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Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
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Perspective pictures... tick anyone else off??
- Thread starter Orion
- Start date
I saw a study once where it was demonstrated that the average consumer responds much better to a visual ad if it contains some picture of a person. Even a shot of a hand or shadow or cartoon human resulted in a significant increase in the level of participant interest.
Professional advertisers know this, and take advantage of it. Take a good look at some TV or magazine ads sometime, and you will notice that almost all of them will feature a picture or representation of a person or part of a person.
Just something you guys might want to keep in mind for your ads.
Professional advertisers know this, and take advantage of it. Take a good look at some TV or magazine ads sometime, and you will notice that almost all of them will feature a picture or representation of a person or part of a person.
Just something you guys might want to keep in mind for your ads.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2002
- Messages
- 604
In the early 90's worked as phtojournalist and after that as a portrait and wedding photographer in my own studio for two years. Years ago, when I asked a good friend about shape, form, design, &c, he gave me an art history book full of photos of art work. He told me to concentrate on the Dutch and Italian masters. He was not wrong.
A group of us from the newspaper (all 4 of us conservatives outtta the entire staff) still get together for lunch each week. One is a graphic/add designer for a major (won a Tony) arts organization. He has an excellent reputation and does great work. But all these guys fall under the PR dept -read people people - no graphic arts experience. So they send 'em to the weekend and week long advertising and design courses, and now they're experts. They teach them "formulas" for advertising art and design.
The problem with this is that now when one of the graphic designers comes up with something really good, if it dosen't fit a "formula" it's out.
I guess the good side to "formula" is that if you need to do the designs and have no education/training/experience you get something usable.
But breaking the rules through a position of strength and knowledge can give you something great.
IMO the first photo with insets is too distracting.
The second photo is nice. The triangle of magazine, pistol and light "frame" the knife. I don't think the angle of the knife in the photo nets any significant distortion from the slightly raised "butt" end. Much of that can also be negated by using a "longer" lens and moving further away from the objects you're photographing. Just use depth of field preview (or calculate from lens markings) so everything that needs to be in focus is.
I agree with many that people in photos help, especially with scale. In this case, however, the mag, pistol and light also give you scale and allow you to highlight the knife. I think skin or skin tone in this photo would actually detract from the visual effect.
The bright knife standing "out" from the darker background/frame set it off. Kinda like looking at old National Geo's - in the 50's and 60's you almost always see a "red shirt" or similar in the photos to give it snap...
I like my knives "in situ." I (mostly) see fixed blades as an outdoor thing. I LIKE rocks (NO - not to chop,) foliage, etc in my photos. I can see the mag, pistol and light in the same light...
OTOH some folks like "butterfly" or a flat litebox on a plain background. - Different adds for different demos.
A group of us from the newspaper (all 4 of us conservatives outtta the entire staff) still get together for lunch each week. One is a graphic/add designer for a major (won a Tony) arts organization. He has an excellent reputation and does great work. But all these guys fall under the PR dept -read people people - no graphic arts experience. So they send 'em to the weekend and week long advertising and design courses, and now they're experts. They teach them "formulas" for advertising art and design.
The problem with this is that now when one of the graphic designers comes up with something really good, if it dosen't fit a "formula" it's out.
I guess the good side to "formula" is that if you need to do the designs and have no education/training/experience you get something usable.
But breaking the rules through a position of strength and knowledge can give you something great.
IMO the first photo with insets is too distracting.
The second photo is nice. The triangle of magazine, pistol and light "frame" the knife. I don't think the angle of the knife in the photo nets any significant distortion from the slightly raised "butt" end. Much of that can also be negated by using a "longer" lens and moving further away from the objects you're photographing. Just use depth of field preview (or calculate from lens markings) so everything that needs to be in focus is.
I agree with many that people in photos help, especially with scale. In this case, however, the mag, pistol and light also give you scale and allow you to highlight the knife. I think skin or skin tone in this photo would actually detract from the visual effect.
The bright knife standing "out" from the darker background/frame set it off. Kinda like looking at old National Geo's - in the 50's and 60's you almost always see a "red shirt" or similar in the photos to give it snap...
