. 
 
 It appears to be characteristic of their use that poster adver- 
 tisements are employed as a breathing space between intensely 
 descriptive campaigns which are, of necessity, of the "reason 
 why" type, and therefore somewhat complex. They are diplo- 
 matic pauses, made during the dignified course of a series which 
 is textually extended. Advertisers deliberately experiment to 
 the extent of employing much reading matter and numerous 
 illustrations, one year, and the most simple poster displays the 
 year following. They do it also for the sake of variety. 
 
 201 
 
202 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERTISING 
 
 The luxury of such campaigns is not, as a rule, applicable to 
 newcomers in the advertising field. When a product, its story, 
 and its manufacturer have all been firmly established in public 
 consciousness, then the poster series is most effective and less 
 of an experiment The character of the article may often regu- 
 late the extent to which this principle may be applied including 
 products which do not require prolific descriptions and major 
 and minor illustrations. Their story is quickly told and in 
 simple terms. 
 
 Fig. 121. — Two strong colors, red and black with variations, were employed 
 in these originals, page size. They attempted no more than to get across one 
 dominant idea and a name. The art spirit is in the poster school throughout. 
 
 It was discovered, in the case of Columbia dry batteries, that, 
 for several years, the spirit of poster technique would be superior 
 to verbose analysis and technically complex pictures. The 
 utilitarian uses of a dry battery required no dissertation. Nor 
 could even the most gifted and imaginative writer long continue 
 to build imposing word structures for it. But there were ele- 
 ments which properly deserved to occupy the attention of the 
 advertising. 
 
 These points summed up as follows: 
 
 A dominating display of the name Columbia. 
 
 Bold pictorial effects to impress both consumer and dealer. 
 
POSTER VALUE IN THE PICTURE 
 
 203 
 
 Art of a character which would automatically glorify a rather modest 
 product. 
 
 The use of a second color as a practical advertising asset. (The Columbia 
 Batteries carry a distinguishing red label.) 
 
 Advertising art gaged to make a deep impression on the memory. 
 
 Displays which would in no respect resemble any other campaign for a 
 like product. 
 
 The serialized campaign, poster style, wherein one use of tlie batteries at 
 a time could be strategically featured. 
 
 Fig. 122. — A simple picture, done in flat color tones, and with very little reading 
 matter, as the composite magazine page. The poster spirit throughout. The 
 originals were in two colors and therefore far more effective than here shown. 
 
 This program operated admirably for the very reasons which 
 originally inspired it, and the last unit mentioned above is a 
 significant one: no attempt was made to tell more than a single 
 story of one use. But when the campaign had run its course, 
 each battery use had been covered, without complication and 
 without distractions. 
 
 If the subject of dry cells as related to the operation of bells 
 and buzzers were made the theme of a poster page, the artist 
 narrowed his pictorial horizon to a businessman pressing a button 
 on his desk, or to a pleasingly composed study of a Colonial 
 doorway, as a child, on tiptoes, reached toward the bell. If 
 the use of the battery in connection with tractors became the 
 basic appeal of a design, only the farm implement and sufficient 
 
204 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 atmosphere to register its environment found way to paper. 
 Of text, there was invariably little, although words were chosen 
 with such patient care that their brevity made swift, brief 
 phrases eloquent. 
 
 Something in the distinctive and the related character of such 
 a series presented at regular intervals; in the powerful name plate 
 display and the vivid contrasts of red and black, red and dark 
 blue, handled in flat masses; in the assurance and brutal finality 
 of the individual advertisements left an impression, not of any 
 single message, but of a broad campaign, as insistent as it was 
 striking. Dealers in batteries and dry cells were not slow to clip 
 these poster pages from magazines and put them to work in their 
 windows, and at the climax of each series, after six pages had been 
 run, the advertiser summarized the campaign in devoting a 
 page to the six reproductions in reduced size. 
 
 In every advertising campaign there appears to be some one 
 popular note which, for unexpected and unforeseen reasons, 
 pleases the popular fancy. It may be some apparently insig- 
 nificant detail, with embedded advertising strength. Years 
 ago, for instance, in the drawing of illustrations for magazine 
 and newspaper campaigns for Perfection oil heaters, an artist 
 happened to place a contented tabby cat near the heater. This 
 was not the most important element of the picture; it was an 
 incidental. There were figures, accessories, and human interest 
 in the same composition. But the picture of the purring kitten 
 appealed to the public and was favorably commented upon 
 everywhere. Here was clever visualization of warmth and of 
 comfort. And as the consciousness of its worth became 
 impressed on the advertiser, he made it a unit in almost every 
 advertising illustration, until it grew to the proportions of an 
 unofficial trade mark. 
 
 What was more natural, then, for this theme to be raised to 
 the dignity of a dominating note, complete in itself? And the 
 next step was a poster page, of heater and cat, imcluttered by 
 any other accessory. The advertiser was capitalizing a popular 
 idea in the simplest form imaginable, the poster. 
 
 In the advertising of an oil used for shortening, decorative 
 edibles, because of constant repetition in a poster art technique, 
 became a characteristic atmosphere of extensive campaigns, year 
 after year. Berries and fruits, which enter into the making of 
 such pastries, were also given room in the picture. From repre- 
 
POSTER VALUE IN THE PICTURE 
 
 205 
 
 sentations in black and white, the idea suddenly became a series 
 of highly artistic posters, which surrounded the product with 
 effective and altogether pleasing atmosphere. 
 
 
 Fig. 123. — Four simple and compelling examples of the poster spirit in page- 
 space advertising, with the illustrative theme to the fore. 
 
 The ramifications in this class are many. In some instances, 
 a poster within a poster is used, that an advertising trade mark or 
 an advertising character may be given a new lease of life and 
 
206 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 possess an invigorated appeal to the jaded public. While every- 
 one might be familiar with the "Time to re-tire" pajama boy, so 
 long used in connection with Fisk automobile tires, the unvary- 
 ing repetition of the same theme might well grow to be an old 
 story to its market and lose a proportionate amount of its potency 
 as an illustrative feature. 
 
 By the comparatively simple expedient of placing a poster 
 within a poster, the original trade mark, which always possessed 
 
 Fig. 124. — This page was run in full color, and its spirit throughout was postery. 
 
 poster characteristics, was rejuvenated. The poster or painted 
 sign of the trade mark figure was utilized as one unit in a human 
 interest design. Far out on the desert, the "Time to re-tire" 
 poster has been nailed to a post. A pioneer of the region, on his 
 journey across trackless miles, his burro patiently standing at 
 his side, has stopped to study the quaint poster. And the sole 
 reading message is the advertising phrase, accompanied by the 
 name of the company and its address. 
 
POSTER VALUE IN THE PICTURE 
 
 207 
 
 The unwritten story, suggested by inference, is plain. Where- 
 ever one may go, to whatever remote outposts of civiUzation, 
 there the Fisk tire is known. 
 
 Advertisers of clothing for men have long employed the poster 
 form and technique in advertising. The addition of a second 
 color in publications which can carry it, heightens the effect. 
 These poster campaigns, it should be emphasized, are part of a 
 carefully conceived advertising plan; they do not fulfil every 
 obHgation of a publicity campaign, long continued. The com- 
 
 You have 
 
 them in 
 
 lyourhome 
 
 ~piJt them 
 
 on your Car 
 
 Buj) them - 
 the kit \ 
 
 Some things Columbias do E D I S O N ^ 
 
 AZDA 
 
 Columbia 
 
 Dry Batteries 
 
 AUTO LAMPS 
 
 A GENERAL ELECTRIC PRODUCT 
 
 Fig. 125. — The Columbia display undertakes to reproduce the pages for the 
 previous six advertisements. And as done in two colors, in much larger space, 
 the result was exceptionally pleasing. The Mazda page is as much a poster as 
 if planned for the dealer's window. 
 
 pany may for many months insistently stress tailoring details, 
 explanatory copy, selling logic, and diagramatic or style 
 illustration. Then comes the lighter note for the relief it affords 
 to dealers and customers. 
 
 While the more legitimate poster advertisement observes the 
 rudimentary technique, as to art and lettering — and there is a 
 most emphatic atmosphere — it is by no means compulsory to 
 adhere to these familiar forms. There was a time when a poster 
 meant definite technique. This is no longer true and the advent 
 into advertising art of a very much higher grade of professional 
 talent has brought about the latitude. 
 
208 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 The actual technique of the artist is not hmited today; his 
 characteristic style may range from fiat, broad masses to the most 
 detailed and polished handling. Quality is the aim rather than a 
 formal and unyielding observance of any one poster medium. 
 
 There is less leeway in other respects; an advertisement which 
 is filled with reading matter, numerous subheads, and accessory 
 illustrations may lay no claim to poster honors. Lettering 
 should be bold, simple, and with pronounced character. Typog- 
 raphy seems strangely out of place. The firm name, the name 
 of the product, and a spirited phrase should suffice as to text. 
 And there must prevail an atmosphere which is not crowded. 
 
 A poster advertisement may feature still life or figures, an 
 attractive showing of the package or of product, or wholly hand- 
 lettered text. But a confused composition made up of all of 
 these ingredients is not permissible. 
 
 A magazine which contains hundreds of pages of advertising, 
 largely complex in its makeup, is an ideal setting for the simplified 
 poster display which assumes to do no more, for the time being, 
 that to keep a trade name vividly before the public and the 
 dealer, and to deliver a single and significant selling argument. 
 
 If posters along the public highways are a contributory force 
 in advertising and effective in the accomplishment of a specific 
 objective, then it may be said that miniature posters in periodicals 
 are equally serviceable and legitimate, and to a reasonable degree 
 attain the same result. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 WHEN THE PRODUCT DOMINATES 
 
 There will always be a friendly controversy between advertisers 
 who believe that showing the product persistently and in as 
 large size as possible is of greater importance than human 
 interest illustrations built around it. 
 
 Is atmosphere of more substantial selling value than the some- 
 times unadorned presentation of the thing advertised? Should 
 commercial illustrations seek beauty, charm, melodramatic 
 action, or be content with such displays as will be accorded a 
 product in a shop, on a counter, or in a window? The answer 
 is really one which is so often overlooked in any critical discus- 
 sion of a single advertisement or a connected campaign. 
 
 Once an advertising campaign has gotten under headway, 
 its form may constantly change pictorially. Nothing in the 
 analysis of markets and products justifies the behef that the 
 physical attributes of advertising should find a given atmosphere, 
 or form, and remain inflexible. It is dangerous and ill-advised, 
 therefore, to single out one display or one series and to judge it 
 without full knowledge of what has gone before and what is no 
 doubt scheduled to follow. 
 
 One of the most common faults in a consideration of adver- 
 tising is thus to concentrate upon one unit. The veteran who 
 has been through the various stages in the progress of a cam- 
 paign suffers no delusions in this respect and is more tolerant. 
 Advertising, to him, is a coat of many colors, and its character 
 is constantly changing to fit the by no means fixed conditions 
 of markets, popular purchasing moods, commercial aspects 
 of seasons, and the gradual development of a manufacturing insti- 
 tution in its relation to the advertising. 
 
 When the product is new and its advertising is at its inception, 
 illustrations are apt to concentrate upon a showing of the article 
 itself, with little else. To familiarize the public, speedily, 
 with the appearance of this article and with its distinctive fea- 
 tures is one of the early obligations of a campaign. 
 
 209 
 
210 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 There has never been what may be looked upon as a completely 
 effective plan of introducing that last link in the advertising 
 chain, namely, a final contact at the point where the consumer 
 goes in to make the purchase. There are numerous devices, 
 many of which are important and interesting but none which 
 make the circuit quite complete. Store cards, counter cards, 
 window displays, mechanical signs, and dealer literature serve 
 an invaluable service. The man behind the counter seems to 
 be the arbiter. He may be a "living advertisement" for any 
 product he wishes to put forward. 
 
 Products which are an open exhibit are in themselves adver- 
 tisements, in proportion to the public's visual familiarity with 
 them. Influenced by advertising, the consumer sees the prod- 
 uct, perhaps points to it, designates it by name, and demands 
 it. The advertising plainly has been read and a desire to pur- 
 chase engendered, and, when the product makes its appearance 
 in public display, the circuit comes as near being made complete 
 as possible. 
 
 In a desire to achieve this, an advertiser of canned goods, 
 putting out an extensive line, all bearing a similar label of dis- 
 tinctive design and color scheme, has for many years persistently 
 followed a definite policy in his advertising. Contracts have 
 been made with magazines which assure the placing of the adver- 
 tising always in the same position. This means that it settles down 
 to billboard prominence. The public has grown to look for the 
 company's advertising in a certain place every week, every month. 
 
 In analyzing the plan, reproduction of the can, in exact 
 colorings, becomes fixed idea Number Two. Whatever else there 
 may be on a page, the container, exact size or larger, is the 
 dominant feature. It is easily conceivable that after years of 
 such advertising, the public will have come to know the can. 
 The advertiser once said: "Our advertising is little more than a 
 standardized shelf for our goods." 
 
 Intermittently, through years of campaigning, there should 
 be, unquestionably, a recurrent adaption of this idea. Institu- 
 tional themes appear and, after they have run their course, 
 give way to rugged and frankly commercial showings of the goods 
 to the exclusion of everything else. It is the business instinct 
 asserting itself. For, although the artistic in advertising has 
 received every encouragement, the click of the cash register 
 must occasionally echo through all advertising pages. 
 
WHEN THE PRODUCT DOMINATES 211 
 
 In the pioneer days of advertising, showing the goods meant 
 no attempt at artistry. Wood cuts of the product were crudely 
 placed, and the appeal was far less positive than under the pres- 
 ent regime. It has been found possible to combine a reasonable 
 amount of atmosphere with the commerical. To some extent, 
 this has been brought about by new and artistic methods of 
 bringing the inanimate product to life. The artist and the 
 retoucher seem to be able to supply the most homely and unim- 
 aginative object with visual allurement. 
 
 A photographed automobile tire might be commonplace 
 enough; but the same photograph can be retouched, given certain 
 attractive hghting effects, and its artistic merit is unquestioned. 
 Glorifying he Inanimate has been made a chapter in this book 
 because of its close relation with the subject now presented. 
 
 If lighting and photography can not make the article live, 
 the original illustration follows. The artist handles these drab 
 objects as might a portrait painter as he poses and interprets his 
 living model. Who would suppose that the picture of a piece of 
 machinery could be made artistically attractive to any save the 
 individual who "loves" machinery? Yet it is being done. A 
 non-technical pubHc has been made to take an interest in mech- 
 anisms of all kinds through the subtle artifices of the commer- 
 cial artist who uncovers beauty in everything, once he sets 
 himself to the task. 
 
 For one entire year, a manufacturer of automobiles used only 
 unembellished reproductions of these power plants and the 
 campaign was singularly alluring to a class which heretofore had 
 not bothered itself with such matters. The drawings — for they 
 were original wash illustrations and not retouched photographs — 
 were fascinating, due to lighting, to subduing of certain non- 
 essential parts, and to elaborating. Glittering pin points of 
 emphasis, here and there, made cold metal throb with life. Light 
 displays its true potency in illustrations of this character. 
 
 During a conference in a large meat-packing institution, the 
 salesmanager of the company said to an artist, who had been 
 called into conference: 
 
 I am willing to wager that you can't make a side of ham or of bacon 
 pictorially interesting. The subject does not permit of it. Our cover- 
 ings are simple and crude. This product we sell does not permit of 
 your so-called "artistic visualization." But I am willing to concede 
 that there is more salesmanship in the reproduction of a ham or a bacon, 
 
212 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 for a time, at least, than in the most elaborate human interest picture of 
 a brcalvfast table scene or any of the rather conventional themes com- 
 monly employed for an article of this character. We are disconcerted 
 by the phj^iical appearance of the very thing \vc sell. It isn't attractive 
 in a picture. 
 
 The packaged product was laid on a piece of black velvet; 
 one side of the studio was darkened; and a strong light played 
 from the opposite side. An electric globe shot a top light from 
 above. 
 
 If the huinl)le package of ham had been a person of note posing 
 for his oil portrait, the task could not have been approached more 
 
 Fig. 126. — These magazine pages, in every instance, feature tlxe product, with 
 few accessories. The advertiser seeks to familiarize his pubUc with the actual 
 goods. Color, in one or two cases, was of real assistance. 
 
 conscientiously nor more seriously. When the completed canvas 
 was delivered, the skeptical committee gasped. An inartistic 
 thing had been given real beauty. The artist had won the wager. 
 
 It was not until similar treatment was accorded automboile 
 engines and special parts that advertisers of these subjects 
 dared to feature them as the main illustrative theme because of 
 the acknowledged public indifference to things mechanical. An 
 advertiser today may devote almost an entire magazine page to 
 the thing he manufactures, and the larger it is shown, the better 
 he is pleased. Whereas in the past such pages were crude and 
 inartistic, they have become wholly in accord with other adver- 
 tising in the same publication. 
 
 To reproduce the product actual size has become one of the 
 accepted features of every campaign. During a discussion of a 
 
WHEN THE PRODUCT DOMINATES 
 
 213 
 
 campaign of some magnitude for shoes, an advertiser asked this 
 question : 
 
 But what can we do in the way of ilhistrating this scries? There is 
 nothing new under the sun. Everything that can be done lias l)een 
 
 FR,\NKLIN 
 
 SELZ SHOES 
 
 Fig. 127. — In each one of these pages, shown in greatly reduced form here, 
 the product dominates the layout. It has been made the lime-lighted feature of 
 the illustration. But there is no suggestion of the catalog page, due to 
 artistic and imaginative handling. 
 
 done. I have made a collection of all shoe advertising over a period of 
 three years, and apart from one or two artististic exceptions, the pic- 
 
214 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 torial similarity is disillusioning. Shoes arc shoos and imagination does 
 not seem to find very much to jiut into a jjicture — just i)coi)lc wearing 
 shoes, done in this way or that. It would scenx to me that one of our 
 greatest problems will be to discover a distinctive idea for our own 
 campaign. Can it be done? 
 
 And again the obvious became the solution. In a study of 
 past advertising for shoes, there was no single example of a 
 campaign which had made a feature of a shoe actual size, 
 reproduced in colors. 
 
 A campaign was immediately started with this as the central 
 illustrative plan. By combining fine photographs with effective 
 retouching, shoes were placed on the pages in a bold and a convinc- 
 ing manner, "large enough to step into," as a member of the 
 committee exultantly remarked. Every detail of the workman- 
 ship and of the texture of the leather was brought out. Tan 
 shoes, when a second color was used, were amazingly realistic. 
 
 As the campaign progressed and as all models, were shown, 
 unaggressive background accessories were put to work, such 
 as scenes in the sport field, at social functions, and of allied human 
 interest bits. They were not bold enough in technique, however, 
 to detract from the theme of the shoe. As these advertisements 
 appeared, it was significant to find to what extent dealers were 
 selling the shoe being featured during that period. The show 
 counter method asserted itself at the point of consumer contact. 
 
 When new models and new containers are brought out by the 
 manufacturer, the jumbo-sizes illustration of the product is 
 most valuable and serves one of its most useful purposes. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 MELODRAMATIC ACTION 
 
 There are, of necessity, two basic classifications in advertising 
 art, the passive and the active; and both have their allotted 
 usages. As a rule, however, regardless of the product, illus- 
 trations which are animate carry the greatest appeal. This is a 
 fundamental of life itself and of human nature. 
 
 The one literary and dramatic form which does not seem to 
 grow stale and which is ever sure of its receptive audience has its 
 origin in melodrama. People are fond of excitement, of thrill, 
 and of scenes which make the pulse beat a little faster. 
 
 It is the one appeal which reaches all classes, under all cir- 
 cumstances. In the average life there is a minimum of action, 
 of adventure, and of spectacular incident. The most casual 
 incident on the street, from the automobile smashup to the 
 dropping of a safe from an upper story, will attract thousands. 
 There is a lesson in this for advertisers and for creators of adver- 
 tising illustrations. 
 
