Advertising Theory - Mort Goldstrom (10 Components of a Good Ad Layout)

When surfing the net for advertising theories and theorists... i came across the name Mort Goldstrom. He is the Vice President of Revenue Development for the Newspaper Association of America and as part of his job has published 10 components of a good newspaper advertisement. They are as follows:

1) Border
Seperates the ad from the surrounding type. They should complement the look that you are developing with your ad and should never be the most prominent part of your ad.

2) Heading
The headline is a key part of the sales message; no matter how well the ad is presented, it can’t succeed if it is not read. Following the headline, you’ll have subheads that either clarify or amplify the thought in the headline. Subheads should be handled in much the same way as headlines, but are visually weighted somewhere between the body copy and the heading.

3) Illustrations
An effective way to draw the reader’s attention to an ad is with the illustration. Studies have shown that an ad with an illustration that takes up 50 percent or more of the ad space increases readership by as much as 37 percent.

4) Price
Price is an important (and often dominant) element in a layout. Many local advertisers build their ads around the price. You can accent price in several ways: (1) as part of the heading, (2) the core the ad is built around, (3) preceding the copy, and (4) in the text space.

5) White Space
Use as much white space as you can afford to use. It minimizes distraction and draws attention to what matters most.

6) Body Copy
Body copy develops and expands on the benefits offered in the headline. The power of well written advertising copy is proven by the billions of dollars of sales directly resulted from great newspaper advertising. Benefits should be written as though you were making friendly, personal conversation.

7) Signature
The signature is often a logotype. Though often used synonymously with logo, signature means the name of the advertiser in any form, and unlike the logo, may change form from one ad to the next. Remember not to let the signature overpower other important aspects.

8) The One Second Test
The one second test is a way of determining whether a reader can tell at a glance what the advertiser is selling. It simply means that you should be able to look at a layout for a second, then close your eyes and recall its sales message. If you didn’t get the message, you need to improve the layout. Another factor that affects eye appeal is concentration. This means grouping your selling points into display headings and text masses.

9) Colour
Try to achieve contrast in layout by effective use of different size type, bold type and colour. If you can, try to fit color into your advertising budget. Introducing colour increases impact.

10) Creativity
If your ad is developed with simplicity, focal point and sequence in mind, then it will be appealing to the eye. However, some ads are more visually appealing than others. The difference is in creativity. Remember, creativity rarely occurs as a stroke of genius; it usually comes through persistent attempts and hard work.

Here is a link to the page that I found the 10 components of a good newspaper ad:
http://advertising-and-marketing.info/newspaper-advertising-layout-tips.html

Poster Mock-Ups

To help with the layout and format of my final poster design, I did 3 mock-ups to try and come to a conclusion on the bet layout and format for my poster. I used a photograph from the internet to help illustrate the dominance of my photograph in each of the 3 mock-ups:

Mock-up poster 1:

I decided to keep my first and initial mock up simple, to partner the simplicity of the logo. The area which I do like is the positioning of the tagline. I wanted the tagline to be almost focal to the poster. The tagline is yet to be decided; however, I hope that it is hard-hitting and attention grabbing.

The area I do not like quite so much about the mock-up is the high positioning of the logo. Similarly to the tagline i want it to be focal to the poster because i feel that it gives a strong indication as to the content of the documentary, whilst maintaining that hard-hitting theme.

Mock-up poster 2:

Out of the three mock-ups, i think that this is my favourite. I have moved both the logo and tagline to a more central/focal position to increase the chance of grabbing a readers attention. I also like the positioning of the promotional features. Furthermore, I have included a channel logo to add to the documentaries brand image.

Mock-up poster 3:

Although very similar to mock-up 2, I settled on the fact that the promotional features box should be underneath the logo and tagline as to not draw attention away from them. However, what first attracted me to this mock-up was the very simple layout and dominance of the photograph itself.

Existing Products (posters)

I have decided to analyse and interpret some existing posters on my chosen area. I will use my findings for inspiration





I like the fact that this poster was designed without shying away from showing the horrific realities of child abuse. The colours are very simple and the font is foreboding. What I like the most is the fact that they have used a fact to reinforce their point and it really hits the audience hard.














I really like this poster. Whereas, usually, the child's eyes in a poster are hidden to add animosity. This poster's focal point is the eye. In the eye is a reflection of a man, this suggests that what the child fears is this man. This interpretation is backed up by the text "can't you see the fear in their eyes?" Moreover, the font and colours are kept very simple as is the convention for a poster condemning child abuse.










This poster is successfully conveys a bleak and traumatic outlook on child abuse. Rather than a poster for a documentary, the poster is an appeal. This could explain the more hard-hitting attributes like lack of colour and harsh fonts. The child in the poster is looking directly down the lens; giving the impression that it a direct appeal from one of the many victims of child abuse.









The reason that I chose to look at this poster is because similarly to my documentary, it uses the words 'Our Little Secret'. In this instance, the words are part of a longer sentence. However, to me they seem more hard-hitting with just those 3 words. The poster itself is effective. It hides the girls face to give a sense of anonomity, suggesting that the abuse could happen to any child.