Selecting photographs and artwork is an element that can
set the tone or image of your marketing campaign, but you
don't want them to be the overriding factor unless you are
selling artwork.
Photographs and artwork can make dramatic statements. If
they are treated incorrectly, they offer no value and might
be costly.
You don't have to have photographs or original artwork in
your marketing piece to get your desired goal. The proper
use of typefaces, colors and white space plus simple
graphics and clip art can add to the overall effectiveness
of your marketing material. Should you choose to include
photographs and artwork, there are some guidelines to
follow.
Budgetary constraints can often dictate whether or not you
use photographs. There are several ways you can incorporate
photographs into your marketing pieces.
You can use 4-color (full color), dual-tone (2-color,
half-tone, reproduced from a 1-color photograph where the
photo is originally black and white and in the printing
process another color is added) which makes it tinted. Or
simply use black and white.
4-color photographs are more expensive to reproduce than
the other ways. They do require 4-color separation charges
by your printer.
If you can afford this process, think carefully about your
selected photograph. If it's a little out of focus, it
won't look any better once it's printed.
Dual-tone is less expensive although the photograph will
not be full color. It will appear to have color or, at the
very least, be more colorful than a black and white
photograph. There is an extra charge for this also.
Black and white photos reproduce the best when they have a
lot of contrast. Careful consideration needs to be taken
when choosing color, dual-tone or black and white.
I've have found that the most effective choice for an
entrepreneur's business is a simple black and white photo
of the owner or a black and white photo of the owner and a
customer or client. This can build credibility.
In addition, if you use a photograph in your material, it
draws the reader's eye to that photo, so you must take that
opportunity to put a caption underneath the photograph.
This is a mainstay rule. Always include a caption with a
photograph.
Putting together your marketing material with all the right
Ingredients are a lengthy, but worthwhile process. If you
have someone else put it together for you, make a checklist
for them. Using photographic images with the following will
produce the desired results you're looking for.
Avoid using all capital letters- All capital letters will
get more attention, but slow down the reading speed of the
person and thus their comprehension. It doesn't give a
natural flow to your marketing piece. If you want to
emphasize a certain word or a group of words, italicize
them or bold them. In your headline or subhead, you can-use
a bigger type face than the rest of the body text. You
might just capitalize the first letters of each word.
Avoid filling up all the space you have to work with- If you
cram too much information into a given space, it is
difficult to read and the reader might lose interest. White
space can be an effective design tool that will draw the
reader to specific information that you wish to emphasize.
However, don't confuse this with an advertising rep when
designing a space ad that says, "Let's use a lot of space
here and there."
Make effective use of your space in telling your story and
listing benefits, but you don't want to pack it together so
closely and tightly that when a prospect looks at it, the
eye strain is so bad they don't want to read it. There is a
balance to achieve.
Avoid too much reversed type text where the background is
black and letters white. You might use it sparingly to
emphasize one idea here and there. Usually, it can be used
to draw attention to a particular item. If it's used for
too many things, it loses its effect and nothing will jump
off the page.
Avoid using more than 2 typefaces (3 maximum). Too many
type faces will cause confusion and slow the reader down.
Two will draw attention to different pieces. Maybe one
Type face for headings and subheadings, and one for the body
text. That's usually all you need.
These two typefaces should have some contrast. The body
text is usually in a "Serif' type font and the headline and
subheads are in a "Sans Serif' type. A common type of font
used is a Courier font and a Times New Roman.
Avoid having white space wasted- Wasted white space occurs
when there is a hole created somewhere in your layout that
is not really part of your design. A white hole of space
which has other elements all around it really differs from
using white space in a good way and it will draw attention
to itself instead of to a headline or a picture or body
text available.
About
The Author
Abe Cherian is the founder
of Multiple Stream Media,
a company that helps online
businesses find new
prospects and clients, who
are anxious to grow
their business fast, and
without spending a fortune
in marketing and automation. http://www.multiplestreammktg.com
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