 It will be interesting to select and follow through one example, 
 demonstrating that the same product and the same campaign can 
 be handled in two widely divergent pictorial moods. The subject 
 is a storage battery for automobiles. While competitive cam- 
 paigns illustrated their batteries, service stations, and the con- 
 ventional themes common to the product, one advertiser saw 
 dramatic possibilities in what happens when a car is suddenly 
 made impotent through the giving out of the current which 
 animates it? What is the inevitable result when a battery 
 unexpectedly refuses to operate? Here was a valid advertising 
 objective, to make car owners aware of the importance of a 
 battery. 
 
 In every advertised product or proposition, some element of 
 thrill can be found. The problem may appear painfully common- 
 place and drab to the advertiser and the viewpoint of the outsider 
 is essential. It is told of a manufacturer of belting supports 
 that he despaired of finding drama. His trade paper and maga- 
 
 215 
 
216 
 
 ILL US TR A riON IX A D T 'ER TISIXG 
 
 Fig 128.— These remarkable pictures were drawn from real life and ar ual 
 happenings. Their themes are peril, sudden danger, unnecessary risk of life. 
 But who shall say that they are not legitimatized by their tendency to make 
 people think in terms of guarding against just such hazards? 
 
MELODRAMATIC ACTION 
 
 217 
 
 zine advertising was doomed to dull repetitions of mechanical 
 facts. But an enterprising advertising manager offered prizes 
 for ideas for illustrations. Letters were sent out to factory 
 superintendents, and soon, sufficient fact material was received to 
 prepare an entire year of advertising. One of the stories was 
 that of a great Kansas earthquake, of desolation spread broad- 
 cast, and of a large plant swept into a jungle of twisted iron and 
 steel. But one belt line remained true to its trust. A dummy 
 
 Fig. 129. — A rather rommonplace and undramatic accident dramatically handled. 
 The product advertised is floor varnish, impervious to moisture. 
 
 engine was attached and the belts revolved. More picturesque 
 perhaps was the letter which told of the delicacy of belt adjust- 
 ment in another industrial plant ; birds, sparrows, flying through 
 the open window of a factory, alighting on the belts, were 
 sufficient impediment to stop the flow of power — a circumstance 
 which proved that there was no lost motion and no waste genera- 
 tive activity. These belts were adjusted to deliver just so much 
 power — and they were doing that and no more. The system 
 which held them in place was therefore perfect. 
 
218 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 The advantages of the melodramatic illustration may be 
 summed up as follows: 
 
 Action is an admittedly efficient attention compeller. 
 People are intensely interested in unusual situations. 
 The reader whose life is commonplace feeds on situations which arc 
 exciting. 
 
 Creating interest at the inception of the message is guaranteed. 
 
 Fig. 130. — Melodrama in advertising illustration need not necessarily mean 
 "blood and thunder" as this subtle pictures proves. The tug at the nerves and 
 the heart are as much in evidence. The suggestion is advanced that mothers 
 should always keep emergency medicines on hand. 
 
 Possibilities in spirited copy arc numerous. 
 
 Movement as opposed to passive subject material is paramount. 
 
 Advertising takes the form of drama and as such with its slight exagger- 
 ations, is always alluring. 
 
 The presentation of pictures which suggest the peril of human neglect or 
 foolhardiness acts as a vigorous lesson. 
 
 Sentiment is a strong moving force, and the melodramatic in illustration 
 is largely dependent upon sentiment. 
 
MELODRA MA TIC A C TION 
 
 219 
 
 The majority of the more successful melodramatic pictures are 
 founded on written scenarios, which inspire the artist to "catch 
 the spirit" of a tense scene. The form is simple, direct, highly 
 descriptive. In order to project such themes powerfully, the 
 advertiser draws a verbal canvas, much as follows : 
 
 For a Campaign on Automobile Motors. — Object of the illustration is 
 to make people think more seriously of the part played by the automo- 
 tive industry in our modern civilization. Tendency is to discredit the 
 magnitude of the industry and to take too much for granted. People 
 
 "Give me a ticket to 
 
 p» 
 
 Fig. 131. — A shrewdly thought-out and drawn illustration of the trusted 
 employee who is making a quick get-away with stolen funds. Expressions of 
 faces are born of melodrama. The idea was used by an Insurance company to 
 visualize a copy-drama connected with Fidelity Bonds. 
 
 look on motor cars as so much metal, leather, wood. Our task to 
 humanize the product. Theme — the motor car meets an emergency and 
 is practically indispensable. Characters: a mother, a small child, a 
 country physician. Scene : bed room of a remote house in rural district. 
 Time: late at night. A child has been taken seriously ill, professional 
 care is all that can save its life. A doctor must arrive quickly. The 
 home is obviously not in a village. It is miles away from traffic lines. 
 But there is a telephone. It is used to summon doctor. Artist picks up 
 thread of story just as this man arrives. Show little girl, in the throes 
 of a high fever, in bed, unconscious. Mother nearby, the light of a great 
 terror in her eyes. A kindly physician is seated at the beside, feeling 
 pulse of the child. Great care should be taken to portray this rural 
 
220 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 doctor as the symbol of a type, kindly, patient, white-haired. Lighting 
 of illustration so arranged as to add to dramatic qualities of the scene. 
 Mother looking at him, rather than at child. She places absolute 
 trust in his professional jurisdiction. Element of suspense established. 
 The moment is one of tremendous significance. A httle life is at stake. 
 Copy to state that before the motor car, this country doctor might have 
 taken hours to reach his destination. His automobile has brought him 
 in a comparatively brief space of time. How many lives are saved and 
 how much suffering alleviated through the ministration of scientifically 
 directed power as expressed in an automobile power plant. 
 
 When Life Depended Upon 
 Safe Lubrication! 
 
 Tig. 1,32. — A speeding airplane, silhouetted against the lightning-streaked 
 sky, and sinister darkness added its own touch of impending danger. Melo- 
 drama of the most compelling kind. 
 
 A few years ago, however, the manufacturers of such power 
 plants insisted that there was but one method of picturing their 
 product, namely, to show it as it was. 
 
 Would you suppose there was any great measure of melodrama 
 in overalls? The conventional thing to do would be to show 
 good-looking farmers and workmen wearing the product -and 
 let it go at that. A sales manager for one of the largest overall 
 manufactories in the world set out to find out just why it was 
 that this brand had quietly earned the reputation of being the 
 "strongest" garment on the market. And here are some of the 
 fact stories which came out of his investigation: 
 
MELODRAMATIC ACTION 
 
 221 
 
 A steel worker, high on a tall building, lost his footing and 
 would have fallen to his death had not his overalls caught on a 
 projecting obstruction. He hung there for three quarters of 
 an hour, helpless, until he was discovered. 
 
 A railroad employee, engaged in building a bridge across a 
 swollen mountain stream, pitched headlong to what seemed 
 certain death. His working clothes caught on a beam and he 
 was lifted to safety. 
 
 Something like three hundred such dramatic incidents were 
 eventually uncovered, enough surely, when turned over to an 
 
 '^^ 
 
 IToo Late - ^ 
 
 it was beyond control 
 
 Stands between 
 your home 
 and 
 
 7 
 
 The Tragedy— 
 
 the useless tragedy of it uU . - . . ,- , . _ 
 
 have the meuns to stifle any fire at the sWrt 
 
 Fig. 133. 
 
 Left. — A gunman, with aimed revolver may cause a first-glance revulsion, but 
 the advertiser has a warning to register and a melodramatic story to tell. 
 
 Right. — The tragedy of a human face told in melodramatic terms, and with a 
 back-drop of fire-fighting, throb and thrill. 
 
 artist of ability who made one of the most sensational series of 
 commercial illustrations ever used. There was a pulse-beat in 
 every one of them. The interesting part of such stories as this is 
 their close adherence to actual life experiences, they need not 
 be fabrication. 
 
 A dirigible broke loose from its moorings in a severe storm 
 and was swept seaward in the teeth of a howling winter gale. 
 But the men aboard are heroes born, and after a dramatic battle 
 for life in the air, the huge bird was steered safely back to its 
 
222 
 
 ILLi'STRATIOX IX ADVERT ISISG 
 
 hangar. Twenty-four hours afterwards, no less than fifteen 
 advertisers had taken advantage of this news feature. One 
 manufacturer had made this product used in the dirigible, another 
 something else. They were all instrumental in the heroic demon- 
 stration of endurance. The series compelled reader attention, 
 as inevitably as the most trivial street accident will interest 
 crowds of people. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 You can't see it — 
 
 But you know it's there 
 
 131. — Spirited action, as an advertiser of a tiro gauge vividlj- illustrates the 
 unseen power of — wind, air, in action. 
 
 It is scarcely fair to declare that attracting attention under 
 these conditions is unethical. The melodrama of everyday 
 life is as legitimate as its quieter passages. 
 
 The reader asks only that situations be manifestly sincere 
 and that scenes depicted be wholly within the range of reason. 
 When a manufacturer of roofing shows the tragedy of the mid- 
 night fire in a suburban community in the black sky, the distant 
 conBagration, the rain of sparks, the sinister red glare, and the 
 shadows of many scurrying, frightened figures — and when, in 
 the foreground, his artist suggests a single whirling, descending 
 jet of fire, just about to fall on a roof, he is dealing in the kind of 
 
MELODRAMATIC ACTION 223 
 
 melodrama which is born of fact and which is certain to make 
 his audience catch their breaths in sudden expectancy. It is 
 action and undeniably good advertising. 
 
 Seek for the embedded melodramatic thrill or heart throb in 
 every problem, in every piece of copy, or in every product,* 
 however commonplace it may seem to be. The curtain of the 
 advertisement will then rise on an opening scene which will 
 hold the spectator to the end. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 CHARACTER STUDY 
 
 One development in advertising art is the broadening out of 
 its portrait gallery. During the earlier period of experiment, few 
 types were attempted. A species of rubber stamp characteriza- 
 tion was in vogue, which meant duplication of accepted and 
 conventional classifications. There was a one type of business 
 man, a one type of housewife, and so on. 
 
 Artists seldom deviated from these studies, which might well 
 have originated from a pattern, so closely did they adhere to 
 form. If, for example, it came within the advertiser's plans to 
 present the picture of a workman, the study was thoroughly 
 familiar, and exact counterparts could be found in other 
 campaigns. 
 
 Today advertising justly boasts of its startlingly large cast of 
 characters. Character portrayal was obviously helped along by 
 the imaginative quality of copy, which made it absolutely neces- 
 sary for the artist to search for new faces and for studies of indi- 
 viduals more closely identified with the spirit of their messages. 
 To illustrate: the manufacturer of an automotive truck undertook 
 to point out to the public the influence of these vehicles on human 
 progress. Each type of business was taken in turn, dairying, 
 the delivery of groceries, of crops, of meats, etc., and to more 
 closely visualize the lines of trade, persons most active in each 
 field were shown, in portraits, as near life-sized as possible, on the 
 advertising page. From here on, the text explains the relation of 
 delivery to purchase — the swift, sure moving of goods. A fea- 
 ture of the advertising campaign of a dry goods store, which 
 ran for two j^ears, was its weekly presentation of types of men and 
 women. There was a delightful study of the typical woman 
 shopper. She could be duplicated in every city the country over. 
 The study was a symbol of frugality and skilful purchasing power. 
 Before this campaign had run its course, no less than fifty large 
 character heads had been used, each a marvel of studied choice. 
 
 224 
 
CHARACTER STUDY 
 
 225 
 
 The copy which accompanied one of the portraits stated: 
 
 Eight billion dollars is the public's annual bill with America's 40,000 
 department stores— not including 160,000 other stores handling dry 
 goods and allied merchandise. The item for buttons alone is $26,534,- 
 000. It requires a trained force of fully a million men and women, at 
 an aggregate salary of $700,000,000 a year, to attend the countless 
 throngs that gather daily at the counters of these stores. 
 
 An advertiser of radio head sets concluded that no better 
 illustrative scheme could be devised, than the showing of different 
 
 Fig. 135.— It is always desirable to eliminate nonessential detail and to show 
 "close-ups," for character can be brought out strikingly and in a bold, dramatic 
 manner. This advertiser by the use of large heads, can emphasize expression, 
 reactions of sentiment, and true character delineation. 
 
 types of Radio fans listening in on programs which inspired facial 
 expressions of more than ordinary interest. They ranged from a 
 kindly farm grandmother to a tired business man. The showing 
 of faces only permitted clear characterization and the series was a 
 portrait gallery, more impressive than if rubber stamp tradi- 
 tions had been adhered to. 
 
 Every line of business and every advertising campaign encour- 
 ages a reaching after suited types of persons. These shades of 
 difference are more significant, now that artists have put them on 
 paper with conscientious skill. 
 
226 
 
 ILLUSTRATIOX I.\ ADVERTISING 
 
 A manufacturer wishes to tell the public of the skill and 
 specilization of its workers — the people who make the goods. 
 And it becomes at once apparent that the workman in a steel 
 plant in no wise resembles the toiler in a shoe factory or the work- 
 man of the automobile plant. There is a marked difference. 
 What people do, what they are, and what they produce appear to 
 mold the type. 
 
 It is amazing to discover the variations of types, of facial 
 expressions, and of character, clearly defined. No two faces are 
 exactly ahke and one of the most amazing truths of human exis- 
 tence is the diversity of the human pattern. It is therefore 
 
 Fig. 136. 
 
 Left. — A pleasing character study of a familiar type. The artist looks for a 
 living model, and selects such types from the very field he is supposed to portray. 
 A real grocer poses for his portrait. All of which makes for a wider, truer range. 
 
 Right. — Rugged farm types, very carefully delineated. Every illustration in 
 this series took up some well-known classification, and represented them "to the 
 life." 
 
 beneficial to advertising to reflect this impressive variety and to 
 be wholly truthful in character delineations. 
 
 To walk along a crowded city street or to sit in common carrier 
 and make a technical survey of mankind is amusing and instruc- 
 tive. Advertising, taking this thought as its pictorial cue, has 
 made almost unbelievable progress. 
 
 Because industry, as just one factor, has gradually presented 
 its own kith and kin to the rest of the world labor has been dig- 
 nified and its activities strengthened. One of the largest manu- 
 
CHARACTER STUDY 227 
 
 facturing industries in the world ran full-color portrait studies of 
 various workers on the cover of its internal house organ. They 
 were pleased with the publicity given them and their effort, both 
 of which would be, under most circumstances, concealed deep 
 down in puddling rooms, in foundries, at lathes, and in grimy 
 empires of iron and steel. For people to know " how the other half 
 of the world lives" is a beneficial influence — this contact with 
 industry and its rank and file. The consumer who is interested 
 in how and by whom the product is made is more tolerant 
 and more appreciative. 
 
 The following paragraph from an advertisement of this sort 
 is illuminative : 
 
 The real foundation on which a superior product is built lies not in 
 mere bigness of plant, but rather in the organization and character of the 
 men and women who day by day contribute their part to its making. 
 
 The American Seating Company has presented in its campaign 
 many splendid character studies of its workers, however, humble 
 they may be. How does it happen that this study of a veteran 
 maker of school desks is so strangely real, so human, so distinctly 
 true to type? Those who see the advertisement know immedi- 
 ately that there is nothing superficial in the portrait. 
 
 Artists now go to industrial plants and makes sketches and 
 have men and women sit for them. The job is conscientiously 
 done. These studies are not "made up" in studios. An 
 artist, employed to produce a number of distinctive factory types, 
 spent two months at the plant. He lived with these people, 
 watched them at work, and saw them in their homes. He came 
 to know them intimately, and from this experience developed 
 a series of genuinely impressive character studies. The man, 
 at work on the Americain Seating Company school desk, "looks 
 the part" because he is the creator of his role. 
 
 This explains why it is that the portrait gallery of modern 
 advertising has gained so much and has become so pronouncedly 
 vitalized during the past few years. Portraiture is more con- 
 scientiously done. The opportunity was always there; artists 
 did not take advantage of it. 
 
 There is often virtue in homeliness and in the unassuming. 
 The public had reached a point where it was unquestionably 
 satiated with the cloying sweetness of the pretty girl type of 
 illustration, all affectation and no character. Advertisers labored 
 
228 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 under the impression that people wanted an idealized type. It 
 did not. It wanted and has always wanted, truth, that which 
 was natural. 
 
 Affectation in character portrayal is as dangerous and as 
 unsatisfactory as lack of truth in advertising. 
 
 Where once there was an unbroken line of pretty dolls there 
 are true-to-life portraits real people, of real women, housekeepers, 
 
 Fia. 137. — The artist humanizes the expert factory veteran and suggests that 
 genuine sentiment goes into his task. 
 
 matrons, mothers, daughters, sisters, and college girls. The 
 superficial has yielded to a reflection of people as they arc found. 
 A campaign was built on making grocers the star of every 
 advertising performance. And in order to secure the portraits 
 for this series, the artist made sketches in grocery shops in seven 
 different states. He searched for interesting types. There 
 was no attempt to glorify the men ])ohind the counter. They 
 were drawn as people find them, day by day. 
 
CHARACTER STUDY 
 
 229 
 
 To illustrate properly another campaign, the artist had his 
 models pose for hnn, A policeman, a sea captain, a miner, a / 
 chopper of trees from the pacific northwest, a Pullman car con- 
 ductor, and a governess posed for the advertising artist. 
 
 Fig. 138. — For one year this advertiser believed it distinctly worth while to 
 delineate character — the character of the men found in the average garage. The 
 artist went at this work conscientiously, sketching from real types. 
 
 The central character of a successful campaign used as its 
 central figure, Mr. Average Motorist. A dozen unsuccessful 
 
230 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 attempts were made to create a type which would be at once 
 familiar to everyone. The advertiser and the artist went to a 
 popular country club. They watched the steady stream of cars 
 passing a given point, during Saturdays and Sunda3^s, and when 
 that "type" flashed across their vision — for there always is 
 a one best symbol of every class — the problem was explained to 
 
 7:30 a.m. 
 
 FATHER says breakfast isn't 
 conjpletc without Dromedary 
 
 11:00 A.M. 
 
 BROTHER'S f.nvoriic .andwicfr- 
 ci at school rewsi arc chopped 
 Jary Dales with cheese. 
 
 6:30 P.M. 
 
 UNCLE loves his D 
 dary Date S>-ufile, or 
 just pljin dates for din 
 
 Fig. 139. — Every member of the average family is made to join advertising's 
 cast of active characters. Whereas, a few years ago, these types were artificial 
 and all of a conventional pattern, it is now customary to search for sincerity of 
 characterization. 
 
 him and he was persuaded to pose for the drawing, with certain 
 changes to prevent its identification. 
 
 People are invariably interesting. The advertiser who comes 
 closest to approximating real folks is certain to receive the most 
 engrossed attention and the largest audience. 
 
CHARACTER STUDY 
 
 231 
 
 Graham Brothers Trucks Graham Brothers Trucks 
 
 Fig. 140. — Two ruggedly interesting character studies, from a connected 
 series, which, in their aggregate display, form a portrait gallery of unconven- 
 tional advertising types. These character studies are closely allied with the 
 story, in each case, and are not merely "dragged in" for embellishment. 
 
 FiQ. 141. — A year of advertising based on portraits of exacting people who drink 
 the coffee. And in each case, the faces tell a story of satisfaction. 
 
232 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Truth in the delineation of types is as necessary in modern 
 advertising illustration as fidelity to truth in copy. The public 
 is just as responsive, just as exacting. These people of the 
 advertising "stage" are supposed to represent, in many instances, 
 the reader of the advertisement. The advertiser asks him to 
 so consider the situation, the persons shown, the story. Adver- 
 tising art of this generation is no more than a picture of every- 
 day existence and the colorful human panorama that animates 
 it. Therefore, types should be genuine, convincing, plucked 
 from each separate walk of life. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 142. — Two impressively "real" studies of young men, drawn from models 
 and carefully avoiding the "rubber stamp" school of portraiture. 
 
 An advertising artist spent a month in Maine in order to find 
 the one best model for a typical guide. This character, used in 
 a serial way, throughout a year's campaign, would be scrutinized 
 by people who have employed guides and who know the type. 
 The slightest deviation from fact would weaken the entire series. 
 This advertiser received nearly 4,000 letters, complimenting it 
 on the wonderful drawing of the old guide. "I have been out 
 with that very chap," was the substance of this friendly corre- 
 spondence. For every desired type there is a living model and 
 the advertiser must find that model. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 THE HUMAN INTEREST ILLUSTRATION 
 
 Not all figure compositions should be looked upon as of the 
 true human interest sort. It is one thing to introduce characters 
 in an illustration, and another thing to delineate types so deftly 
 and stage their actions with such fidelity that the product's 
 virtues are immediately visualized. 
 
