A good, neat, appropriate illustration goes far toward making an advertisement attractive, as well as attracting the attention of those who are interested in the subject. In order to be of value, however, the illustration should show the ideal, not the undesirable. No sane advertiser would show a picture of unsightly soil pipes, old pan closets, or copper bath tubs, nor should a plumber pay good money for space to frighten customers away with allegorical figures of disease arising in a cloud of sewer gas out of the drainage system. When advertising kitchen sinks, show a neat kitchen interior, or, at least, an attractive kitchen sink, with drip board, and let the copy be about the kitchen fixtures. When the laundry is under consideration let the copy be consistent and tell of the ease and convenience of having stationary tubs, with hot and cold water and waste connections. The bath room should be treated the same way and when special apparatus, like water filters, are advertised, they should be illustrated, for what the eye sees the mind wants, if it is made suitably attractive. Cuts need not be used always, however; there are times when an advertiser has something interesting to say and can say it to his public in a frank heart-to-heart talk on paper. In selecting illustrations for newspaper advertising it is well to bear in mind that only line drawings or stipple work can be successfully used. Owing to the coarse texture of newspapers and the speed with which they are printed half-tone reproductions of photographs require such coarse screens that very little detail is left of the pictures.

The location of an advertisement in a paper, with regard to the other advertising copy, should influence somewhat the display. Having paid for the space the advertiser wants to get out of it all that he possibly can. For this reason he must study his copy to see what kind of border to use to distinguish his advertisement from the rest. If the others are all heavy black borders, a light border with a wide margin between the copy and the border might display the advertisement to the best advantage. If, on the other hand, the other advertisements have light borders, a heavy black border might be the most effective. The main point to remember is to study the advertising the same as you would any other business detail. You will be judged to a great extent by the card you offer the public, and, so that the judgment will be favorable, see that the copy is not lacking in any of the little details that make perfect. Besides, you are expending money for business purposes and you must make advertising money bring as great returns as any other expenditure.

Size Of Advertising Space

The size of space purchased in the papers need not be large. It is the quality of the copy more than the size of space which counts. Ordinarily a 3-inch space in single column will be found sufficient, although the style of advertisement and display may be frequently changed with advantage by running a double-column advertisement of about 3-inch space. Frequency of issue is of as much importance as size of space, or, perhaps more so, for it is the frequent recurrence of an advertisement which ultimately stamps it on the memory; consequently, it would be better to run a single column of 3 inches daily than to carry double that amount of space two or three times a week.