I like my knives "in situ." I (mostly) see fixed blades as an outdoor thing. I LIKE rocks (NO - not to chop,) foliage, etc in my photos. I can see the mag, pistol and light in the same light...
OTOH some folks like "butterfly" or a flat litebox on a plain background. - Different adds for different demos.
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2001
- Messages
- 897
I assume you're using a Windows computer, Clydetz. Do a search on your hard drive for "character map". Open it up when you find it, and it will have the odd symbols and the keyboard shortcuts to them. Like so: ñ. When's the last time you saw that on your keyboard? 
Ash
Ash
Gollnick
Musical Director
- Joined
- Mar 22, 1999
- Messages
- 29,258
Personally, I dislike Mr. PhilL's picture because the size of the hand is way out of whack with the knife. There's two knives, one of which is, I think a close-up of the other, and then this hand thrown in in a different scale... it's confusing... gives me a headache.
I disagree about Dr. Lathe's insets. They're not their to try and magnify the detail. They're there to draw attention to these elements, to reemphasize them. They don't need to be close-ups to do that. The also give the whole image a busier, more dynamic, more energetic look. Some might say "cluttered." But cluttered can be good. Neatness... sure sign of a sick mind... that sort of thing. Cluttered can say "action" or "energy." It's sort of a collage thing going on.
The flashlight sort of running off the side of the page is what still-life photographers call "grounding." Notice the same thing with the gun. It helps the gun be part of the background, not the subject.
Dr. Lathe is also to be congratulated for one of the best uses of a gun in a knife picture that I've seen lately. A gun is a very strong visual element, a very powerful symbol. It dominates way to easily. In this case, Dr.Lathe has managed to make the gun part of the background. We get a taste of it without being overwhelmed by it. He's seasoned this soup perfectly. Bravo!
Here's one of my favorites.
I disagree about Dr. Lathe's insets. They're not their to try and magnify the detail. They're there to draw attention to these elements, to reemphasize them. They don't need to be close-ups to do that. The also give the whole image a busier, more dynamic, more energetic look. Some might say "cluttered." But cluttered can be good. Neatness... sure sign of a sick mind... that sort of thing. Cluttered can say "action" or "energy." It's sort of a collage thing going on.
The flashlight sort of running off the side of the page is what still-life photographers call "grounding." Notice the same thing with the gun. It helps the gun be part of the background, not the subject.
Dr. Lathe is also to be congratulated for one of the best uses of a gun in a knife picture that I've seen lately. A gun is a very strong visual element, a very powerful symbol. It dominates way to easily. In this case, Dr.Lathe has managed to make the gun part of the background. We get a taste of it without being overwhelmed by it. He's seasoned this soup perfectly. Bravo!
Here's one of my favorites.
- Joined
- Oct 4, 1998
- Messages
- 529
Gollnick-
First let me state... I am a computer graphics designer for a major international textile manufacturer. I deal primarily in corporate identity, i.e. logos. The only experience I have doing ads is for a production company I work for when I do the flyers for their events and the T-shirt artwork. So this is the experience I am speaking from...That being said...
As far as your argument, it may be true if you are taking a picture purely for art's sake but if you are trying to sell a product it is the wrong way to go, especially when you take into consideration the market you are targeting. Think about it... A nice, artsy perspective picture, especially in a person's hand or something of that effect, may really appeal to the young people and fantasy knife buyers because the knife will look "cool". Now how many of those people do you think are going to drop $400 on a Busse? The fact is that most, if not all, of Busse's customers are EDUCATED knife knuts and do not buy knives based on "cool factor" (... well maybe some do..!!
)... they buy their knives based on functionality and the best way to tell what the function of a knife is is to see the profile of the blade. I know I would never buy a knife by a perspective pic alone. The pics are deceiving by nature and it makes you wonder if they are deceiving on purpose... maybe to make the knife look longer, or bigger, or "meaner"... I want to know what I am getting, especially if I am looking for a specific type of knife and the manufacturer is only making it more difficult for me to make a decision. This means I have to search for better pics elsewhere or go out of my way to actually get my hands on an actual knife. Last time I checked, when a manufacturer wanted to sell something the object was to make it as easy as possible for the consumer, not the other way around.