 In general, it may be said, that the ideal human interest 
 illustration is one wherein true-to-life incidents are presented, 
 without exaggeration or bombast. It is as ill-advised to exagger- 
 ate in pictures as to strain for effect in copy. Exaggeration 
 invites suspicion. Yet following too closely in the footsteps 
 of normal existence is to deal in bromidic situations, hackneyed 
 ideas, and the drab trappings of things which experience has 
 made obvious. 
 
 That the commonplace circumstance does not arouse interest 
 is a theory certainly open to challenge. It must be remembered 
 that human nature itself has not materially altered in thousands 
 of years. There are basic themes, sentiments, and ideas which 
 time leaves the same. Pictures which show primal passions or 
 sentiments have universal appeal because they are fundamental 
 and easily recognized. They permit the reader to place himself 
 in the same precise environment. Reflect what John Smith docs, 
 and John Smith is acutely conscious of his part in proceedings. 
 He is temporarily flattered by his personal ability to interpret your 
 picture narrative. 
 
 When a human interest illustration is so intensely human 
 that the public steps into its action, there is every assurance of 
 favorable results. It is only on occasion that people crave to 
 eliminate everyday contacts, and the campaign which spreads 
 a magic carpet becomes efTective. It is true, however, that 
 the enduring thing is the thing with which we are all most 
 familiar. 
 
 233 
 
234 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Create an illustration which shall compel the reader to say: 
 
 "I have been there myself." 
 
 "I know a man who looks like that." 
 
 "I've done that many, many times." 
 
 "I wish I had one." 
 
 "I have seen people do that." 
 
 you win an intimacy of contact which has sympathy and perfect 
 understanding as its base. Life is too full for any advertiser to 
 imagine that there is a shortage of material. Because these 
 
 Fig. 143. — Mothers will chuckle over this good-natured exposition of little 
 tots at their bath, and the advertiser successfully visualizes the fact that the 
 right varnish on a floor means no worry over spilled water. 
 
 themes are all around us, perhaps even light Ij^ brushing us as 
 they pass, they are often overlooked. The obvious is not to 
 be despised. Half-hearted and ineffective handling of the appar- 
 ently commonplace is what discourages its use. It is as dis- 
 tressing as a good play, poorly acted and falsely staged. 
 
 Consider pictures of babies; exaggerate them and what they 
 do, attempt to force them into situations which cannot exist, or 
 widen the range of their action beyond actuality, and the fraud is 
 resented. The advertisement may win a smile, but it has 
 sacrificed the respect and the spontaneous confidence of the 
 prospect. Babies are quite funny and pretty and interesting 
 
THE HUMAN INTEREST ILLUSTRATION 
 
 235 
 
 enough, exactly as they arc, in everyday hfe, and it is an artist 
 indeed who can suggest their elusive charms. The test of the 
 craftsman is depicting life; it is easier to cartoon and to burlesque. 
 An illustration may be drawn with consummate skill and 
 nevertheless fall short of delivering a deeply moving story. 
 There is a sharp demarcation between skill of draftsmanship, 
 ingenuity of technique, and subtlety of story. A very poor draw- 
 ing may possess inspired qualities of pulse-stirring emotion, 
 which indicates that it is the plot of the picture as well as its 
 interpretation, which influences potential power in an advertis- 
 ing sense. 
 
 Fig. 144. — Two contrasting examples of admirable "human interest" illus- 
 trations, one frankly sentimental, yet beautifully so, the other scintillant with 
 humor. Nor is the selling message of the varnish neglected. 
 
 Exactly the same principles hold good as in advertising copy; 
 dialogue, unrestrained and unnatural, is not to be compared 
 with text written in the true vernacular. The advertiser loses 
 his true perspective, no doubt, in his effort to emphasize his argu- 
 ment. He is afraid the public wdll not understand it. When 
 illustrations picture an entire family going into an hysteria of 
 action over some small article of everday use, or a stern board 
 of directors hypnotized by a cog or a piece of leather belting, the 
 advertising is weakened to the extent of its lapse from realism. 
 
 Restraint is probably one of the most valuable attributes of 
 the human interest illustration; the insight which prompts an 
 artist to go just so far — and stop. 
 
236 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 It is a by no means uncommon practice for advertisers to arrive 
 first at their story pictures from carefully written art scenarios. 
 The advantage of this is the opportunity it provides for analysis 
 and gradual development, as the first preliminary sketches are 
 made. 
 
 Characteristic picture plots would be mapped out in this 
 interesting manner: 
 
 Schedule. — Page space. Farm journal list. For use in 
 December. Illustration may occupy three-fourths of total 
 space. Medium-original wash drawing, half-tone plates. In 
 
 Fig. 145. — A General Electric illustration to elaborate the fact that if " Father 
 did the washing just once," in the old-fashioned way, he would speedily declare 
 for modernism. "Human interest" in every line. 
 
 each case master engraving delivered to publication. No 
 electros. Small showing of two views of watch model, full 
 front and side. Vigorous human interest type of picture with 
 touch of humor to appeal to specific class. Illustration should 
 l)ring out thorough time-keeping dependability of product. 
 
 Picture Plot. — Boy and girl, not under sixteen or eighteen years 
 of age, sitting before open hearth, on comfortable lounge. Tops 
 of their heads showing, only. Engrossed and unconscious of 
 presence of others. Room in semi-darkness. Furnishings of a 
 comfortable but by no means luxuriant home. (Keep in mind 
 that modern farm house has up-to-date fixtures. Detail, how- 
 ever, softened and subdued by shadows.) 
 
THE HUMAN INTEREST ILLUSTRATION 237 
 
 Fig. 146. 
 
 Upper. — A novel departure from the conventional automobile drawing, in 
 that figures and their action are permitted to take precedence over the car itself. 
 Observe the humorous story told without need of words. 
 
 Lower. — An unusually unique type of human interest drawing which cartoons 
 the basic idea of unguarded heat pipe in a home: it is as if the poor furnace had to 
 do its work in the open. An "attention compellcr." 
 
238 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 In immediate foreground, three-quarter-length study of farm 
 father of the prosperous and progressive type. Smoking jacket. 
 Eye-glasses in one hand, to suggest that he has been up reading. 
 Whimsical expression on the old man's face, mouth puckered, 
 twinkle in eyes. No suggestion of displeasure. He looks 
 straight out at reader, as if taking him into full confidence. 
 Right hand, raised to catch light from fireplace, holds watch. 
 Hands visible, and hour around twelve. By placing this hand in 
 approximate center of composition, the light dial of the watch 
 
 Fio. 147. — A dramatic story told in picture form, as an ingeniously placed ray 
 of light, forces the reader to concentrate upon a single face in the hustling, 
 bustling throng. 
 
 will form bull's-eye of visual interest. Obvious from illustration, 
 that Father is about to tell visitor his "time is up" for the call. 
 
 Copy Slant. — "No ground for argument. Dad 'has the goods 
 on them.' There are times when the Keystone Standard is 
 provokingly accurate." 
 
 Such scenarios of human interest as the above greatly facilitate 
 the making of an illustration. It is significant that a practical 
 mind has warned the artist against technical errors, such as 
 "playing down" to the farm audience. 
 
THE HUMAN INTEREST ILLUSTRATION 
 
 239 
 
 In some organizations, it is customary to request suggestions 
 in this form from a number of people and departments, the most 
 likely idea being adopted, after discussion in open conference. 
 
 Eliminating the technical references, two additional scenarios 
 are quoted in part, as a further indication of the spirit which 
 
 Fig. 148. — One of the General Motors dramas from real life. The little 
 farm mother and her daughter are dreaming bright dreams of where the new 
 automobile will take them. A charcoal illustration, from carefully chosen 
 models. 
 
 prevails in the building of human interest illustrations of the 
 intensely natural school. The first might be a word picture 
 interpretation of one of a series of powerful page drawings for 
 the Underwood portable typewriter. 
 
240 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Boj'- of the characteristic "Penrod" group. Has removed coat and is 
 at machine under evening lamp. Paper shade tilted back to diffuse 
 light. Obvious that it is the study period at home. School books in 
 evidence, clock, papers. Boy is typing, but expression of face and 
 thoughtful pose, as his eyes scan the neat page, give intimation of 
 momentary reverie. 
 
 His thoughts take form in a panoramic scene in the background, 
 occupjang major portion of top-position space. Dominant in this 
 vista is proudly poised study of Daniel Boone, musket over arm, coon- 
 skin cap conspicuous. Faint suggestion around him of his comrades, 
 distant hills. 
 
 Fig. 149. — A quiet, unruffled study of the contented pipc-smoker, who fits 
 his tobacco to his books and his moods. An illustration which is a human- 
 interest story in itself, even without reading matter. 
 
 Far from being a mere "eye-catching picture," this page, as 
 finally worked out, has its roots in a forceful selling story. With 
 an Underwood, the imaginative boy brings a famous character of 
 history to life on the printed page : 
 
 All the romance of the winning of the wilderness is a vivid, thrilling 
 reality in the mind of the boy as he works at his history lesson. Free 
 from the drudgery of hand-writing , he is able to concentrate every 
 thought on his ivork. And Daniel Boone comes to life! 
 
 It is singularly true, after the most exhaustive study of adver- 
 tising illustrations in various kinds of media, that human interest, 
 as a source of subject and inspiration, is most impressive when it 
 lives up to a disciphnary rule of being irreproachably human. 
 An unnatural situation cannot be made effective, however 
 expertly it may be decked in technique and in superior execu- 
 
THE HUMAN INTEREST ILLUSTRATION 241 
 
 tion. There must be truth in the concept, and the public is 
 rather fond of seeing itself in pictures. 
 
 Artists of more sensative understanding have given material 
 aid by the use of models which are akin to the story. The por- 
 trait gallery of advertising art really reflects types. If a police- 
 man is to figure in the composition, it is more than likely that a 
 real officer will pose; if a Penrod is to be hero for a day, then a 
 Penrod is invited to the studio. Genuine character studies have 
 taken the place of the deplorable rubber stamp personages that 
 once paraded through advertising campaigns. When a commer- 
 cial illustration lives and when it continues its activities long 
 after its original appearance, it will be found to have contained 
 rich' veins of humor or of pathos, conscientious character deline- 
 ation, and situations drawn from everyday experience. 
 
 Illustrations of this kind are valuable as advertising because 
 they can accomplish the following objectives: 
 
 Products are shown in service and under natural working 
 conditions. 
 
 Pictures which cause the prospect to use his own imagination 
 stimulate a desire to share in conditions visualized. 
 
 Although the copy may not be read, the illustration forms a 
 complete selling message. 
 
 The advertiser's subject material is supplied with an attractive, 
 humanized setting. Sentiment which becomes predominant is 
 often far more effective than shop talk. 
 
 Products which are, in themselves, rather drab and undramatic 
 may be made to take on a new appeal. 
 
 The human interest illustration is less commercial. It 
 accomplishes its purpose by skilful indirection. The prospect 
 is coaxed into an interest which he might otherwise not entertain. 
 
 Human interest pictures are, in reality, demonstrations and 
 doubly convincing because praise comes from an apparently 
 disinterested source — the user himself. 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 DISTINCTIVENESS IN PEN DRAWINGS 
 
 Full-color campaigns are everywhere in evidence. Yet it is 
 by no means either possible or expedient for all advertisers to go 
 to this added expense. In magazines which carry large volumes 
 of radiantly attractive color illustrations, the question of compe- 
 tition must necessarily come up for consideration. Is it arbi- 
 trarily true that, all else being equal, the advertiser employing 
 color is more likely to monopolize attention, than the competitor, 
 prehaps in the same line, who can use black and white only? 
 
 Here technique often makes up for the difference and equalizes 
 matters. It is told of one advertiser that, not being granted an 
 appropriation which would bear the greatly added expense of 
 color originals, process plates, and the considerable item of space, 
 printing, etc., he set out to meet his color adversaries by the 
 subtle power of a black and white technique which should, by its 
 artistic charm and novelty, compel wide popular consideration. 
 
 The experiment was a success. The series of illustrations 
 was more widely commented upon than the color campaigns of 
 rivals. 
 
 There was an individuality of pen technique which at once 
 arrested the attention, even of those wholly unfamiliar with the 
 production features of advertising and art mediums. There 
 has always been a fascination attached to pen drawings. Per- 
 haps it has to do with the fact that the average individual looks 
 upon all half-tones, in black and white, as work of the camera 
 and of photography, while line illustrations are obviously a 
 creation. Invention and ingenuity have entered into their 
 production. 
 
 Novelty, will, for a long time to come, appeal to the masses 
 not understanding the principles governing artistic creation. 
 The eye and the imagination are both lured by the unconven- 
 tional. There is something of magic in pen and ink. Anditisnot 
 necessarily true that the most artistic rendering or technique is 
 the one which makes the deepest impression. Advertisers have 
 
 242 
 
DISTINCTIVENESS IN PEN DRAWINGS 
 
 243 
 
 i GORHAM 
 
 Many Gorham patterns are faithful 
 replicas of fine old work of earlier 
 centuries. The spirit of the great 
 periods of art is inteUigently inter- 
 preted, and exquisitely wrought in 
 Sterling Solid Silver, to meet modern 
 conditions and requirements. 
 
 Sterling Silver' for Everybody 
 
 Highest in duality, not Highest 
 in price. For sale at respon- 
 sible Jewelers everywhere. 
 
 Fig. 150. — Elsewhere, for another advertising purpose, this Gorham scries 
 has been commended. In the present case, the unique and painstaking work of 
 4he pen-and-ink artist is the feature. Surfeited by photographs, advertisers 
 turn to such line plates as this — for campaign individuality. 
 
244 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 had a difficult and elusive struggle in this respect. They have 
 prepared illustrations to suit themselves in many instances and 
 to measure up to the artistic standards of the advertising pnv 
 fession, thinking that this appreciation of the best naturally 
 reached out to their audiences. It has repeatedly occurred 
 that a baffling pen illustration has drawn a larger audience than 
 an elaborate half-tone original of a full-color canvas, painted 
 by an artist of note. These are facts which it is unprofitable to 
 overlook. 
 
 A story comes to mind of an architect who, having made a 
 phenomenal success, was asked to what he attributed his fol- 
 lowing, for the houses he designed were in no sense artistic. 
 He said: 
 
 I have found that the majority of people, in this generation at least, 
 are attracted to detail. I put many extra touches on every house. 
 There are fussy things and intricate designs. Roofs are cut into peculiar 
 patches. The modern generation is intrigued by pattern and detail 
 and that which is odd. 
 
 The average magazine or newspaper reader looks with a 
 certain amount of awe upon techniques which are somewhat 
 outside his complete understanding. Etching the Lord's Prayer 
 on the head of a pin has never ceased to make people whisper 
 when they speak of it. And when an artist conscientiously 
 reproduces detail with a pen, he does something which makes 
 readers marvel. They pause to think of the workmanship, 
 the patience, the knowledge, and the skill which have entered 
 into the picture. It is permissible to declare, therefore, that 
 pen technique is productive of serious consideration. 
 
 Weary of the monotony of original wash drawings and full- 
 color illustrations and the inevitable black and white effects, as 
 represented by dry brush, charcoal, pencil, vivid contrasts, and 
 ultra-commercialism, world without end, certain resourceful 
 advertisers occasionally turn to this one technique which baffles 
 the amateur's analysis. Yet it is little more than a blend of 
 immeasurable detail and a close adherence to realism. It is 
 photography in pen and ink, as it were. 
 
 Several national campaigns based on this principle are of 
 practical interest. In each case, actual technique, in black and 
 white, has overcome somewhat the handicap of lack of color, 
 in the midst of color. One example, destined to be representative 
 
DISTINCTIVENESS IN PEN DRAWINGS 
 
 245 
 
 Fia. 151. — The same subject, handled in two shrewdly interesting composi- 
 tions. A product which would be commonly shown in color is made effective 
 through the use of a pen technique so unusual, so intricate, so remarkable as an 
 art "feat" that the public quickly responds with the tribute of universal com- 
 mendation. The artist literally "Paints with his pen." 
 
246 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 of its class for many years to come, was employed in l^ehalf of 
 the Gorham Company, jewelers and dealers in silverware. 
 That traditions must be upheld was the first consideration. 
 The articles to be pictured were choice pieces of silver and 
 tablecraft. A series was produced which created little less than 
 a public furore and the admiration of advertising men, artists, 
 and the professional experts. Yet its technique and its basic 
 idea was, after all, as old almost, as the art of pen and ink. It 
 meant a revival of detailed and shaded illustrations. 
 
 Fig. 152. — Homely subjects are given added interest and eye appeal through the 
 ability of the artist to make them artistically attractive. 
 
 Each grouping of tableware, of cut glass, and of immaculate 
 accessories, was arranged, of course, in artistic composition. 
 The articles were then photographed with as much resource as 
 if the camera studies were to be reproduced. From these bases 
 came delicate pen drawings, perfectly reproducing the details 
 of each product, yet tempered with idealism. 
 
 Nothing essential was lost because of the fact that color or 
 photographic detail were missing. The artist had caught every 
 shadow and high light, every delicacy of pose and pattern, every 
 subtle hint of material used. The glint of silver was there 
 
DISTINCTIVENESS IN PEN DRAWINGS 
 
 247 
 
 unmistakably. A bone handle on a knife, an ivory finish, the 
 candle in a candlestick, flowers in an exquisite vase successfully 
 translated into terms of pen strokes. 
 
 Fig. 153. — -The artist, in this pen drawing, has so faithfully sought realism 
 and detail, that no photograph could more satisfactorily reproduce the article 
 advertised. From the public standpoint, a realization of this is coupled with 
 amazement over the marvels of the method. 
 
 Fig. 154. — The delineation of foods is considered exceedingly difficult in pen 
 and ink. This fact has forced advertisers of such products into full color of the 
 most expensive character. But that realism can be found at the tip of an 
 artist's pen is verified by such remarkable studies as the above. Sheer wonder- 
 ment occurs over the ingenuity of the intricate technique. 
 
 And, all the while, the eye was conscious of a masterful repre- 
 sentation. How could human hand lay lines with such adroit 
 
248 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 skill? Technique had begun where color left off. Interest in 
 the method was not to be outdone by the extravaganza of process 
 plates. Those who saw the illustrations were aware that a very 
 
 Fig. 1o5.- — Uncommercial to a degree, as the average advertising illustration 
 is understood and "smacking" more of the story type. Effective, particularly, 
 because drawn by an illustrator who has been identified wth story illustration. 
 
 
 ■^«*77T7li;^;|itSS 
 
 Fig. 156. — A very unique, light-shade pen technique. It is used to advertise 
 green-houses and therefore must appeal to those of artistic inclination. 
 
 fine and worthy thing had been done, a thing which required 
 genius. 
 
 Sometimes it is a popular professional pose to reason that 
 the true success in conunercial art never permits the prospect to 
 
DISTINCTIVENESS IN PEN DRAWINGS 
 
 249 
 
 think of mediums, of execution, of how the thing is done and 
 that the illustration, to do its work well, must, of necessity, 
 forget any consciousness of the workman's own craft. All of 
 which is affectation. These illustrations were altogether atmos- 
 pheric, charming, and commercially effective. They merely 
 added a wonder technique to professional posings. And they 
 struck a new note. Nothing quite like them had appeared up to 
 date or within the memory of their generation. They were 
 
 --to an Appreciative Husband 
 
 Fig. 157. — A pen drawing made from a photograph, and done with the 
 mo.st exacting care as to infinite detail. More interesting than any photograph 
 could possibly be. 
 
 artistically different and, being original, as has been repeatedly 
 pointed out, is an advertising obligation. Here was a case where 
 an inherently beautiful product was glorified through technique, 
 to the point where even color and half-tone plates could not hope 
 to compete. 
 
 What of the homely product, which, even in its most likely 
 representation, in matters of art, is by no means beautiful? It is 
 here, again, that pen technique is of assistance. It brings out 
 
250 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 I ..r\'un 
 
 13/101TD3TMOO 
 
 Fig. 158. — A pen and ink illustration done in the popular story-illustration 
 school. Incidentally, the artist is known as a fiction-story technician, and the 
 campaign gains because of this. 
 
