ADVERTISING MATTER
SLIPS CARDS LEAFLETS PROSPECTUSES CATALOGUES
It is difficult to lay down standards for the design of advertising matter
since this appears to contradict the whole essence of the business.
Advertising depends on variety, departure from rules, and surprise. It
would be wrong to insist on wholesale restrictions in its design.
Format
The belief that form does not have the same importance in advertising as
the text, the typography, photography, and colour, is not valid. Everyone
who sends advertising matter out into the world hopes that it will not be
thrown carelessly away, but read carefully and, where possible, kept for
reference. It will not often lead to a direct sale; but if the subject matter is
of interest, the recipient will remember it and when opportunity offers will
come back to it. Advertisements, leaflets, and catalogues accumulate and
begin to acquire a significance whose purpose is lost if they cannot easily
be stored and a particular item cannot be found when it is wanted. And the
effort to make advertising matter conspicuous by means of its format is
wasted if everything is the same size. Would-be attractive smaller formats
disappear beneath larger ones. and giant formats are a nuisance to those
who must store them. In addition, formats all of different sizes will eventu
ally become torn or otherwise damaged. Sadly today, out of any 1 00 adver
tising items collected in exhibitions or el sewhere, 95 will be in differe nt
shapes and sizes. It would be a great advantage if standardization in these
areas could be consistently followed. It would mean less work for those
who receive advertising matter, and for the manufacturers it would be a
recommendation and probably profitable.
The introduction of standard formats in advertising will bring with it all the
other advantages of standardization: greater economy, real organization of
print production, etc. In addition, advertising items would fit into filing sys
tems with most business correspondence, standard format periodicals,
etc., and this too offers many advantages. Basically, the sizes of A-range
are all that is needed. The main format here is A4 (21 Ox297 mm) and A5
(148x210 mm).
The artistic possibilities of standard formats, which give good page propor
tions, are unlimited. This is shown by the numerous reproductions in this
book of matter printed in standard formats. It is usually a sign of incompe
tence when a non-standard format is insisted on "for artistic reasons."