Neil-
Pretty good ad and a great looking knife. The amended ad by TheBadGuy is more visually appealing. When doing corporate identity stuff the idea is to keep it simple. You don't want to clutter up the logo (in this case, the ad). If people see a lot of small pictures and words they tend to disregard the entire ad altogether and it therefore goes unnoticed. People will focus on a large "picture", if you will, which is why companies have corporate logos. When MacDonald's wants to advertise "hamburgers, happy meals, fries, shakes and a playground for the kiddies" they don't have to write all that out... they just put up the big golden arches and everyone knows the rest. When I do flyers I tend to put a big picture in the background, a LARGE header at the top of the flyer (to draw attention) and the rest of the small print info is kept to a minimum to keep it simple... just the info people NEED. When you clutter a flyer too much people in today's busy world consider it too much to read and a waste of their time. People aren't going to take the time to stop and read a bunch of small print so you need to get your message across in the simplest way possible. In your ad, 9 times out of 10 I would say to drop the gun and the magazine because it detracts from the initial subject but in this case it is done very well... The extra objects are well balanced and they are also subdued... they are dark (grey) and form a nice background contrast to the light grey blade and white handle of the knife so instead of detracting from the main subject it sort of sets it off so this is actually a pretty good job. (how is that for a run-on sentence?!?!?) The extra inset pictures do nothing but clutter up the picture and detract the attention from the main subject.
All I need in a knife ad is a flat profile pic. If I like the way it looks I will then do the research to find out the more pertinent info such as handle material, overall length (to get a good idea of the size), type of steel, etc. A perspective pic does not really prompt me to do any further research because it does not really let me know what the knife looks like to begin with. A good example of this was Busse's Aftershock. I love bolo knives so when they announced they were coming out with a bolo I was excited. When I saw pics (perspective, duh...) I was elated!!! The perspective made it look like a real bolo with a pronounced recurve and a large belly. I almost bought one until I finally saw a flat pic of it and it turned out to be just a Battle Mistress with an ever-so-slight recurve with not much of a belly at all.
Of course, this is just me and we are all different....
Peace-
Cam
First let me state... I am a computer graphics designer for a major international textile manufacturer. I deal primarily in corporate identity, i.e. logos. The only experience I have doing ads is for a production company I work for when I do the flyers for their events and the T-shirt artwork. So this is the experience I am speaking from...That being said...
As far as your argument, it may be true if you are taking a picture purely for art's sake but if you are trying to sell a product it is the wrong way to go, especially when you take into consideration the market you are targeting. Think about it... A nice, artsy perspective picture, especially in a person's hand or something of that effect, may really appeal to the young people and fantasy knife buyers because the knife will look "cool". Now how many of those people do you think are going to drop $400 on a Busse? The fact is that most, if not all, of Busse's customers are EDUCATED knife knuts and do not buy knives based on "cool factor" (... well maybe some do..!!