 FiQ. 159. — A bold, brutal, open-line pen and ink drawing for poor-i)aper 
 reproduction, but artistic, nevertheless. Successful for ncw.spapor work but 
 just as attractive when employed in magazines, on better paper. 
 
DISTINCTIVENESS IN PEN DRAWINGS 
 
 251 
 
 the interesting fact that regardless of theme or subject, the 
 artist's pen may weave true romance around the humble and the 
 ambitious alike. An advertiser of pancake flour has so embel- 
 lished homely household themes, such as platters of flapjacks, 
 syrup jugs, and the like, that they are "paintings in pen and 
 ink." Examples here reproduced show the marvelous possi- 
 bilities in this direction. 
 
 The obvious question is how may illustrations of this peculiar 
 type be produced? Is there some special method of procedure? 
 The answer is equally obvious. It is largely a matter of technical 
 
 
 MATCH 
 
 BKAY 
 
 Fig. 160. — An illustration which is known as a non-commercial type, varying 
 widely from advertising pictures as customarily seen. It has the "story" 
 flavor. 
 
 skill on the part of the artist himself. A striking campaign of 
 this class was produced by a middle-aged man who had been 
 employed at Washington as an engraver of bank notes. In 
 another instance, the artist came from a talented family specializ- 
 ing in pen drawings of landscapes. 
 
 Unquestionably, it is a specilization — nor is this technique to 
 be confused with any of the many variants — where delicate, 
 detailed pen lines from the basis of a school, such as imitation 
 wood engravings. It is a technique demanding patience and 
 attention to fine detail. It means echoing the photograph, in 
 all its realism, with pen strokes. It is a rather confusing combina- 
 
252 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 tion of the commercial and the beautiful, because these draw- 
 ings are realistic as well as artistic. 
 
 It must be admitted that by two processes alone are such 
 results obtained. One is to pose the object, photograph it, and 
 from the camera study, make a silver print. Over this, the artist 
 works, eliminating and modifying, yet always conscious of the 
 copy beneath his pen. He gives a true interpretation, as to 
 detail, combined with occasional touches of the free, the sketchy. 
 
 Fig. IGl. — The original may have been inspired by a photograph but the 
 pen has given it greatly added interest. Yet not a particle of important atmos- 
 pheric detail has been lost in this art transition. 
 
 and the atmospheric. And all the while, it is the artist within 
 him which dictates every touch of his pen. There is no adequate 
 manner of expressing how it can be done for the artist feels his way. 
 But with a photographic silver print as the base, the realism 
 which is so important a phase of the technique becomes well nigh 
 arbitrary. Take a study of a pan of biscuits, for example. 
 It is doubtful if the same results could be obtained were the 
 artist to pose a pan of biscuits and draw them as they appear to 
 him. The fidelity of detail would not be interpreted. The 
 salt print brings these very fine points out. 
 
DISTINCTIVENESS IN PEN DRAWINGS 
 
 253 
 
 Other artists use a photograph for copying purposes, panto- 
 graphing it on white drawing paper, and, with the camera study- 
 always before them, they interpret the detail in their own artistic 
 mood. The copying method is considered the more likely 
 method. It is not so slavish as the silver print. 
 
 To summarize, there are times when sheer power of technique 
 may seem more worth while than presumably ambitious and 
 overwhelming full-color and wash illustrations by powerful 
 
 Fig. 162. — One of a series for Karpen Furniture. Very beautiful pen and 
 ink detailed study of an interior made to compete with full-color, by virtue of 
 interesting technique. 
 
 competitors. In such a demand the pen and ink detailed school 
 is assured of an interested, often a fascinated audience, attracted 
 equally by the subject and by the ingenuity of the method. 
 Several years ago, in a salon exhibit in Paris, two canvasses were 
 side by side. One was a large and impressive futuristic subject, 
 bold as to color and commanding as to method; the other was 
 a miniature painting, done in shades of sepia and a monotone. 
 It was not more than eight inches square, but it depicted a 
 cavalry charge, and, despite the thundering avalanche of men 
 and horses, dust and confusion, the buttons on coats could be 
 seen, the pupils in startled eyes, the glint on a sabre. Here 
 
254 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 was a startling triumph of infinite detail, yet, withal, artistic 
 which is a rare combination. 
 
 Artists did not care for the small painting. They saw through 
 its sham, as was to be expected. The public, unschooled, saw one 
 canvas in that room only. Even the neighboring large colorful 
 painting, done by a master, could not interrupt the trend of their 
 tribute. 
 
 "But see!" they would exclaim, quite breathlessly, "the artist 
 has shown the nails in the horseshoes. He has painted every 
 link in every chain of a scabbard. He has even gone so far as 
 to reproduce the insignia on the tops of metal buttons! Is it 
 not wonderful! marvelous!" 
 
 ,-,^ W .•■'■*-';^^'^. . 
 
 Fig. 1G3.- — -The artistry of pen and ink, interpreting a still-life study, made to 
 give character throughout an entire campaign. 
 
 These ingenious pen drawings which leave nothing to the imagi- 
 nation, and which represent, on their very face, an almost 
 immeasurable amount of exacting human effort, do not fail to 
 appeal to such audiences. Sometimes, they are artistic; some- 
 times precise and unyielding in their obvious desire for effect; 
 occasionally, they are worthy in every way. At any rate, they 
 play their part in relieving the monotony of advertising illus- 
 tration. But the majority of them arc valuable to the adver- 
 tiser as expositions of what can be done with a very fine drawing 
 pen and a bottle of jet black ink. They prove that the pen 
 technique can lend itself to the most thorough interpretations of 
 intricate detail and that an artist, temperamentally inclined to 
 this school, can, indeed, "paint with a pen." 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 APPLICATIONS OF THE WOODCUT TECHNIQUE 
 
 The modern artist may have lost the skill which should have 
 been a heritage handed down from wood-engravers of old, but 
 he has developed in its stead an uncanny aptitude for imitating 
 the technique made famous by those earlier geniuses who, with 
 steady hands and an abiding faith in the importance of their 
 field, transformed blocks of wood into memorials of art. 
 
 In other words, the technique of the wood engraver is so 
 marvelously simulated today, with other tools than his, that some- 
 times it is difficult indeed to select the real from the bogus, the 
 imitation from the revival. And, now and again, an advertiser, 
 striving for individuality, for the outward, physical designations 
 of pride in preparation, actually employs a veteran, some artis- 
 tic survivor, to whom his block of wood and his engraving tools 
 mean more than brush or pen. 
 
 Commercially speaking, the woodcut, even to this day, serves 
 a purpose which no subsequent process or technique has managed 
 to excel. The advertiser who must use small illustrations for 
 printing on poor paper stock and whose subject material is 
 cluttered with essential detail, can be sure of the printing quali- 
 ties of the wood engraving, although the wood block itself is not 
 finally used but rather a line engraving made from its proof, 
 electro, and matrix. 
 
 Something in the sturdy decision and precision of line makes 
 for clarity, for printability, and for contrasts which do not become 
 congested. This is particularly true in the case of little cuts of 
 the catalog variety, which must depict the details of the prod- 
 uct, the works of a watch, the fine detail of jewelry and the 
 intricacies of articles which are studied, as one of the steps in 
 closing the sale. 
 
 They are not as artistic as pen and ink creations, but they 
 print well, under any and all conditions, and faithfully represent 
 the most elaborate patterns and the most complicated mechan- 
 isms. Nothing need be lost in a woodcut illustration. 
 
 255 
 
256 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 That the woodcut technique should print, in small space, on 
 poor paper, where original pen drawings fail, or are at least 
 partially inadequate, may be traced to the quality of contrast 
 and the methodical manner of shading lines. In wood engrav- 
 
 FiG. 164. — A most remarkable pen drawing, executed in the manner of the wood- 
 cut of old. 
 
 ings of this specific type, blacks are invariably placed against 
 white areas. There is a sureness of line and a directness of 
 lights and of shadows. 
 
 Fig. 165. — Digni with the ntiiiDspluTc of 
 
 the wood engraving, whutlicr iium actual wood blocks or imitated in pen and 
 ink. 
 
 The advertiser in farm journals, using small space, and com- 
 pelled to show, nevertheless, perhaps a farm implement, in careful 
 detail, in a two-inch square limit, often turns to original woodcuts 
 
APPLICATIONS OF THE WOODCUT TECHNIQUE 257 
 
 as perhaps the sole solution of his problem. In this case, they 
 are genuine wood blocks and not imitations of wood engravings. 
 Advertisers of recent years, however, have not for the most 
 part turned to the woodcut atmosphere and technique neces- 
 sarily as a mechanical means of securing detail pictures which 
 will print under adverse circumstances. The far larger incentive 
 has been one of an ambitious desire for new campaign character, 
 a new school, forgotten by the present generation, an art atmos- 
 phere, not customarily observed. 
 
 Fig. 166. — A notable series, tliis, with the woodcut spirit admirably sustained. 
 
 The woodcut spirit adds another technique to the many now 
 in use. The same difference of opinion which helps make the 
 world go 'round is also an active agency in keeping commercial 
 art out of a rut. One of its saving graces is its truly marvelous 
 variety. Its moods are necessarily many. 
 
 It is by no means easy, however, to secure fine examples of 
 wood engraving in the present era, because of counter-irritants 
 which are not congenial to the artist. He is scarcely one to be 
 rushed; it will not do to stand over him with the lash of emer- 
 gency. The wood engraver proceeds with leisurely skill. And 
 since there are comparatively few experts nowadays, prices are 
 apt to be high. Then there is the element of chance. Anything 
 may happen to a wood block, even at the moment when forms 
 
258 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 are ready to close. Corrections, obviously, are a matter of 
 hazard and technical hardship. The changeable advertiser, 
 who would make innumerable corrections, is not welcomed by 
 any responsible wood engraver. It is an art which can not 
 invite the muddling, meddhng hand of the outsider. 
 
 Recognizing the artistic possibilities of a revival of the wood- 
 cut style, particularly for advertising purposes, where it has 
 made its appearance intermittently, guardedly, and in no great 
 volume adv(Mtisers developed this novel substitute — the original 
 
 Fio. 167. — Despite the sreat reduction, neccssarj'' in a limited hook display 
 of this kind, the refinements of the technique are obvious. 
 
 drawing which, as has been claimed for it, simulates the wood 
 block efforts of even the veteran engraver. Resourceful artists 
 have their individual methods of arriving at the result, but by 
 far the most popular is the one wherein a specific kind of 
 "treated" drawing board or paper lends ample assistance. 
 
 These drawing surfaces are unique in that they have a chalky 
 coat which can be scratched away easily enough with any sharp 
 instrument. Some artists employ such tools as are in the studio 
 of the wood engraver. The woodcut effects, shadings, areas 
 of light and shade, and rigid certainty of line, are encouraged, 
 
APPLICATIONS OF THE WOODCUT TECHNIQUE 259 
 
 while working on these specially treated papers, because the 
 stroke and the technical methods are similar, 
 
 A background is desired, for example which shall be made up 
 of a series of exact lines, executed with absolute uniformity, a 
 technique common to wood engraving. The artist paints in 
 the area in solid black, either with ink or with water-color paint, 
 allows it to dry thoroughly, and then etches out the white areas 
 with a sharp instrument, made in varying designs for this purpose. 
 (A noted specialist is content with a pen knife blade.) 
 
 Fig. 168. — The woodout techniquo mingled with free pen handling. As a relief 
 from the inevitable halftone, such illustrations are highly desirable. 
 
 The design is literally scratched on the chalky surface the 
 usual procedure being reversed, in that white appears, as this 
 chalk is cut away. This, however, is but one of the possibilities 
 of the special drawing board. The chalk surface, exceedingly 
 hard, does not prevent the use of a pen or a brush. With equal 
 facility, the artist may employ black. There is just enough 
 resistance to create an individualistic line. 
 
 To paint dark areas in solid black and then to secure half 
 tones and shading, by means of scratching out white lines of 
 varing weights is, of course, to produce a technique impossible 
 with the reverse method. No pen, working on a white surface, 
 
260 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 could hope to accomplish the same distinctive character of line 
 or of shaded tone. One of the admirable utilitarian qualities of 
 the surfaced drawing board is the opportunity accorded for 
 working in deft little highlights of mere pin points at the last 
 moment. 
 
 In.. Ki'J. A iii().->t ilTuctive design, refined as to iitnioiplicre ;md coin 
 luid vying successfully with full color rendering of the same subject 
 publications. 
 
 position 
 in some 
 
 The artist, all the while, has patterned his technique after the 
 wood engraving style. That has been his model, his guide and 
 his inspiration. 
 
 The effect depends largely upon the quality of line used. 
 Lines, regardless of their weight, are placed side by side with 
 unerring regularity, fluid smoothness. It is a technique requiring 
 infinite patience, time, and clear vision. It is not scratchy, 
 sketchy, or free. The woodcut is formal, methodical, sure. 
 
APPLICATIONS OF THE WOODCUT TECHNIQUE 261 
 
 The imitation woodcut illustration is produced by some crafts- 
 men without the aid of artificial accessories. They weave the 
 
 •r. ^Ji^' ^l^'~'^ fl®^ °^ 7""^^ drawings for magazine work was interpreted 
 scr '^ technique when poorer paper stock prohibited the fine halftone 
 
 Fig. 171.— Artists have learned to make pen drawings which embrace many of 
 tHe mtercstmg and complex qualities of the woodcut. 
 
 technique with a pen. Needless to say, it is a long process and 
 one demanding a keen appreciation of fine detail. There may 
 
262 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 be need of stipplings of white, or white lines, closely placed, to 
 produce certain effects, and sometimes these are done with a pen, 
 in white paint or ink. There is always danger, however, of the 
 displacement of this white: it may peel or crack. The drawing 
 
 A Bottle of MUK is a Bottle of Hedath 
 
 Fig. 172. — AA oodcul atiuosidicrc retained llinMiiili an entire .--erii's, tlu'rc'hy 
 providing desirable continuity. 
 
 becomes highly perishable. Because of this, the other process of 
 scratching out white is preferred. 
 
 Reduction becomes a vital consideration. Originals made 
 several times larger than they are to appear on the printed page 
 often result in disappointment. The ideal copy is same size, 
 although this naturally cramps the artist in his work and makes 
 
APPLICATIONS OF THE WOODCUT TECHNIQUE 263 
 
 need for even greater precision. Where a full-fledged wood 
 engraving might easily require several weeks in its preparation, 
 a pen imitation of it may be produced in a day or so. So remark- 
 able has been the progress made that, in many notable advertising 
 
 A New 4-Pa55enber Coupe 
 
 This car is Dodge Brothers response to a definite 
 demand — 
 
 A high grade coupe of moderate weight and size 
 thtt will seat four adult passengers in genuine 
 comfort. 
 
 The body is an admirable example of fine coach 
 building. Low. graceful <imartly upholstered and 
 attractively finished in Dodge Brothers blue it 
 reflects dignity and distinct on m every line 
 
 Above all. the 4passen 
 istically a Dodge Brothe 
 all the attributes of cor 
 service for which more than 
 Brothers Motor Cars are favorably kn 
 out the world. 
 
 Fig. 173. Member of a family of woodcut spirit illustrations retaining a 
 majority of the methods of the technique of long ago. 
 
 campaigns, it has baffled the most observing and studious eyes — 
 this adaption of the wood block technique, as a short cut to 
 almost identical results. 
 
 A significant development, however, reaches into other fields. 
 Artists, while experimenting with the pen imitation of the wood- 
 
264 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 cut, have come upon accidental techniques, which often take on 
 something of the pen and something of the wood engraver's 
 sharp-edged and pointed instruments. These drawings are not 
 quite of the woodcut school, nor have they the freedom of the 
 conventional pen illustration. 
 
 It occasionally transpired that, after an artist has completed a 
 colorful pen and ink illustration, another will work over it with 
 a sharp knife or with a pen and white ink, and make such addi- 
 
 FiG. 174. — It is true of the "woodcut technique" that it makes an equally 
 handsome and distinctive appearance on poor paper stock or on the finest of 
 glazed surfaces. 
 
 tions and changes as will give the drawing a hint of the woodcut 
 technique, although in no sense attempting its 100 per cent 
 interpretation. 
 
 Woodcut illustration, or imitations of their technique, are used 
 for the following definite reasons: 
 
 To provide individuality of art atmosphere throughout a 
 connected campaign. 
 
 To get away from the sameness of half-tone work and of the 
 more conventional line drawings, as observed in the average 
 periodical. 
 
APPLICATIONS OF THE WOODCUT TECHNIQUE 265 
 
 To suggest quality and aloofness. 
 
 To insure printability, where much detail must be shown in 
 very small space and on poor paper. 
 
 To guarantee workman-like interpretation of complex patterns, 
 mechanical details, etc. in catalog illustrations — particularly when 
 paper used in large-edition books is porous and coarse-grained. 
 
 Fig. 175. — Full pa^rc- ■■n ihc i„„n- i.ainT 
 beautifully in this series for Ford Tractors, 
 proof" in this respect. 
 
 -luck of farm journals, printed 
 The woodcut technique is "fool- 
 
 To give substance, character, and weight to subjects which 
 might otherwise not possess these qualities. 
 
 To insure adequate reproduction in campaigns which are to 
 appear very largely in farm journals and similar periodicals, 
 printed on inferior grades of paper stock. 
 
266 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 To guarantee faithful and "life-like" showings of products 
 which depend for their interest and their efficiency upon the 
 amount of detail introduced. 
 
 The fact that in the woodcut technique two major elements — 
 l)l(MKling the artistic with the technically detailed and showing the 
 minute points of mechanical, structural interest — may be com- 
 bined is an incentive to its use under certain conditions. For 
 many years, the advertising of Ford automobiles and tractors 
 had been singularly crude, due, in no small measure, to the 
 system w'hich made it arbitrary for each individual selling agent 
 to create his own newspaper illustrations and copy. A change of 
 policy dictated the surrounding of Ford products with more of 
 a quality appeal. Their homeliness need not necessarily take 
 the form of ugliness. Surely, an atmosphere of refinement could 
 be created through art technique. 
 
 The tractor, for example, belongs in the homely class. Hereto- 
 fore, when pictured, the drawings showed the machine in its 
 every element of detail. The spirit of the new regime of illus- 
 trations was wholly different, although making a not too great 
 sacrifice to the artistic. By employing a modified woodcut 
 technique, every essential fragment of mechanical detail was 
 brought out, in a manner calculated to satisfy the prospect who 
 looked for just these essentials. But in the surrounding panora- 
 mic investiture, in figures, in back-grounds, rich in romance, the 
 unusual and refining influence of woodcut technique transformed 
 a campaign once singularly commonplace. 
 
 The Ford tractor, if it sold for ten time its present price, could 
 not be surrounded by a more artistic atmosphere. The artist had 
 raised it to high estate, commensurate with the service performed. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII 
 HALF-TONE SUBJECTS INTERPRETED IN LINE 
 
 Illustrations, from photographs or from original wash draw- 
 ings, as used on the good paper of magazines, will not reproduce 
 successfully in newspapers and farm journals; if transformed 
 into pen and ink, they will inevitably lose. In this event what 
 can the advertiser do? 
 
 Great progress has been made in the production of coarse- 
 screen half-tones for poor paper printing, but there is a long 
 distance to travel, as yet and the hazards are innumerable. 
 
 Pen-and-ink is, in itself, a delightfully artistic medium and it 
 is an error to assume that any subject need lose its charm, its 
 atmosphere, its aesthetic appeal, merely because the secondary 
 campaign is to be rendered in this technique. It has happened, 
 as a matter of fact, that pen reproductions have far exceeded their 
 half-tone and wash originals, in the touches of delicacy and art- 
 istry which are the aim of the conscientious production manager. 
 
