Make It Easy on the Reader

Here are some tips from Steve Cone's 2005 book Steal These Ideas--Marketing Secrets That Will Make You A Star.

Cone suggests following these rules to make you ads easy to read:

1. Always use serif type. Serif type means the each letter is finished off with a little foot that helps the eye literally finish seeing the letter
2. If you must use sans-serif type, apply it to bold headlines only
3. Always refuse to use reverse type, it is simply too difficult to read
4. Always imagine that your readers are 55 or older and choose a type size that is kind to their eyes.

Mr. Cone's book is well worth reading and packed full or valuable ideas. I would add a couple of points to his comments on "readability". I think a lot about contrast. The easiest thing to read is black type on a white background because of the great contrast. I recently saw an ad with purple type on a light red background, very artsy but almost impossible to read. These two colors are much too close on the color spectrum. Also small type that is clear on white bond paper from your computer's printer may blur when printed on newsprint.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks--Jim Busch