)... they buy their knives based on functionality and the best way to tell what the function of a knife is is to see the profile of the blade. I know I would never buy a knife by a perspective pic alone. The pics are deceiving by nature and it makes you wonder if they are deceiving on purpose... maybe to make the knife look longer, or bigger, or "meaner"... I want to know what I am getting, especially if I am looking for a specific type of knife and the manufacturer is only making it more difficult for me to make a decision. This means I have to search for better pics elsewhere or go out of my way to actually get my hands on an actual knife. Last time I checked, when a manufacturer wanted to sell something the object was to make it as easy as possible for the consumer, not the other way around.Neil-
Pretty good ad and a great looking knife. The amended ad by TheBadGuy is more visually appealing. When doing corporate identity stuff the idea is to keep it simple. You don't want to clutter up the logo (in this case, the ad). If people see a lot of small pictures and words they tend to disregard the entire ad altogether and it therefore goes unnoticed. People will focus on a large "picture", if you will, which is why companies have corporate logos. When MacDonald's wants to advertise "hamburgers, happy meals, fries, shakes and a playground for the kiddies" they don't have to write all that out... they just put up the big golden arches and everyone knows the rest. When I do flyers I tend to put a big picture in the background, a LARGE header at the top of the flyer (to draw attention) and the rest of the small print info is kept to a minimum to keep it simple... just the info people NEED. When you clutter a flyer too much people in today's busy world consider it too much to read and a waste of their time. People aren't going to take the time to stop and read a bunch of small print so you need to get your message across in the simplest way possible. In your ad, 9 times out of 10 I would say to drop the gun and the magazine because it detracts from the initial subject but in this case it is done very well... The extra objects are well balanced and they are also subdued... they are dark (grey) and form a nice background contrast to the light grey blade and white handle of the knife so instead of detracting from the main subject it sort of sets it off so this is actually a pretty good job. (how is that for a run-on sentence?!?!?) The extra inset pictures do nothing but clutter up the picture and detract the attention from the main subject.
All I need in a knife ad is a flat profile pic. If I like the way it looks I will then do the research to find out the more pertinent info such as handle material, overall length (to get a good idea of the size), type of steel, etc. A perspective pic does not really prompt me to do any further research because it does not really let me know what the knife looks like to begin with. A good example of this was Busse's Aftershock. I love bolo knives so when they announced they were coming out with a bolo I was excited. When I saw pics (perspective, duh...) I was elated!!! The perspective made it look like a real bolo with a pronounced recurve and a large belly. I almost bought one until I finally saw a flat pic of it and it turned out to be just a Battle Mistress with an ever-so-slight recurve with not much of a belly at all.
Of course, this is just me and we are all different....
Peace-
Cam
- Joined
- Aug 4, 1999
- Messages
- 2,596
WHOAAAAAA the endless power of the forums!! I totally agree with Chuck Golnick and none of you other guys know what your talking about 
:grumpy: Thanks Chuck!!
Just kidding guys!! I do appreciate the comments, ideas and suggestions. As with the knives, ALL feedback is very much considered and often used. I can't take credit for the layout. I'll draw Dans attention to this thread. Hopefully he will weigh in.
I probably should have mentioned that this is going to be reduced down to a "1/6th" size ad for a Handgun magazine. My feelings were that as long as the smaller views could be seen in the ad they would be OK.
Neil
:grumpy: Thanks Chuck!! Just kidding guys!! I do appreciate the comments, ideas and suggestions. As with the knives, ALL feedback is very much considered and often used. I can't take credit for the layout. I'll draw Dans attention to this thread. Hopefully he will weigh in.
I probably should have mentioned that this is going to be reduced down to a "1/6th" size ad for a Handgun magazine. My feelings were that as long as the smaller views could be seen in the ad they would be OK.
Neil
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2001
- Messages
- 4,399
I've been in advertising for over 30 years (20 of those years as president of an agency). My partner had previously been CEO of a HUGE international agency (there were about 18 VP's!) and he told his staff at every opportunity: "All of our clients know EVERYTHING there is to know about THEIR business.....and advertising." Not much has changed.
The comments in this thread sound so familiar. Most of the people who produce the ads would like to create "art", the people who we're trying to influence towards a buying decision want to see what the actual product looks like (without "artsy" embellishments) and how it will improve their quality of life. If I am a client spending millions of dollars on media to sell my widgets, I know I'd rather have an ad that persuades someone to buy more widgets than an ad that "looks cool". If the people who create "artsy" ads were held accountable for the success of those ads - there would be a lot fewer "artsy" ads, believe me. If we create an ad for a client that doesn't work, I'm the one who has to explain the reasons - not the Art Director or the photographer who want to create something "meaningful" and "creative". To borrow an old tagline from another agency: "It ain't creative unless it sells."
OTOH, ads can be produced that ARE creative AND sell product. Those are the great ads. They're just harder to do. (and winning awards is NO indication of a "successful" ad - just ask Tums, Alka-Seltzer, or Polaroid)
Great thread, BTW.
well, this is certainly a nice add to see in the morning...let's see, where shall I begin....