 Examples of the "before and after" school accompany this 
 chapter and constitute a practical lesson in the artistic possi- 
 bilities of the transition from one medium to another. But 
 it can be no mere casual and mechanical process. If, as it some- 
 times happens, the artist who painted the original is not used to 
 pen-and-ink or dry-brush and is not qualified to make the second 
 drawing, then another artist of equal artistic ability and judgment 
 should be assigned to the task, and must be in complete sympathy 
 with it. To look upon it as a mere second-rate assignment and to 
 hurry it through without study or proper care is to encourage 
 failure. There are two fundamental methods of producing a 
 line copy from a half-tone illustration : one is to begin a new illus- 
 tration, on drawing paper or board, traced from the original; the 
 other is to use the silver print. Both have their practical virtues, 
 but for the more satisfactory results, the former plan is by far the 
 best. 
 
 As a rule, original wash drawings for half-tone reproduction 
 are made rather large. To trace them on a clean sheet of paper 
 
 267 
 
268 
 
 ILLUSTRATIOX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 and to proceed with the pen copy would be, in all likelihood, to 
 arrive at copy which suffers from too much reduction in the plate- 
 making. An illustration in pen and ink or in dry brush might 
 present a handsome appearance as it came from the artist's 
 studio, yet reproduce miserably on poor paper or magazine stock. 
 This great reduction tends to make detail fill-in, become con- 
 gested and mussy. In the majority of cases, line illustrations are 
 at their best w^hen the originals are not much larger than their 
 final showing. 
 
 But there is another reason why copies made on a clean sheet 
 of paper, rather than over silver prints arc more desirable. The 
 
 Fig. 17G. 
 
 artist is somewhat handicapped in the silver prmt process; he 
 can never feel quite at ease. He is conscious at all times of 
 tracing his subject. In addition the character of the silver print 
 means working in the dark. The pen traces over the complete 
 subject, with all of its original values, and this leaves the artist 
 not quite sure of what has been done until the print is bleached 
 white with acid. It is unsatisfactory to work over a print after 
 the bleaching, although it can be done, after a fashion. Such 
 additions seem forced. 
 
 Although the conventional pen techniques are possible on a 
 silver print, the character of the smooth-surfaced paper prohibits 
 any considerable use of the dry-brush technique, with all of its 
 
HALF-TONE SUBJECTS INTERPRETED IN LINE 
 
 269 
 
 subtleties and intermediate shades. It would appear, then, that 
 the best process is that of making an entirely new drawing on a 
 paper or a board which is thoroughly receptive to the technique 
 desired. 
 
 Ben Day tints can be mingled with the pen and ink, these 
 tones suggested by varying strengths of blue paint, washed over 
 the design, or on a tissue overlay. No attempt should be made 
 to wash a blue tint on a dry-brush illustration where the original 
 has been made in water-color black, because the drawing will 
 smudge under these conditions. It is certainly inadvisable to 
 cover every square inch of paper area with shading and tones, 
 merely because the half-tone suggests this. Printability suffers. 
 
 Fig. 177. 
 
 If there are no generous areas of white space, then the artist is 
 expected to devise them, although it may mean departing, to 
 some extent, from his original. 
 
 In an attempt to slavishly follow copy many artists are misled 
 into impractical drawings which, while presentable enough in 
 the original, will not show up attractively from electrotypes or 
 even from original zinc engravings. The essence of a complicated 
 composition in wash can be prepresented for newspaper or farm 
 journal use, without adhering to every area of light and shade in 
 the copy. The reduction of photographs to pen and ink is a 
 more complex problem and requires even more skill on the part 
 of the artist. 
 
 It is dangerously easy to imitate the formal character of the 
 camera's study. There can be little of the truly artistic in a pen 
 drawing which bears every surface indication of being a tracing 
 of a photograph. Such drawings are familiar to every newspaper 
 
270 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 office, and while thoir tochniqiies are occasionally unusual, they 
 deceive only the misguided artist who blinds himself to the fact 
 that there is no opportunity for originahty. 
 
 Silver prints are rather generally used because they represent 
 an economy. They can be produced quickly and with a mini- 
 mum amount of effort. For some purposes, their use is, admit- 
 tedly, an excellent idea. Where an advertiser has a number of 
 outline illustrations to produce in pen and ink, of still-life subjects, 
 for example, this method is advisable. It is an easy route to 
 crisp, clean, detailed illustrations, where artistic effects are not 
 necessery. 
 
 This entire question of making half-tone subjects over for 
 line reproduction has become an important one, in view of the 
 
 lV\v^ 
 
 P^IG. 178. 
 
 modern science of advertising. It is acknowledged that a cam- 
 paign should hold together and that its various units, in all 
 mediums, should synchronize. Thus, the backbone of a series 
 will probably be the magazine copy. These layouts set the pace 
 for the entire campaign. The illustrations, very probably, will 
 be elaborate, and ambitious, and by high-priced talent. They 
 are conceived from some unifying thought, and as they run 
 their course, they tell a story which is serialized at any rate to 
 some extent. 
 
 From these illustrations come the themes of other ramifi- 
 cations of the campaign; they are rendered in color for posters, 
 for street car cards, and for booklet and catalog covers. Finally, 
 they are made into dealer electros for newspaper use or arc used 
 in farm journal advertising. The advertiser may produce an 
 
HALF-TONE SUBJECTS INTERPRETED IN LINE 271 
 
 elaborate newspaper campaign which he alone sponsors and in 
 which the dealer plays no financial part. 
 
 Repetition of the pictorial theme is not looked upon as a deter- 
 rent. On the contrary, hammering away at a centraUzed idea 
 is in line with an advertising virtue, now acknowledged. One 
 campaign assists the other, and one series of advertisements 
 works in harmony with another, in an entirely different list of 
 publications. The family resemblance is beneficial. 
 
 It therefore transpires that all of the designs used in a year, in 
 magazines, are duplicated for these other purposes, and are 
 finally reproduced in pen and ink or some medium which allows 
 for line plates. 
 
 As many as fifty of these subjects are apt to come through 
 at a time. Where the advertiser is exacting, there may be 
 several different sets of line drawings from the master original, 
 one for newspapers, one for farm journals, with just a little more 
 atmosphere and detail, and perhaps one for quite small bulletins 
 to be used by department stores. 
 
 It must be admitted, therefore, that the work is significant 
 and deserving of the most careful study and expert considera- 
 tion. The numerous examples shown on these pages make 
 apparent to what an extent the advertiser has progressed in 
 this direction. 
 
 When placed side by side, the original in wash or as a photo- 
 graph and the line duplicate, make possible the weighing of their 
 merits. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 ILLUSTRATIONS IN PENCIL, CRAYON AND DRYBRUSH 
 
 A demand has sprung up for new art techniques in advertising, 
 the advertiser himself being fully alive to the advantages which 
 come with a distinctive art atmosphere, more or less exclusively 
 his own and not to be confused with any competitor's display. 
 If an advertiser of tires, in a study of the competitive field and its 
 illustrations, finds that photographs, wash-drawings, and color 
 are in the majority, he does well to decide upon an art medium 
 and technique which is in every way a departure from these 
 campaigns. 
 
 For many years, the limitations of engraving prevented the 
 use of mediums which are now in general circulation, both on 
 good and on the poorest of paper stocks. Pencil and crayon 
 drawings are not fundamentally new, but their application to 
 newspaper advertising, for example is new, for until a few years 
 ago, no practical method of reproducing them had been achieved. 
 There are few limitations now. What the artist produces, 
 the engraver can reproduce, and with marvelous fidelity. 
 
 One classification of the modern school is the ingenious employ- 
 ment of a particularly sketchy and artistic medium which 
 splits itself into a number of subdesignations. It is a technique 
 which makes for free, illustrative, and altogether delightful 
 effects. In the main, this method permits of spontaneity. 
 The artist works with more freedom. The first interest in a 
 picture is sustained. He operates much as when making a 
 free-hand sketch. There is a vitality, an alert character about 
 the technique which tends to depart from that which, in adver- 
 tising art, is looked upon as conventional. 
 
 Dry-brush. — A rough-surfaced paper or drawing board is 
 used. It is porous and rough, and when the brush is drawn 
 across its surface, there are intervening spaces of white. No 
 line, unless definitely made so, is positive. There are l>roken 
 edges and an artistic uncertainty. The artist uses a brush and 
 water-color black. He may regulate his effects by the liquid 
 
 272 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS IN PENCIL, CRAYON AND DRY BRUSH 273 
 
 (juality of the paint. If solids arc desired, then there is more 
 moisture to the pigment; by keeping the pigment quite dry, the 
 sketchy effects are produced. Although used much in news- 
 papers and for other publications printed on a cheap grade of 
 stock, some beautiful results are also secured for standard maga- 
 zines. It is a technique which has successfully bridged the 
 distance between the half-tone and the straight line illustration. 
 Such drawings are at their best when not made considerably 
 larger than their final reproduction. 
 
 Fig. 179. — A particularly successful example of the sketchy dryhrush 
 handling (greatly reduced). Such illustrations are made with a brush, in 
 ink or lamp black, on rough-surfaced drawing board. 
 
 Pencil. — The most subtle pencil originals are now successfully 
 reproduced. Faint, delicate, and phantom-like effects are known 
 to the engraver and no problem appears too great for him to 
 solve, it being understood, all the while, that these subtle notes 
 are for good printing and good paper. 
 
 Any and all drawing boards and papers can be used although 
 the more popular course is to employ a surface which has grain. 
 This is more especially true of designs intended for reproduction 
 on porous newspaper and farm journal stock. 
 
 Because so many illustrators in their work for books and maga- 
 zines use pencil techniques, advertising has sought it, feeling that it 
 brings a new spirit to campaigns. Pencil drawings need never 
 be commercial in the sense that they are palpably for advertising 
 purposes. Where the pencil drawing is made for poor paper, it 
 is always advisable to use the coarse-grained board. This means 
 that line plates can be made, the tooth on the paper giving every 
 
274 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 To the men who build the Hupmobile, 
 what the buyer thinks about the car dur- 
 ing the sales demonstration is o( secondary 
 importance. 
 
 What intensely interests these Hupmobile 
 manufacturers, is the things the owner will 
 say about his car one year, or three, or 
 five ye^»^s, after he buys it. 
 
 For 15 years, the best interests of the 
 owner have been the chief concern of tbe- 
 Hupmobile builders. 
 
 This accounts — as nothing else could ac- 
 count — for the literally amazing economy, 
 the remarkable reliability, and the long 
 life which make its owners so enthusias- 
 tic about, and so loyal to, the Hupmobile. 
 
 Hupp Motor Car Corporation, Detroit, Michigjui 
 
 Hupmobile 
 
 Fio. 180.- Dryhriish lochiiicnio, liaiKllcil in ;iii f)i)(Mi and .irti.stic manner, 
 for farm journal, and thcrcfori' poor-paper u.so. It i.-< a i)ridKO iK'twcen rriido 
 l)C'n and ink and lialftone.s, wliidi an; not so apt to print well. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS IN PENCIL, CRAYON AND DRYBRUSH 275 
 
 line a porous and protected surface. The illustration for coated 
 stock can be produced with fewer exactions. Delicate, modu- 
 lated tones can be held by the engraver. And the highlighted 
 plate, which means a dropping of all whites as pure white in the 
 cut, insures a perfect reproduction of the original. 
 
 Sometimes a pencil series can be made to work into the spirit 
 of a campaign. The manufacturers of a pencil, used largely by 
 
 Fig. 181. — Happy application of the pencil-original sketch for a product 
 which requires this technique a.s a part of the advertiser's story. A high- 
 light halftone is essential to bring out all the subtle qualities of the illustration. 
 
 artists and architects, sent an artist abroad, who took his sketch- 
 book along with him. The various illustrations were used in 
 conjunction with copy which called attention to the utilitarian 
 advantages of the product for just this purpose. 
 
 Crayon. — Crayons of all kinds are now used by artists in the 
 production of advertising illustrations. Their advantage over 
 
276 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
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 Dctoi-ntiVf iiMMftt-i 
 
 Fio 182.— Pencil throughout, relieved and softened by a most^ remarkable 
 etching. Effective because the artist's original has been most faithfuUy repro- 
 duced, even to delicate vignettes. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS IN PENCIL, CRAYON AND DRYBRUSII 277 
 
 the pencil is in a certain fluid quality and an intensity of blacks. 
 Special grease crayons are also manufactured for this purpose. 
 The drawing does not smear as easily as in the case of pencil 
 
 FiQ. 183. — Crayon, on a rough-surfaced paper, with the result that all of the 
 charm of the casual sketch is preserved. 
 
 Fig. 184. — The freedom and unlabored results of illustrations such as this, 
 handled entirely in charcoal or pencil or grease crayon, are welcome in an age 
 of so many conventional half-tones. Although made for magazine reproduction, 
 this drawing served equally well in newspaper campaigns. 
 
 originals. In both classifications, the blowing over, with a special 
 device made for the purpose, of "Fixitif " safeguards the original. 
 
278 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Charcoal. — Charcoal drawings successfully produced on char- 
 coal paper, which is so irregular and porous as to surface that 
 something which approximates a pattern is obtained, are popular, 
 and rightfully so, because they represent an individualistic 
 technique. 
 
 Fio. 185. — A most effective reproduction from a page illustration employed 
 by General Motors, in a serialized campaign. It is a combination of charcoal, 
 crayon and wash, highly artistic and sparkling with animation. 
 
 Combination Dry-brush and Half-tone. — The various exam- 
 ples given permit, in every instance, of line reproduction. 
 But it is possible to combine all of these mediums with a half- 
 tone secondary technique. 
 
 The dry-brush illustration can be reproduced by the half- 
 tone process, with all over-over screen of any desired texture, 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS IN PENCIL, CRAYON AND DRYBRUSH 279 
 
 and highlights cut out on the plate. Or a tint may be blown 
 over the original with an airbrush. Some artists prefer to wash 
 in their own delicate tones with a brush and water-color black. 
 The same is true of the other mediums and techniques. This 
 means no more than a softening influence which some occasions 
 demand. 
 
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 Stroock pure Camels Hair Cloth is the ideal fabric for every 
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 Many sryles, weaves, desigris, colors, weights — 
 all I007o pure, fine Camels Hair 
 
 
 
 Fig. 186. — Plate made from an artistic pencil sketch and reproduced by the 
 high-light process, which means dropping out of all whites, exactly as in the 
 original. 
 
 The result and technique, in any of the schools, is dependent 
 upon the handling by the individual artist. And this means an 
 ever-increasing variety of ideas, of effects, of techniques, and of 
 artistic atmospheres. For many years, advertisers, in poor 
 paper campaigns, were wholly dependent upon pen and ink. 
 The above mediums bring a welcome touch of originality. 
 
280 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 It is told that one advertiser who had an aversion to advertis- 
 ing illustrations, innnediately identified as such, studied the 
 reading pages of magazines and reached a conclusion which 
 altered the entire character of his extensive advertising and 
 which, incidentally, gave it the success and the volume of sales 
 
 inthn C^n^cli^n Pacific Rothies 
 
 Why not YOU— astride a sure footed mountain pony — with all 
 the joy of life — looking off over the Lakes in the Clouds to 
 Chateau Lake Louise, a mountain height belowl Or, with zip 
 and zest for unusual adventure, climbing a dizzy peak with 
 Swiss guide, or playing golf on a mile-high course. Or, swim* 
 ming in the warm Sulphur pool at Banff Springs Hotel. 
 
 Canada Welcome* 
 the United Stairs 
 Tourist. No Pats 
 ports Required. 
 
 At Wnpta. Lake O'Hora, Yoho Valley. Emerald Lake. Mora 
 Lake Windermere— at moderate rate«. New camps at Vermilion River and 
 irlair Hot Sprincs. on the new Banff -Windermere Road -each a center 
 
 for hiking or riding the 
 
 a Garden of the Gu 
 
 CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY 
 
 Fig. 187. — "Breezy" is the word which host fits the spirit of such dry-brush 
 illustrations as this. The harsh technitiuc of tlie pen is subdued and a certain 
 desirable freedom and subtlety of effect secured. 
 
 heretofore missing. This campaign made a sensational appeal 
 because it did not resemble advertising. It carried all the 
 traditional atmosphere of a reading scries, and it was the illus- 
 trative idea which did much to accomplish this. 
 
 An artist, who had always ])ecn identified with pencil illus- 
 trations and who was nationally known in this field made the 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS IN PENCIL, CRAYON AND DRYBRUSH 281 
 
 pictures. They were entirely free from the customary little 
 tags of commercial design. In another instance a set of illustra- 
 tion scenarios was given to an artist who had not been connected 
 with advertising in any way. He was not told that he was 
 making them for advertising purposes and he therefore concluded 
 that the drawings were for a series of stories. 
 
 Fig. 188.— Showing how interesting contrast is secured, through the use of 
 two contrasting mediums, the main illustration in free and sketchy pencil, 
 the product in half-tone from a retouched original. 
 
 It may be said of all originals in the pencil, dry-brush, charcoal 
 and crayon school that considerable reduction is unsatisfactory. 
 The congestion of lines, tones, and values detracts from the 
 sketchy appearance which is one of their most prized attributes. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 MECHANICAL SHADING METHODS 
 
 Ben Day was the inventor of a process for introducing mechani- 
 cal textures and tints into any type of illustration, either directly 
 upon the metal, or on the original drawing. The process bridges 
 over the gap between the "straight" line-drawing for poor- 
 paper reproduction, and the half-tone, which might not repro- 
 duce successfully because of porous stock and the exigencies 
 of speedy, sometimes careless printing. 
 
 It introduced a new technique, at once mystifying and intrigu- 
 ing to the public and made possible mechanical precision where 
 such exactness in shaded areas was necessary. It was, in fact, 
 originally intended as a useful and attractive substitute for the 
 too-fine shades and tones of the half-tone screen. 
 
 Ben Day's idea was destined to last. Today it is employed 
 for innumerable purposes. It is as adaptable for coated paper 
 illustrations as for newspaper stock, and is invaluable in the 
 making of color plates in line. It is an idea constantly being 
 applied to new purposes. As with every other new idea, there 
 have been vogues and periodical fads, and there have been years 
 when so much Ben Day was utilized that it became a little 
 tiresome. It is safe to predict, however, that this process is 
 destined to have many years of additional service, since its prac- 
 tical uses are so many and the substitutes so few. 
 
 The basic idea is comparatively simple. Ben Day created an 
 interesting variety of patterns and tints and textures, all of 
 which were either substitutes for the half-tone screen, or inge- 
 nious fill-in planes of color which it would require far too much 
 time to fashion with a pen. In every case, they are patterns 
 which can be reproduced by lino engraving. 
 
 Some of these patterns resemble cloth, some suggest the grain- 
 ing of wood; some are adaptations of the dots of a half-tone screen, 
 some are intricately prefect tints produced by linos of varj-ing 
 thicknesses; some arc grotesque patterns for spectacular effect; 
 
 282 
 
MECHANICAL SHADING METHODS 
 
 283 
 
 /' 
 
 •Xi 
 
 \ 
 
 J- 
 
 $ 
 
 NewTfork Central 
 to the West 
 
 Qhe only route 
 through, the wc» i- 
 derfiu valley of 
 the Hudson River 
 
 Neu) York to Chicago 
 tfie water level route 
 
 via 
 
 ChLcmBO Expretl 
 
 Th« Mohawk* 
 
 No. Forry.One* 
 
 Thf We«lertitr , 
 
 TWENTlETTt CeNTUR 
 
 8:45.. 
 10:00 •. 
 I2;50p. 
 J:00p. 
 LlMlTTD • 
 
 NEW YORK CENTRAL 
 
 r " f -Ti" ' 
 
 Fig. 189. — "Magazine quality" given to a three-column newspaper display, 
 mainly through the ministrations of Ben Day, which used as a background tint 
 and texture, not only unified the display, but provided character. 
 
284 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 aiul still others are tones which merely represent a diversity of 
 color in a drawing. 
 
 They are reproduced on a gelatinous sheet, which is the secret 
 of the idea, and these patterns represent raised surfaces. Ink 
 is applied to them, by means of a roller, and the patterns are 
 transferred with equal success to an original drawing or to a plate. 
 
 In one process, there is no reduction to the pattern. It is repro- 
 duced exactly as it appears in the Ben Day book. This is when 
 the pattern is applied to the metal, direct. In the second process, 
 the pattern is impressed on the original drawing and is subject to 
 
 Fk;. 190. — A pen and ink outline drawing, ininR'a.sural ly assisted by flat tones 
 of Ben Day, in two texture values, which bring out the white product and supply 
 "atmosphere" to the entire design. 
 
 reduction in proportion to the enlargement of the design. Ilarely 
 is it safe to apply Ben Day to an illustration which is several 
 times larger than its intended use. The reasons for this must 
 be at once apparent. A pattern which may be exactly what is 
 desired, when seen in the Ben Day book of designs, is not suscep- 
 tible to any considerable reduction. It means a tightening up of 
 the texture and proportionately decreased assurance of clear 
 printing, particularly on poor paper. 
 
 Ben Day tints are at their best when they are printed exactly 
 as they are shown in the book. It is also obvious that a second 
 reproduction process is certain to rob them of much of their origi- 
 
MECHANICAL SHADING METHODS 
 
 285 
 
 nal clarity. When the tint is printed on the plate, it is apt to 
 reproduce crisply and to be unaffected by any of the exigencies 
 of engraving, reduction, printing, or make-ready. 
 
 The complete outfit for producing Ben Day is supplied to any- 
 one who wishes to fulfil the terms of a special contract. For 
 example, an individual or a department may secure the tools of 
 its art with equal ease and its use is exceedingly simple, once the 
 rudiments are understood. 
 
 Fig. 191. — A sketchy pen and ink original, combined with one interesting 
 Ben Day tint, to bring out the light effect. The entire area of the illustrarion is 
 covered with this texture, with the single exception of the beam of light. 
 
 There are separate pattern gelatine films, enclosed in frames 
 which keep them taut and prevent them from shrinking warping, 
 etc. there are ink pads and roller, a mechanical devise for holding 
 the frames and the drawings or plate, and a variety of stilus 
 instruments. The latter are employed by the artist who lays the 
 tint. He presses them on the reverse side of the gelatine after 
 it has been inked, and the raised surface makes the pattern. 
 
 These impressions are made by instruments adapted to the 
 needs of the drawing, from very open areas to the smallest spaces. 
 
 Although the active principles of the Ben Day process are 
 comparatively simple and practical, it is nevertheless necessary 
 to observe certain well-defined cautions as follows : 
 
 For poor paper reproduction, avoid the very fine textures. 
 
286 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 Where the actual area is limited, a coarse pattern is inadvisable. 
 
 Do not select a pattern without scientifically analyzing the 
 reproductive qualities, as applied to paper, printing, size of plate, 
 etc. 
 
 Do not be misled by the beauty and the technical interest 
 of many of the complex patterns, when the newspaper or farm 
 paper illustration is being planned. There are sharp limitations 
 in this regard. 
 
 Do not use too many different patterns in a single illustration. 
 One nullifies the effectiveness of the other and confusion of 
 techniques results. 
 
 Fig. 192. — So successful were the illustrations in this treatment, in news- 
 papers, that the plan has teen carried out for the glazed paper of nKigazines. 
 Absolute originality of technique was secured, as a contrast with the innumerable 
 wash and photographic designs. The campaign has been of the highest order 
 and represents the most skilful use of Ben Day tints used in conjunction with 
 very artistic pen and ink originals. 
 
 Select the pattern with an ej^e to the result which it is desired 
 to attain. If, for example, cloth is to be simulated, there are 
 special textures for this very purpose. 
 
 Keep in mind that there are limitations in the matter of size 
 of areas which can be successfully covered by some patterns. 
 The frames are not of uniform porportion — some are smaller than 
 others and to match Ben Day is an intricate and at times an 
 almost mechanically impossible job. 
 
 Ben Day tints are often dependent upon accompanying con- 
 trasts which must appear in the original pen and ink illustration. 
 It is possible to make of an outline, line shade drawing, a hopeless 
 maze of massed color, if there are no contrasts. 
 
MECHANICAL SHADING METHODS 
 
 287 
 
 It is far too easy to be prodigal with Ben Day. A little goes a 
 long ways. 
 
 When Ben Day is used in connection with a wash drawing, 
 more than ordinary care is essential, because of this urgent need 
 of proper contrast. There can be confusion between the half- 
 tone screen in the lighter tones and the stippled or dotted Ben 
 Day patterns. 
 
 Ben Day is at its best, when it is laid on an open, unob- 
 structed area. It is better merely to indicate an outline and to 
 
 Fig. 193. — A dry-brush and pen illustration at the base, filled in judiciously 
 with several different patterns of Ben Day. They provide atmosphere, orig- 
 inality of technique and artistic merit throughout. 
 
 allow the texture a flat surface than to attempt to run a pattern 
 over shading. 
 
 If two Ben Day textures appear side by side, one should be 
 darker than the other, or of a radically different pattern, although 
 this is by no means a fixed rule. 
 
 A novice need not be conversant with its practical use or appli- 
 cation. If one texture alone is wanted, the expedient method is 
 to paint that area in, in a delicate shade of transparent blue. 
 (Blue does not photograph in line plate making.) Simply des- 
 
288 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 ignate the number of Ben Day pattern at the bottom of the 
 drawing, with a swatch of the same blue. Or the blue may be 
 placed on a tissue overlay. If several different textures are to 
 be used, then various strengths of the blue are used, each one 
 numbered to correspond with the desired pattern. 
 
 It is seldom desirable — or safe — to attempt trick combinations 
 by laying one pattern over another. 
 
 Remember, always, that the Ben Day tint is used to achieve 
 a certain, definite object, a certain effect. Select the patterns 
 accordingly 
 
 Fig. 194. — An interesting result secured t)y using two different patterns of two 
 varying tones. An outline pen illustration immediately takes on new artistic 
 merit — and ej'c-interest. 
 
 Ben Day is almost always more useful and satisfactory in 
 illustrations larger than one column in width. 
 
 The artist who originates the illustration should designate 
 the placing on the Ben Day tints. It is no assignment for the 
 amateur nor should it be left to the engraver. 
 
 The reasons for using Ben Day are varied. For the present, at 
 least, its application is nearly always associated with the desire 
 to produce a more interesting illustration, or one which, for poor 
 paper reproduction, is made to take on a higher degree of atmos- 
 pheric (juality than would be possible through the employment of 
 the ordinary methods. 
 
MECHANICAL SHADING METHODS 289 
 
 There are sharp Hmitations when it comes to what will success- 
 fully print on porous stock, whether in newspaper or in farm 
 journals. The full-shade and intricately designed picture is 
 never sure of an adequate result. But certain refinements are 
 attained through the use of Ben Days which are sure and artistic. 
 
 An ordinary drawing, in pen and ink, for example, might make 
 a medicore showing and be considered commonplace, whereas 
 the same drawings, treated with tints and textures of Ben Day 
 would immediately take on fresh interest and individuality of 
 technique. 
 
 The Ben Day tint supplies contrasts which are practical and 
 which are different. The Ben Day tint creates zones of desirable 
 texture which would otherwise require a too exacting work on the 
 part of the artist, in cases demanding economy. 
 
 Ben Day supplies a safe and a practical shading medium which 
 will print and which is easily applied. An uninteresting original 
 drawing is often made attractive, artistic, compelhng, because of 
 the shrewd admixture of patterns, discreetly distributed. 
 
 Nor is all this confined to illustrations which are used on poor 
 paper. Magazine, book, brochure, and leaflet pictures gain by 
 Ben Day's creative art. There are Ben Day tints which simulate 
 cloth, the tone of a flat mass of sky, earth, the shadows of a 
 brilliantly lighted composition, wood, metals, or any flat surface. 
 
 An advertiser of a slate and a rough-surfaced roofing tried for 
 many years to secure illustrations of his product for use in both 
 newspapers and magazines and did not satisfactorily achieve it 
 until the possibilities of Ben Day were pointed out to him. 
 Formerly, it had been the artist's custom painfully to stipple in, 
 with a pen, a semblence of the roofing texture. By the new 
 process, the outline was drawn and the peculiar texture quickly 
 and economically put in by the plate maker, with a Ben Day 
 pattern. An advertiser of clothing for men and women has 
 found that there are Ben Day textures which quite faithfully 
 suggest the more prevalent patterns of popular fabrics. 
 
 The use of Ben Day in the making of color plates is a subject 
 in itself. Suffice it to say that tints of the full strength color are 
 thus obtainable, and by overlapping of patterns, many blendings 
 are possible, all from line engravings. 
 
 The Ben Day book is a sort of Fairy Book, from which are 
 drawn innumerable surprises. The use of Ben Day need never 
 become trite. Its range is regulated only by the resourcefulness 
 
290 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 of the artist himself, who is the only one who should be permitted 
 to designate its use. 
 
 In every case where half-tone plates on poor paper are not 
 considered safe, Ben Day comes to the rescue, a pleasing sub- 
 stitute. It supplies individuality of technique, plus modifying 
 and refining influences. 
 
 Occasionally a protest is raised against Ben Day on the grounds 
 that it is not practical for poor paper reproduction and that it 
 will not print clearly, musses, fills in, and otherwise proves 
 impractical. In every case, these faults are attributable to lack 
 of judgment in applying the principles of the invention — for 
 invention it most assuredly is, regulated by well-defined mechani- 
 cal laws. If a Ben Day does not print clearly on poor paper stock, 
 the chances are that a too fine pattern has been selected. 
 
 Unquestionably, just as in the case of a half-tone, any consider- 
 able congestion of dots or straight lines or any other close pattern 
 will collect ink, and offer reproductive difficulties. Within its 
 limitations, Ben Day is one of the most useful methods of com- 
 mercial art and engraving. 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 THE HUMOROUS MOTIF 
 
 Humor may be the illustrative theme in advertising if it is 
 humorous because of some idea or situation born of the subject 
 which, in its rendering, is sound as to draftsmanship; or on the 
 other hand, if the out-and-out burlesque serve, highlighted with 
 the characteristic technique of the cartoonist. It is peculiarly- 
 true of the "funny" advertisement, however, that it must not be 
 permitted to fall into the amateur class. Humor which is forced 
 and which leaves a sense of disappointment is the poorest of all 
 advertising material. Such campaigns must be really funny and 
 the drawings must spring from a thorough knowledge and an 
 appreciation of the very spirit of subtle burlesque. The cartoonist 
 is certainly born, not made. It is one of the highest forms of 
 specialization. That the public is receptive to illustrations of 
 this character is, of course, obvious. The comic strip has become 
 a sort of national institution. To assume that such forms of 
 advertising art are crude, primitive, undignified and having a 
 tendency to cheapen the product is to deny a public whim which 
 is universally distributed. The smile in advertising is an asset. 
 The public laughs with the advertiser and his product, not at 
 them. 
 
 It is sometimes assumed that a product with a serious trend 
 has no place in its advertising schedule for the fun appeal. 
 There are on record the most convincing evidences of the opposite 
 of such opinions. Advertisers, whose goods would appear to 
 carry slight encouragement to the cartoonist, have suddenly 
 swung wide of their existent dignity, and launched humorous 
 campaigns which have been universally acclaimed. It is a 
 natural reaction from long unbending. 
 
 A product which is related to the construction of houses 
 had been for thirty years advertised along certain set and serious 
 lines. It had never occurred to the committee in charge of these 
 programs to deviate in the slightest degree. 
 
 291 
 
292 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 But a small trade magazine series was started, as a mere inci- 
 dental, and the manager in charge of a certain department was 
 determined to "have a little fun," as he put it. The basic 
 advertising ideas as well as the illustrations were of the comic 
 variety. Nobody in the organization paid much attention to 
 the small series, although there were intermittent mumblings 
 of "undignified" and "calculated to cheapen the product." 
 
 The results were surprising; more was heard from this trade 
 paper campaign than from the combined campaigns for much 
 more important space. Timidly now, the humor was put into 
 an occasional standard magazine or newspaper advertisement, 
 
 jjTfAj spr>t a-, ctnj siiiipiy of 
 
 *Bu/iete5V 
 
 lived Ki Mu«i>chii>ctt< and difiJ 
 wnulU Iroely imt Ar»e 
 
 Iht/CeteSf 
 
 Fig. 195. — The advertiser had a Rreat many drug articles to advertise, one at 
 a time being featured. Belie\'ing that the average person might not take much 
 interest in these products, he hit upon the happy idea of asking familiar questions, 
 which could be applied to the goods, and then answering them, with cartoons 
 and copy. 
 
 and now the advertiser is using the humor theme almost 
 exclusively. 
 
 The applying of grotesque and rollicking art to the problem is 
 the point where discrimination is required. It must be pat. The 
 advertising of Planter's salted peanuts (a national campaign) 
 had, for many years, confined its attention to quite serious argu- 
 ments and to illustrations which were either of the still-life school 
 or with human interest themes. 
 
 With the starting of a new year, however, someone suggested 
 that salted peanuts were a popular product and that the mood 
 of the prospect was receptive to a lighter touch in the advertising. 
 "Why be so confounded serious about it?" expresses the line 
 of reasoning. 
 
THE HUMOROUS MOTIF 
 
 293 
 
 The most startling and unconventional basic ideas were evolved 
 when a nationally known cartoonist was called into the con- 
 ference. A business office was pictured, with the chief executive 
 munching peanuts, one of which had rolled off into a corner. 
 
 The TsJi<cl<e'l l-.vi*-»ol-i' THe ISJioRc^i Li^jncK 
 
 Fig. 196. — Some products lend themselves quite naturally to the humorous 
 handling. Thus, a popular-priced article, like salted peanuts, can afford not 
 to take itself too seriously. Even the trade mark is a cartoon. One of a long- 
 continued series and a very successful campaign. 
 
 Clerks, office boys, stenographers, gravely posed bookkeepers 
 and up-stage supernumeraries were all doing their best to stalk 
 that lone ''goober." Or a picnic, and again a missing peanut, 
 while father, mother, the guests, and the children turned things 
 
294 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 upside clown in frantic quest of the precious morsel. Thus, 
 through an entire year of accumulative advertising, the cartoon 
 took the place of conventional illustrations, and with every appar- 
 ent success. If a basic idea for a series does not soon assert its 
 power, the advertiser can change to something else. 
 
 It is characteristic of the above campaign and similar accounts 
 that while the illustration may be 100 per cent comedy, the read- 
 ing soon swings into selling sense and merchandising logic. In 
 other words, humor is not permitted to upset the apple cart and 
 
 ^r Vresidenf 
 
 TstTlpC T«T^Tl^^Crk1 ^°" P^y ^^ bottom price 
 
 tr**^**^^^ V JU*H ILrd9wJL ihtH you buy oU mined from purr ftnnsyham 
 
 ^ 
 
 ftniuyhania Cradt 
 iht higkett gnuU OH in At woiU 
 
 W-^ZltZ.'. ii^H^^' "" ™' ' " ^ J 
 
 R"i,""^'.,t'.. 
 
 Fig. 197. — Two advertisers, with a special story to tell, which admits of a 
 touch of humor, not only in the illustration but in the copy, turn to a distinctive 
 style of caricature which has shown itself to be popular. These advertisements 
 orisinally appeared in magazine-page size. 
 
 run roughshod down the advertising road. It is always tempered 
 by "reason why." 
 
 Where a product and the things which must be said of it are 
 inherently serious and not calculated to make very alluring sub- 
 stance for the average reader, the cartoon injects a sort of appe- 
 tizing zest. It coaxes the indifferent pu])lic. 
 
 It will be well to give a number of direct applications of various 
 kinds to demonstrate just how specific advertisers have success- 
 fully applied the tonic, and how apparently irrelevant fun has 
 been brought in where there might appear no possible place for it. 
 
THE HUMOROUS MOTIF 295 
 
 In each of these examples, some one form of applying humor 
 is briefly described and the subtle reasons which have both 
 inspired and legitimatized it. 
 
 A special surfacing paper for buildings, the basic function of which is 
 to keep out the cold of severe winters. The product is unsensational, 
 commonplace in appearance, and any description of its advantages and 
 composition are prosaic from the viewpoint of the casual reader of 
 advertising. 
 
 "For shivery houses" was made a typical headline. And the car- 
 toonist draws a very funny little frame house, animated, with legs and 
 arms and a face in the throes of a severe chill. Waved lines suggest that 
 this forlorn habitation is shivering. 
 
 Thus, as no more than one unit in the illustrating of the campaign, 
 for there are more serious pictures in each advertising display, an invi- 
 tation is held out and the eye attracted. By sundry adaptations of 
 this central thought, a campaign which would otherwise be heavy is 
 lightened, without offence and with a direct application to the subject in 
 hand. 
 
 A refiner of automobile oil is desirous, for a connected campaign over 
 a given period, to concentrate on the price question, it being obvious 
 that if an article is of the highest possible quality, a higher than ordi- 
 nary price for it, is, in truth an economy. But dollars-and-cents talk 
 fails to provide anything striking in the pictorial line, and, in any event, 
 the message is of such a character that it must strike out from the 
 shoulder. A cartoon style, very much the vogue, is chosen, and head- 
 lines devised which automatically provide the artist with his themes, 
 such as: "Oil, $5 a quart." It is suspended from a country garage and 
 a mob of motorists is storming the place. But they are funny little, 
 grotesque little people, whole-heartedly in the spirit of fun. "Of 
 course," relates the text, "it never happened." Nobody ever charged 
 $5 a quart for oil. But many motorists who think they are paying only 25 
 or 30 cents a quart are actually spending $5 a quart — when they count in 
 the added repairs and depreciation resulting from the failure of their oil 
 to protect their motors as it should." The body of the text, it should 
 be explained is thoroughly dignified and serious. Only the cartoon is 
 employed to stimulate interest at the start. 
 
 A manufacturer of golfing equipment uses single columns in maga- 
 zines to describe the various numbers of his line. There must be many 
 small paragraphs. The same field is taking itself, at the time, very 
 seriously. But golfers have a sense of humor. The opportunity is 
 apparent. Down the long column, in the margin, there are sprinkled 
 very funny httle golfers in a vein which must at once appeal to the lover 
 of his course. And as the campaign progresses, it is at once seen that 
 the series can be advantageously extended. 
 
296 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 A manufacturing druggist plans a campaign which will run in weekly 
 magazines throughout the j^ear perhaps longer. Drugs, toilet articles, 
 and sundries of an allied character must be featured, one at a time. 
 But will the public take any great amount of interest in stories about 
 iodine and disinfectants, and things which are housed in the medicine 
 chest. Moreover, the series must have continuity. Each advertise- 
 ment must come to be recognized by the public as one of a certain family. 
 And as a "lead" the idea is evolved of asking questions which every- 
 one has asked himself but which have not been generally answered. 
 The physical unit of the heavy black question mark goes far in the 
 direction of establishing a rememberable mark of identification. And 
 each question is illustrated humorously with comedy pictures. People 
 learn to look for them. The series is a fixture. 
 
 A new insecticide realizes that the market is one stifled with keen 
 competition. How, then, shall advertising, however, worthy the 
 product, be made individual and given a distinctive character. Compet- 
 itors have gone at their task seriously. There is just one untrammeled 
 theme — humor and attendant cartoons as illustrations. Bugs are not 
 very pleasant to look upon. Many of them are as repellent to picture as 
 to read about. And so a cartoonist animates them, gives them personal- 
 ities, and draws them in the most whimsical of situations. "Why," is a 
 tj'-pical headline, "ask a bug to find and eat poison?" And this: "Even 
 the little bug with the high forehead might be a grandfather before he 
 found your morsel of poisonous powders or liquids." It is a plea, of 
 course, for a spray, of a penetrating kind. The quaint little bugs wear 
 gas masks, as they scent the product; they tumble and scamper out of 
 its path. A spry leader seeks safe port with his field glasses. 
 
 The ideal cartoon illustration, naturally enough, is the one 
 drawn by a nationally known artist, whose style and method is 
 distinctive and whose work will be at once recognized by the 
 greatest number of people. The syndicate cartoonist, whose 
 drawings appear in many newspapers, from coast to coast, is in 
 demand, and properly so. 
 
 Such cartoonists as Briggs, Goldberg, Ding, and Cooper, not 
 to mention a vast number of others of equal note, were won over 
 to advertising's need, by advertisers who saw the asset of a 
 familiar name and a nationally accepted court jester. 
 
 But the days of these cartoonists, save in a few exceptional 
 instances, are numbered. They are popular during their brief 
 regime and are, in turn, replaced by others for the public is fickle 
 and each span of years has its cartoon vogue. 
 
 A certain young artist created a distinctive school of humorous 
 illustrations. These character studies were so absolutely unlike 
 
THE HUMOROUS MOTIF 
 
 297 
 
 anything which had gone before, that they swept the country. 
 The cartoonist's work could be found in practically all of the 
 magazines. He was the rage. Perhaps one contributory cause to 
 this popularity was the uncanny accuracy with which he caught 
 the mannerisms and dress of the flapper and the young collegiate. 
 Advertising was not slow to applj^ the cartoonists art to cam- 
 paigns. The danger of such popularity, however, is obvious. 
 A style is overdone. The same cartoonist yields to the blandish- 
 ments of too many campaigns. 
 
 ii 
 
 ♦ ♦ 
 
 tSEE 
 
 1 WISH SOMEBOOy'D 
 ■ - INVlTe ME TO THE 
 COUNTRY iVilM mw Yt«t 
 
 I 'WEEW OR TWta 
 
 WWr AREWEGaNG 
 
 TO DO ABOUT IT ? 
 
 Fig. 198. — Example of how the popularity of a nationally-known cartoonist 
 is turned to good account by the advertiser. It just so happens that the familiar 
 Briggs headline fits in with the mood of the advertiser's copy. 
 
 Cartoonist Briggs created "When a feller needs a friend" 
 and other serial slogans for humorous illustrations. And at once 
 advertisers read parallels. The full force of the Briggs fame was 
 set to work in behalf of a nationally exploited product. 
 
 In a somewhat similar way, the exceptionally unique and 
 characterful comics of F. G. Cooper, first appearing in magazines, 
 were drafted to the ranks of advertising. Their imaginative 
 quality was such that they have managed to survive for many 
 years and house organ editors revel in them. 
 
 One advertiser with a flare of individuality had a school child 
 make crude straight-line drawings with which youth, in amateur 
 mood, expresses the pictorial. They were intended to be serious 
 and were proportionately droll. 
 
298 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 At the inception of a year's campaign, an advertiser of under- 
 wear found that the most valuable peg upon which to hang 
 his series was a "two buttons on the shoulder" slogan. In this 
 regard, the garment was different from others. But would any- 
 one pay nuich attention to a talk about buttons? But people 
 did, when a cartoonist animated those two buttons and started 
 them off on a jolly frolic. 
 
 But humor in advertising, as has been said, divides itself into 
 two very sharply defined classifications. The cartoonist has 
 
 Fig. 199. — Radio taken not too seriously by an advertiser of equipment, who 
 employs a nationally known cartoonist to interpret the joy of the wireless 
 entertainment. 
 
 nothing in common with the artist whose comedy in an illustra- 
 tion arises rather from the situation, the story, the circumstance, 
 than from the manner of the technique, the draftsmanship. It 
 is generally conceded that roughshod fun is nowhere near as 
 serviceable for advertising purposes, as mellow humor, skilfully 
 drawn and entirely dependent upon an intensely human story. 
 There will always be room for both, and both serve two totally 
 different masters and markets. The audience which guffaws at 
 burlesque will not be attracted to a Shaw comedy. The man who 
 smiles with Mark Twain will not care for Ilapiiy Hooligan. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 HISTORY AS THE SUBJECT MATERIAL 
 
 A superintendent of schools has made the interesting assertion 
 that modern advertising has accomphshed as much, in giving 
 the younger generation a well-grounded knowledge of history, 
 as the classroom. 
 
 To quote him: 
 
 Advertising today has touched upon almost every phase and feature 
 of history. And it has accomplished it with such tact, such a wonderful 
 illustrative background, that, perhaps unconsciously, the reading public 
 has been coaxed into wanting to learn everything there is to know on 
 the subject. 
 
 Many of our pupils go through newspapers and magazines and clip 
 all advertisements which have historical themes, and these are made into 
 voluminous scrapbooks. The most casual study of these books is proof 
 sufficient that the advertiser is performing a dual service. History has 
 been made more palatable, I imagine, than the history of the schoolroom. 
 There is no apparent attempt to moralize or to "teach." These his- 
 torical themes are colorfully introduced. From the earliest dawn of 
 civilization, down to our present time, no period seems to be neglected. 
 It is a vigorously helpful influence. Moreover, others than chi'dren 
 have "brushed up" on their histor3^ 
 
 Entire campaigns have been based wholly upon the historical 
 idea, and the illustrations accompanying them are, of necessity, 
 unconventional and, in a number of cases, highly dramatic. 
 
 The subject is of importance here because of its innumerable 
 ramifications and the as yet untouched treasures of adventure, 
 sentiment, and romance. But any advertising artist who delves 
 into history must be cautious and truthful. The slightest 
 departure from fact will call down the wrath of students of history, 
 who know the right from the wrong and who look upon any devia- 
 tion, however, slight, as something close to sacrilege. 
 
 It should be set forth immediately, therefore, that historical 
 illustrations must be based on a sound knowledge of costumes, 
 incidents, places, and races. Nothing may be taken for granted 
 
 299 
 
300 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 and no detail "faked up." Any advertising illustration which is 
 subject to criticism for historical inaccuracy is not a good 
 advertising illustration. 
 
 But there need be no doubt in such matters. Every museum 
 and library is a storehouse of authent ic material. There are books 
 which visualize all that is and can be known of the dim and shadowy 
 long ago. The artist is merely called upon to investigate and to 
 supply himself with working data before he attempts any illus- 
 tration, which, by its very character, will be critically scrutinized 
 by thousands of persons conversant with any subject handled. 
 
 Twelve representative campaigns are described herewith, as 
 showing how the historical motif can be put to accumulative 
 serial use. The most popular excuse, by far, has been that 
 of the accredited age of the firm advertising. Its traditions go 
 back to such and such a period, and by this means, the modern 
 generation is made aware of the firm foundation upon which the 
 product is built. In practically all of the campaigns herein 
 described, the history theme has been used in a connected series, 
 each advertisement taking up some one episode which could be 
 properly related to the article and its arguments. 
 
 1. The Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, Makers of 
 Billiard Tables and Equipment. — The campaign of closely related 
 pages sought to reawaken popular interest in the game itself, 
 which seemed on the point of dying down a bit. Moreover, the 
 advertiser sought to correct a misconception of biUiards which 
 had always retarded sales. A surprising number of people look 
 upon the game with suspicion and disapproval, as being allied 
 with the pool room atmosphere. Every advertisement in the 
 series not only illustrated the modern player, as seem at clubs 
 or in private homes but also made a feature of a parallel picture 
 drawn from history. 
 
 It is said the game of billiards was introduced to both France and 
 ICngland when the Knights Templar returned from their first or second 
 Crusade in the Holy T^and. 
 
 This brief paragraph permits the artist to draw a colorfully 
 interesting picture of the costumed days of long ago, the knights 
 on horseback and the cheering crowds. This campaign has 
 linked its product with a long list of historical incidents. 
 
 2. The C. R. Wilson Body Company, Manufacturers of 
 Automobile Bodies. — A representative picture shows a war 
 
HISTORY AS THE SUBJECT MATERIAL 
 
 301 
 
 chariot of the reign of 
 conquerer of Babylon, 
 grim war. In fact, the 
 brought back the varied 
 introduced atmosphere 
 conventional. As each 
 emphasis is placed upon 
 
 Tiglath Pileser I, king of Assyria, and 
 It is a pageant of pomp and splendor and 
 
 entire list of magazine illustrations has 
 canvases of other periods and has thereby 
 which could depart radically from the 
 
 age is visualized in etching technique, 
 the vehicular ideas of those days. 
 
 The advertiser states the ornate war chariot of Tiglath Pileser I, 
 seemed the height of wheeled splendor and glory. But all the king's 
 
 Swift & Company, U. S. A. 
 
 
 Fig. 200. 
 
 Left.- — Persistently, through an entire campaign which has taken on the spirit 
 of a history of all America, Swift & Company find ingenious advertising parallels. 
 
 Right. — The Prudential departs from average illustrations and copy themes, 
 in order to use the historic as a background. A student of the ages has dis- 
 covered a fine series of business lessons. The pictures were in full color, "book 
 style." 
 
 horses and all the king's men could not give him a fraction of the comfort 
 and luxury built into modern coachwork by Wilson craftsmen. 
 
 3. Swift & Company, Packers. — Every great industry is 
 apparently compelled, sooner or later, to explain, defend and 
 demonstrate its position. It is a public habit to question the 
 motives of national business institutions, as soon as they reach 
 sizable proportions. In the case of Swift & Company, a campaign 
 
302 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERTISING 
 
 was designed to compare quietly and impressively modern condi- 
 tions in the meat business with conditions which existed long 
 ago, and by so doing, impress upon people the things which system 
 and modern business have made possible. History, therefore, 
 as an advertising background was a matter of legitimate, subtle 
 reasoning. Canvas after canvas appeared during the period of 
 this campaign, all of them studiously correct as to detail and 
 invariably filled with dramatic interest. An old paddle wheel 
 steamer of the river type, taking on passengers and cargo; 
 Robert Cavelier de la Salle, discovering a new France in the 
 
 ■^%l 
 
 This will be the Gate of Empire, 
 ■ this the Seat of Commerce " 
 
 Swift & Company. U. S. A. 
 
 <t^^ 
 
 
 ^^:^ 
 
 
 Fig. 201. — Another picturesque example of how Swift & Company has made 
 history's impressive pages assist in embellishing an instructive campaign. 
 
 Mississippi Valley ; ragged soldiers of Revolutionary days, crouched 
 around their camp fire during the bitter days and nights of 
 Valley Forge: these and innumeralilc other pictures have been 
 unrolled for the public, illuminated by dignified text which in 
 every case, drew the contrast already mentioned. Consider 
 the last-named theme, for example: 
 
 Although the land for wliich thoy fought abounded in supplies, gaunt 
 hunger, amounting at times to famine, dogged the marches of the soldiers 
 of the Revolution and brooded about their long encampments, for seven 
 heavy years. 
 
HISTORY AS THE SUBJECT MATERIAL 303 
 
 There was enough beef, pork, mutton, in the Colonies to meet all their 
 needs, but no established way of getting it to them; no system, no organ- 
 ization, no centralized depots; only scattered, uncontrolled and unrelated 
 resources. 
 
 Farmers brought their cattle to villages and towns when they wanted 
 to. Herdsmen drove the animals off to the nearest front, where they were 
 dressed on the spot and consumed at once. Little local butchers drib- 
 bled pork, ham, and bacon into camp intermittently, with no regard to 
 regular, steady needs. When the army stayed long in one place, it 
 drained the district. Civilians had to go without. 
 
 And from this point on, the text compares the methods of those 
 days, with the system and orderly conduct of this generation, 
 even when a great war is in progress. 
 
 4. Colgate and Company, Cashmere Bouquet Soap. — The 
 spirit and traditions of the product date back to the period when 
 samplers and flower water colors were the fashion and when hair 
 was worn up and skirts were worn down. The very name 
 suggests quaintness and spinning wheels, and a campaign was 
 planned, therefore, which should provide exactly this charming 
 atmosphere. The people and the customs of the era come to 
 life in delightful full-color illustrations, many of them by the 
 noted artist, Arthur Rackham. 
 
 5. The Prudential Insurance Company of America. — By link- 
 ing certain historical episodes with the business of insurance, a 
 thoroughly original campaign, covering one entire year, was 
 unfolded. It differed from those just mentioned, however, in 
 that a humorous turn was given both to pictures and text. 
 
 If there was one ancient Athenian who was in hot water all the time 
 it was Pericles. His troubles seemed to be in living a thousand years 
 before his day. And in a day when folks still believed in Olympian 
 Gods, dragons, flying horses, this was some trouble. 
 
 Pericles was the first real man with a vision. He peered into 
 the coming centuries; but he couldn't get his neighbors to peer 
 with him. Every once in a while he would stop peering long enough to 
 win a war or two and then he would be carried about on his countrymen's 
 shoulders. 
 
 But the next day some rival would say Pericles had done wrong in 
 fighting and down would bump the hero. Then a week, or two afterward, 
 he would be empowered to build a Parthenon or Acropolis, and when he 
 would get about half way through another jealous adversary would 
 kick about the cost. 
 
304 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IX ADVERT I SI XG 
 
 Man's first 
 roof 
 
 —ami liii latest! 
 
 Genascoshlngtes 
 
 TmlM, i 
 
 lillilson built ^odij 
 
 # The First Western Migration 
 
 ■ wrr.r ^--":; -■ • - ■ ■ 
 
 Swift & Company. U.S A. 
 
 Fig. 202. 
 
 Upper Left. — A comparison, aptly made, between "Man's Fir.st Roof" and 
 the modern methods. Campaigns of this typo permit the advertiser to "get 
 away from the monotony of conventional illustrations." 
 
 Upper liight. — Characteristic of a notable series. The modes of travel 
 of historical days are pictured, one by one and with painstaking skill. It is 
 shown that the modern motor car overtops them all. 
 
 Lower Left. — Swift & Company conducted for more than a year a remarkable 
 campaign, wherein was depicted the historic Ijackground of America; its grim 
 suffering and its heroic sacrifices. Yet it all interlocked with a legitimate 
 busiiu'.ss message. 
 
 Lower liiyht. — The very name and character of the i)roduct invites the use of 
 quaint costumes and the art atmosphere of delicately fragrant days of romance. 
 This beautiful canvas, original in full color, is by the noted artist, Arthur 
 Rackham. 
 
HISTORY AS THE SUBJECT MATERIAL 305 
 
 "Pericles is wasting your money," would be the cry in the 
 market place and a million or so Greeks would hasten to the door of 
 Pericles' home and threaten him with tar and feathers. 
 
 "All right," he would reply to the onslaught, "let the cost go not to 
 your account but to mine, and let the inscription on the Parthenon stand 
 in my name as a living heritage to my wife and children." The glory of 
 his great work soon soothed the multitude and he was allowed to proceed 
 and leave to us a world-marvel of architecture. 
 
 And now, at the very end, the moral, the lesson, the real excuse 
 for the illustration: 
 
 The last years of his life were the hardest. He worked out a Family 
 Budget, the first in history, perhaps, and again the men of Athens com- 
 plained when he suggested they all try it. 
 
 "It is as it is," said Pericles, and added, "while I am here my family is 
 safe; when I am gone they cannot live on my work alone." 
 
 Is there not a life insurance point to this? Is it sufficient for any man 
 to leave only a reputation for greatness? 
 
 Also in full color, these Prudential pictures, although irre- 
 proachable as to constuming, character study, and background, 
 are given a slight humorous quality which makes them all the 
 more relishable. 
 
 6. Towle, Manufacturer of Silverware. — During the popular 
 regime of plated ware, this advertiser wished to impress upon 
 people tlie value and the historic traditions of solid silver. In 
 a connected series, a campaign traced back the lure of pure silver 
 to its very inception, back to primitive man, discovering silver 
 in his cave home, and on through the ages, until, at the end of the 
 series, the modern household and atmosphere was introduced. 
 
 7. Balding Brothers & Company, Silk Fabrics, Embroidery and 
 Spool Goods. — Women were to learn of the historic legends of 
 silk and of the part it has played in the passing of the ages. 
 Imagine an illustration based on this text: 
 
 The Florentine merchant guaranteed his silks with his personal safety. 
 When Lorenzo the Magnificent ruled in Florence, noblewomen chose 
 their gowns from silks displayed by command in their private apart- 
 ments. The prosperity and even the personal security of tradesmen 
 depended upon the favor of these powerful patrons. The Florentine 
 merchant may be said to have guaranteed, with his life, the quaUty of his 
 fabrics. 
 
306 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
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 111- !■! 1 iRI- \ I IM Ml RlH ^\ I" 
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 \M I M 1 lis IT K-i .\ \l , \M- I ■! 
 
 
 
 
 
 Well J,r.«,( 
 
 11 Ihr 
 
 w«4vll^: ' 
 
 
 
 anj the r.jn'i 1 
 u.r41.icr .1 q^jlity 
 tfcncmc. 
 
 
 ar. .MIkK 
 
 - ""■"' ' 
 
 ''.:". "1.1 1 
 
 Id dn- IkldiVk StIK 
 
 tr, .h..r. t. 
 
 «. 
 
 ft.'<« ^' 
 
 .,.er.iv-/. 
 
 *«/ ff>.^/«.i7, Vt* 
 
 "^f 3 e [dings 
 
 ^Jabncs. 6mhrmckni. S/hxjISiII^ 
 
 
 On this old balcony 
 Washington was niadf president 
 
 NEXT to Independence Hal! in Philadilphia stands 
 the Uaidly Ic^s famous Congress Hall. One of th« 
 t( 3tures of Ihc latter huildme is .i balcony of wrought 
 iron, as simple -and unpretentious as the edifice it* 
 adorns. But many arc the great events this little 
 ba)rony has seen in its long life, among them being 
 Washington's second inauguration as President. 
 
 Tunc has trcjite<1 kir.dly lhi» b«>cvny which it uUlcr than the 
 i.Miiod Stuic* of Aineric* A century iv\d a half of itonn and 
 ill have left f«w tracet to nw»rk the posaine <if -Uie yean. Nor 
 1- this Ntranse when we rcraembcr ihe ruat-misltng qtuilitiet of 
 
 A--<iK>»t -.ron. 
 
 li v;>cafyinE Reading GciiumeWroufthl Iron Pipe, the Uierknowt 
 >'• he u ertline « lti»tinK pipe at reasonable eott. At not much 
 I- r- than the price af steel pipe. RepitinK givti item n*-.> t^- tlirce 
 iKs longer »cfviet—lwoor three times 
 , ) '. ^ter prulect-on attainit Icuks that will 
 -Dioly meiin citpenvive repairt and tn»y 
 -. j-.iU ill wrious property damage. 
 
 
 Fig. 203. 
 
 Left.- — ^The serialized lii.storical series has been followed l)y a .silk house, in 
 order to add point to a modern method of being very sure as to the (luality of the 
 product and its selection. 
 
 liiahl. — Ordinarily, any illustration connected with a product such as wrought 
 iron, would not carry allurement to the average reader. But by showing how 
 wrought iron has hi.sietl through many generations, the Reading Company gives 
 its advertising inviting warmth and color. 
 
HISTORY AS THE SUBJECT MATERIAL 307 
 
 And how nicely is the historial theme woven with the modern : 
 
 Well-dressed American women of today choose their silks in groat 
 shops far from the weaving looms. The personal responsibility of the 
 medieval guildsman is replaced by the good faith of the modern 
 manufacturer. 
 
 8. Associated Furniture Manufacturers of Grand Rapids. — A 
 
 series combining today and historical periods in the matter of 
 craftsmanship and price taken in various lines of work. In every 
 individual piece of advertising, the strongest foreground pictorial 
 theme shows a Grand Rapids specialist, an artisan, at his modern 
 tasks. And the background theme, faint, hazy, atmospheric, 
 takes up crafts which are centuries old: 
 
 Centuries ago, when haughty Venice ruled the Seven Seas, the fame of 
 her marvelous glass makers was as far reaching as her own. To possess 
 an exquisite bit of Venetian glassware was the boast of princes. She 
 was as famed for glass as Damascus for swords or Bagdad for rugs. She 
 had joined that proud roll of cities whose workmen knew how to do one 
 thing supremely well. 
 
 And Grand Rapids, it is pointed out, belongs in this same 
 classification. The illustrative features of such a series may well 
 be imagined. 
 
 9. Reading Iron Company. — A series of historical interest and 
 power, based wholly on the idea of generations of wear. The 
 artist paints the memorable scene of Washington surrounded by 
 his admirers, on a quaint old balcony: 
 
 On this old balcony Washington was made President. Next to 
 Independence Hall in Philadelphia stands the hardly less famous Con- 
 gress Hall. One of the features of the latter buildmg is a balcony of 
 wrought iron, as simple and unpretentious as the edifice it adorns. But 
 many are the great events this little balcony has seen in its long life, 
 among them being Washington's second inauguration as President. 
 Time has treated kindly this balcony which is older than the United 
 States of America. A century and a half of storm and sun have left 
 few traces to mark the passing of the years. 
 
 And an insert pictures the old wrought iron balcony as it 
 appears today. 
 
 10. Stephen F. Whitman & Son, Candy Makers. — This is a 
 Philadelphia institution, and one of its most precious adver- 
 tising assets is its memorable record over a long period of years. 
 It is rooted in history, indeed. There are pages, sketchily 
 
308 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 rendered in pencil and reproduced by means of the highlight 
 half-tone process, showing the coaches and quaint streets and 
 attractive costumes of the days that are past forever: 
 
 In Society since 1842. We like to think that the growth of Whitman's, 
 from the little shop in Philadelphia in the time of President Tyler, is 
 due to the bed-rock devotion to quality, on which this business is founded. 
 
 From the fair shoppers in 1842, drawn in quaint Victorias, who called 
 at the Whitman shop, it is a far cry to the thronging tliousands who now 
 
 Fig. 204. 
 
 Left. — A serial story in pictures was used by this manufacturer to relate the 
 highly dramatic story of silver, from man's first discovery of it, down to the 
 modern time. 
 
 Right. — The combining of two themes — ancient and modern, in an admirable 
 historic series. The foreground subjects present the modern worker, while the 
 backgrounds are based upon historic craftsmen and their specializations. 
 
 buy Whitman's in every town in America. In stage coach days, folks 
 from New York, Boston, and Richmond always took home Whitman's 
 when they visited Philadelphia. 
 
 Single advertisements, each an independent unit, are just 
 as interestingly based upon some historic scheme. A modern 
 roofing may compare its product with "Man's First Roof," a 
 cave in the rocks, hollowed by the drip of ages, the damp stone 
 as a ceiling; or a manufacturer of an electrical product may as 
 easily have a canvas made of the primitive fires of ancient Rome, 
 the fires of the African native, the burning torches of strange 
 oriental races, now but a memory. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION 
 
 Photography in commercial illustration has made rapid strides 
 chiefly because of the advertiser's urgent demand for intensive 
 realism. That a photograph does not exaggerate and that it 
 brings absolute conviction summarizes this demand. Drawn illus- 
 trations permit of "faking" and of calculated misrepresentation, 
 if the advertiser seeks subterfuge. Professional photographers 
 smile at the thought that the camera cannot lie. For so expert 
 have they become that as much license may be taken with the 
 camera as with the pencil, pen, or brush. 
 
 There are numerous technical ways of arriving at superimposed 
 negatives, double-exposures, patching on the plate, retouching 
 which defies detection, trick perspectives, and a manipulation 
 of subjects in making copy. One advertising design may, in 
 other words, be made of remnants of several separate prints. 
 A man with his head in the clouds can be made to stride down a 
 miniature street, yet both are photographic and it is impossible 
 to find where the dovetailing has been achieved. Indeed, com- 
 mercial photography, in its modern application to advertising, 
 is a theme worthy of a volume in itself, and no more than a few 
 interesting developments and generalizations are attempted here. 
 
 The camera comes to the aid of the advertiser, as a bringer of 
 verities and realities. The public, many advertisers believe, 
 trusts the illustration which is obviously a slice of real life. The 
 marked popularity of rotogravure sections with their panoramic 
 cross-sections of the passing human show has, to a degree, 
 increased the value of camera studies for commercial purposes. 
 Once the drama of the days was interpreted by the artist by 
 means of sketches "drawn on the spot." The modern idea is 
 realism and photographs of news events. 
 
 The suggestion has been made that before long, photographs 
 will be used almost exclusively for advertising purposes. Whereas 
 photographs are invaluable for certain purposes, any too general 
 
 309 
 
310 
 
 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 use of them would prove monotonous, just as the employ nient of 
 any one technique or any one medium would strip advertising of 
 the individuality which is essential to its success. 
 
 66 
 
 (^ 
 
 C this trade mark is an assurance otgooO 
 
 Icookinq.ijooO hakiiuj. enOurinq service 
 
 a lu^ thorough satisfaction "Wear-Ever" 
 
 metal is not only thick hut rcnuvkahhj hard 
 
 ear-Ever 
 
 Aluminum Cooking Utensils 
 
 99 
 
 - / 
 
 J> 
 
 Fig. 205. — Just to prove that so ronmienial .a suhjcct as a man iioiiiting at a 
 product can be given artistic merit. 
 
 The commercial photographer has perfected numerous valuable 
 techniques, which bring to campaigns individual qualities of 
 art. By expert vignetting and retouching, some photographs are 
 
THE I'HOTOaRAPIIIC ILLUSTRATION 
 
 311 
 
 made to take on many of the attributes of original drawings. 
 There are soft and highly artistic compositions, and so subtle 
 in their atmosphere that they vie with the painter and his canvas. 
 The camera is in the modern sense somewhat of an artist, under- 
 taking the most ambitious combinations of effects. Many studies 
 baffle detection as photographs. 
 
 mi^^sms^xM-c. ,- -.mf^T^s^^s-zi:: ^^.mssmmai 
 
 ^ . '/h i^/'urpUUs^ahei cV^lattrcss 
 
 Fig. 206. — A very beautiful example of the uncommercial photograph. 
 Models skilfully selected and lighting made to serve a most artistic turn. It 
 is almost a "painting." 
 
 The photographer paints with his camera. By his 
 resourcefulness and his ambitious research work he has thus digni- 
 fied his profession. As much preliminary work takes place 
 today in the making of a photographic illustration of the better 
 kind as in the production of an original canvas. The studio 
 specializing in commercial photography is a place of many mar- 
 vels. Here are assembled accessories which enter into the pro- 
 duction of art prints of every imaginable character. 
 
312 
 
 ILLUSTRATION W ADVERTISING 
 
 In a sense, it is not unlike a motion picture studio or the place 
 where props are stored for theatrical enterprises. On short 
 notice, almost any required atmosphere may be secured. 
 Arrangements are made with large department stores whereby 
 some props are secured for the time necessary to make the illus- 
 tration. A kitchen interior is required. For this there are 
 
 "What a whale of a difference 
 just a few cents make!" 
 
 r — all the difference 
 
 iH-twccn just an ordinnry ci);areiie 
 and— lATlMA. ilie most skillful 
 bti-ud ill cig.ircttr history. 
 
 Fig. 207. — Model so posed that a postery shadow is thrown against the wall, 
 thereby Riving the effect of an original drawing. The camera made to do 
 the work of an artist. 
 
 painted backdrops of certain details or actual woodwork and 
 walls, and only a kitchen cabinet of recent design, a gas stove, and 
 a set of cooking utensils perhaps need to be collected. 
 
 The range of requirement is as wide as there are subjects, from 
 the reception halls of a palace to a farmhouse pantry. Just as 
 a motion picture art director would assemble the materials for 
 
THE PIIOTOCRAPIIIC ILLUSTRAriON 
 
 313 
 
 a set, so does the modern commercial photographer keep informed 
 on possible markets for supplying his accessories. 
 
 In the making of still-life studies, the art of photography has 
 reached its highest degree of efficiency. A bottle of listerine side 
 by side with a sliced onion can be made beautiful by scientific 
 lighting. But no passive photographer could arrive at such 
 results. The new type of camera artist is first the artist and 
 then the technician. He plans effects. His brush is the lens 
 and his pigment light. 
 
 How an advertiser should go about achieving these better 
 results for a campaign is to be illustrated by the camera. The 
 
 Fig. 208. — If there is one thing the modern advertising i^hotographer under- 
 stands, it is the value of artistic backgrounds and accessories. The loaf of 
 bread and its sliced pieces is made into a "painting." 
 
 most common practice and certainly the safest is to have a rough 
 pencil sketch made of the subject material and its grouping, as 
 it applies to the advertising story and the arbitrary space to be 
 used. The photographer works from this floor plan, but need 
 not slavishly follow it. It may serve only a practical hint, 
 in order that he may not deviate too far from what is called for 
 by the space and by the copy. 
 
 Then again, the same result can be obtained by calling the 
 photographer into conference and discussing with him the idea 
 which. is sought. That he will work most successfully when his 
 personal ideas are not thumbed down is obvious. He will more 
 
314 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 than likely think of compositions and accessories which the 
 advertiser has overlooked. 
 
 The product, rather inartistic in itself, where a still life is 
 wanted, can be made to appear alluring through the use of correct 
 background material. This association of ideas and tangible 
 assets in the way of art props is beneficial to the product. 
 
 Fig. 209. — Some very ingenious results are obtained with the camera as this 
 unique illustration for underwear fabric proves. Model and retouching on the 
 plate give an effect ocjual to the imaginative artist's most resourceful results. 
 
 Lighting becomes a paramount consideration, A shadow, a 
 reflected high light, a deepened value, or a mingling of soft tones- 
 may mean the difference between rank conuncrcialism and the 
 delightfully artistic. And to arrive at these resuhs the studios 
 are equipped with batteries of artificial lights so rigged that any 
 desired angle or concentration of ray can be secured. There 
 are colored screens as well, as in motion picture photography, 
 which produce reflected lights or intensify direct lighting. The 
 paraphernalia, therefore, is complicated and the mechanical 
 
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION 
 
 315 
 
 exactions many. Since so much of this work must be produced 
 indoors under artificial Hght, the assignments often call for 
 a superior knowledge of many elements apart from the camera 
 itself. 
 
 Commercial photography now utilizes character models for 
 human interest illustrations. One studio has a roster of over 1,000 
 names, and few of these are of the so-called professional model 
 type. An advertiser must show the photographic study of a 
 policeman, a fireman, a puddler from a steel foundry, a newsboy, 
 a politician, a tramp, a pretty little girl, a brickmason. In the 
 
 Fig. 210. Only a hand and a door, l.iii \<y skilful manipulation, the photog- 
 rapher has given the effect of an original painting. 
 
 old days it was customary to costume the professional model, 
 and let it go at that. 
 
 The modern idea is less superficial. These characters, one and 
 all, are drawn from real life and pose unaffectedly before the 
 studio camera. It is this lack of affectation which makes such 
 types convincingly real in the advertisement. 
 
 The policeman finds time away from his beat to enter into the 
 spirit of a certain story. The little girl in a dainty white party 
 dress is no professional model, but a child from an average home. 
 The stonemason gives to the campaign the individualism which 
 bis life work has engraved in his face and figure. These char- 
 
316 
 
 ILLVSTTiAriOX IX ADVERTISING 
 
 acter studies no longer have a stilted and artificial look, for the 
 very reason that they are genuine. 
 
 As an impressive instance of how the modern commercial pho- 
 tographer operates, a manufacturer of radio receiving sets posed 
 models, in a series of scenes, who were "listening in" on radio 
 programs and the camera was concealed. 
 
 No worse thing can be said of a photographic illustration than 
 that it looks posed. For then it actually defeats its own most 
 important purpose. The reader is conscious of an artificially 
 manufactured picture, posed and primped for the specific purpose 
 of selling goods. This atmosphere should never creep into the 
 campaign which is illustrated by means of the photograph. 
 
 Fig. 211. 
 Left. — The Kodak very properly creates its own advertising illustrations. 
 Right. — Who would suppose that an onion and a bottle of Listcrinc could be 
 made into an altogether charming photograph. 
 
 The reader of an advertisement does not react favorably to a 
 message when it is too apparently commercial. The trick photo- 
 graph is always interesting and often quite inexplicable to the 
 person who is unfamiliar with what has gone on, back of the 
 scenes, to arrive at certain results. 
 
 An executive is shown at his desk — a man, camera perfect in 
 every detail. On the blotter pad before him stand a dozen or 
 more tiny figures. They are in miniature, but they are also 
 photographic as to art technique. The man at the desk looks 
 down at them, studying them with analytical care. It is an 
 illustration which has to do with the selection of employees. 
 Here is a giant among Lilliputians, all in one photographic print 
 and presented with startling realism. How is it accomplished? 
 
 There are several methods, but perhaps the easiest is to patch 
 separate prints. The studies are taken at different times and 
 under different circumstances, although a common lighting 
 
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION 
 
 317 
 
 scheme may have been followed in order to keep the composition 
 consistent. 
 
 The print of the man at the desk is mounted. Then the small 
 figures are silhouetted with knife or scissors, the edges of the 
 paper bevelled, and the group mounted in with paste or rubber 
 cement in any position desired, A minimum amount of retouch- 
 
 FiG. 212. — A hat advertised, but the character study, as interpreted by the 
 camera man, overtops it, and the entire illustration becomes a most artistic 
 representation. 
 
 ing provides copy which, when the plate is made, defies the most 
 critical and exacting eye. It has the appearance of having been 
 made all at the same time. A like result may be achieved by 
 double exposure. 
 
 It is acknowledged that the camera is often too literal. Studies 
 of automobiles, for example, may look short and stubby in a 
 
318 ILLUSTRATION IN ADVERTISING 
 
 camera study and therefore make poor advertising material. 
 The expert retoucher cuts the print in two parts and dehberately 
 fills in an area to overcome this objection and the eye fails to see 
 what has been done. When the study of a man for a clothing 
 advertisement has this same defect, patching overcomes it. 
 
 It is to be understood, therefore, that photography as applied 
 to advertising permits of numerous essential tricks. Nor have 
 the possibilities been more than touched upon. Just as the artist 
 seeks and finds new techniques, so is the commercial photographer 
 constantly elaborating his profession by experimentation. 
 
 The advertiser is impartial; he may use a camera series one 
 season and original illustrations the next. Often a basic idea for 
 a campaign demands the camera because of the realism for which 
 it is, and always will be, famous. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Acceptance of sketches, 6 
 Accessories, 214 
 Accidental effects, 133 
 Action, 56, 215 
 
 Actual-size reproductions, 10, 212 
 Adopting art mediums, 26 
 Adventure themes, 55, 196, 216, 220 
 Advertising characters, 162 
 Air-brush, 58 
 Allegories, 175, 177, 182 
 Animating the inanimate, 168, 175 
 Arbitrary forms, 153 
 Art themes for series, 272, 281 
 Association of ideas, 182 
 Atmosphere 30, 146 
 Attention-compellers, 54, 176, 179 
 
 B 
 
 "Backdrops," 149 
 
 Background accessories, 146 
 
 Backgrounds, general, 151, 152 
 
 Balanced compositions, 12 
 
 Ben Day combinations, 32, 284, 287 
 
 Ben Day, general information, 269, 
 
 282 
 Birdseye views, 110 
 Black as an asset, 103, 107 
 Borders, 72, 81, 138 
 Borders that tell a story, 73 
 Bringing the product to life, 170 
 
 Commonplace products made inter- 
 esting, 22 
 Composition, 12, 13, 20 
 Concentrating attention, 169 
 Consumer viewpoint, 25 
 Continuity, 34, 40, 307 
 Contour, 80 
 
 Contrast, 92, 123, 128, 204, 286, 289 
 Copy "slant," 238 
 Cost of illustrations, 14 
 Counter display compositions, 87 
 Counter display value, 210 
 Crayon drawings, 272, 275 
 
 D 
 
 Danger themes, 218, 221 
 Designing the advertisement, 6 
 Detail, 9, 244, 254 
 Directing the eye, 61, 62, 205 
 Display value, 213 
 Distinctiveness, 242 
 Dominant idea, 38, 204 
 Dominating the space, 20 
 Dry-brush technique, 272, 274, 280 
 
 E 
 
 Economies, 11 
 
 Ehminating the non-essential, 132 
 Emotional appeal, 235 
 Emphasis where needed, 50 
 Enduring ideas,' 233 
 Engraving, 26, 154 
 
 Cartoons, 291, 294, 296 
 
 Chalk-surfaced drawing board, 259 
 Character study, 224, 315 
 Charcoal technique, 277 
 Childhood studies, 57, 66, 177, 234 
 Combination plates, 59, 281 
 
 319 
 
 Facial expressions, 49, 56, 221, 225 
 Fact themes, 221 
 "Family resemblance," 31, 34, 271 
 Farm journal illustrations, 256 
 Feminine touches, 30, 45, 311 
 Figure compositions, 233 
 
320 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Figures as the humanizing touch, 57 
 
 "Figurettes," 162 
 
 Fine lines, 129, 131 
 
 "Fixitif," 277 
 
 Flexible trade marks, 159 
 
 Focusing attention, 127 
 
 Framing the text, 76 
 
 G 
 
 "Ghost" technique, 167, 182 
 Glorifying homely products, 145 
 Graduating tints, 157 
 Grease-crayon, 277 
 Groupings, 89 
 
 H 
 
 Halftone screens, 156, 278 
 Halftone subjects made into line, 
 
 267 
 Hand-stippling, 40, 245, 247 
 "Heavy" blacks, 131 
 Heroic size, 120, 127 
 Highlighting, 279 
 Historical themes, 299 
 Homely products beautified, 140, 
 
 249, 266, 316 
 Humaji interest, 187, 233, 240, 236 
 Humorous motifs, 56, 291 
 
 Idealization in picture form, 45, 141 
 Ideas for the illustration, 4 
 Illastrations which require no text, 
 
 69 
 Illustrative borders, 72 
 Illustrative style, 248, 250, 251 
 Imagination in the picture, 172, 240 
 Imaginative appeal, 136 
 Inanimate objects humanized, 138, 
 
 140 
 "Inference" illustrations, 185, 187 
 Infinite detail, 45, 246 
 Insignias, 159, 160 
 
 Judging techniques, 26 
 Justifying the illustration, 2 
 
 Laj^outs, 15 
 
 Light in the illustration, 57, 311 
 Light used to animate, 139 
 "Look-down" views, 114 
 
 IM 
 
 Mannerism, 30 
 
 Marginal areas, 92, 96 
 
 Materials for drawing, 11 
 
 Mechanical shading, 282 
 
 Mediums, 32 
 
 Melodramatic action, 176, 198, 215 
 
 Models, 232 
 
 Monograms, 163 
 
 Monotony, 35 
 
 Mortises, 77 
 
 N 
 
 Naturalistic studies, 57 194, 229 
 Negative illustrations, 192, 199 
 News atmosphere, 146 
 
 O 
 
 Objective of the illustration, 2, 4 
 
 Obligations of the campaign, 209 
 
 Obvious ideas, 214 
 
 Odd techniques, 107, 133, 284 
 
 Originals, 135 
 
 Outline style, 128, 133 
 
 Overlays, 288 
 
 P 
 
 Packages, 212 
 
 Papers, 32, 258, 272, 285 
 
 Pedigree, 44 
 
 Pen-and-ink, 46, 242, 268 
 
 Pencil drawings, 272, 273, 275 
 
 Pen drawings from photographs, 
 
 249 
 Perspective, 109, 112, 268 
 Phantoms, 165, 166 
 Photography, 2, 11, 309 
 Plots for pictures, 55. 183, 236 
 
INDEX 
 
 321 
 
 Portraits, 227, 315 
 Poster technique, 206, 210, 312 
 Poster value, 201 
 Precision of line, 255 
 Preliminary sketches, 6, 11 
 Printability, 135, 268 
 Product dominant, 213 
 "Pure outline," 132 
 
 R 
 
 Realism, 44 
 
 Reduction, 8 
 
 Relation of picture to text, 190, 195 
 
 Repetition, 271 
 
 Reproduction, 33, 267, 286 
 
 Restraint, 235 
 
 Retouching, 137, 138, 144 
 
 Rough sketches, 6, 7 
 
 Skeletonized technique, 132 
 Still-life, 151 
 Style, 29 
 
 Superimposing, 74 
 Symbols, 37, 38, 164, 171 
 
 Techniques, 28, 43, 256, 272 
 Tentative sketches, 9 
 Text as applied to illustrations, 5 
 Themes for pictures, 23 
 Tie-up with the product, 151 
 Topical subjects, 196, 220 
 Trade marks, 75, 159, 162 
 Typographical set-up as related to 
 picture, 1 1 
 
 S 
 
 Same-size sketches, 6 
 Saturation point, 49 
 Scenarios, 142, 182, 238 
 Scientific layout, 19 
 Segregation, 99 
 Selling idea, 22 
 Serialization, 180, 301, 308 
 Silhouettes, 105 
 Silverprints, 134, 252, 270 
 
 Value of white space, 91, 99 
 Vignetting, 153, 158 
 Visualizer, 8, 12, 153 
 Vogues, 21 
 
 W 
 
 Wash drawings, 26, 216, 235 
 When to illustrate, 3 
 White areas, 91, 95, 98 
 Wood-cut techniques, 46, 255