I should stated that, overall, I believe that it is personal preference and design philosophy whether you like a "knife on a regular background" or something a little extra. Stating maxims and the "verisimilitude" of design and design methodology really flies in the face of much of what is being currently done today in advertisement. In addition, we should keep in mind that there are really very few such maxims that can be made about advertising that will traverse and transcend all of the various markets and industries.
It's important to realize that this advertisement is running in American Handgunner....so a GUN might be good somewhere in the ad (you know, hitting that target audience again)....it sends a message that if you're a gun person, this knife is your kind of knife. The reason that gun and knife photos are frequently published is because they possess a number of important elements that grab the reader's attention, especially in a publication like American Handgunner. We should be mindful of the demographics of the audience we are catering to.
Furthermore, the use of insets is meant to illustrate the areas of the knife that are "Precision fit." If you are concerned that they take away from the impact of the advertisement, consider this: It has been empirically demonstrated that repition and frequency breed familiarity, which in turn breeds "liking." So, from this perspective, the mere repition of showing the knife a number of times in the same advertisement "burns" the image into the viewers' minds and "stays" with them...thus, one could argue that this technique has more impact than a single view of the knife...and that's what we're concerned with, aren't we? Impact.
What I am trying to demonstrate here is that there are multiple ways of critiquing an advertisement, and there is no "one way." I think it is important to test one's hypothesis about the extent to which an advertisement is effective, and given the sheer number of people who have seen this ad, the statements made in this thread appear to represent a minority opinion. Given that I can not create an advertisement that will appeal to everybody, I can only create one that draws the attention and approval of the majority of those whom I am fortunate enough to solicit for feedback (I typically don't ask for feedback myself as I do not want to bias the reaction I get, so I give it to others to petition feedback).
I would normally agree that a straight on, plain-jane advertisement is often the way to go...if we were selling milk, perhaps, or if the industry weren't already saturated with myriad examples of advertisements and products that only differ from one another on a few variables....what's the number one variable that differentiates one knife from the next? Design, mostly...the materials are much the same, the technologies used in their making similar, so the only remaining element that sets one knife apart from another is DESIGN. Design is merely a product of each maker's individual creativity. So if what we're selling is one maker's design sense in contrast with that of a zillion other makers, it may also be important to make an advertisement that stands out from the rest of the crowd. In this way, the differences between all of these knives can be more clearly observed. The magazines are filled with the same old knife advertisements, all adhering to one of perhaps three different design approaches. If you want your knife advertisement to scream that it's just like every other knife, then you shouldn't be concerned with this point.
Finally, to make a statement about the cropped rendition of this advertisement, I enjoyed it! You must, however, realize that publishers offer a number of standard ad dimensions, and your rendition wouldn't fill that dimension. Also, and I mean no offense by this, you would have merely submitted an advertisement that looks so much like every other knife ad being run today.
I should stated that, overall, I believe that it is personal preference and design philosophy whether you like a "knife on a regular background" or something a little extra. Stating maxims and the "verisimilitude" of design and design methodology really flies in the face of much of what is being currently done today in advertisement. In addition, we should keep in mind that there are really very few such maxims that can be made about advertising that will traverse and transcend all of the various markets and industries.
It's important to realize that this advertisement is running in American Handgunner....so a GUN might be good somewhere in the ad (you know, hitting that target audience again)....it sends a message that if you're a gun person, this knife is your kind of knife. The reason that gun and knife photos are frequently published is because they possess a number of important elements that grab the reader's attention, especially in a publication like American Handgunner. We should be mindful of the demographics of the audience we are catering to.
Furthermore, the use of insets is meant to illustrate the areas of the knife that are "Precision fit." If you are concerned that they take away from the impact of the advertisement, consider this: It has been empirically demonstrated that repition and frequency breed familiarity, which in turn breeds "liking." So, from this perspective, the mere repition of showing the knife a number of times in the same advertisement "burns" the image into the viewers' minds and "stays" with them...thus, one could argue that this technique has more impact than a single view of the knife...and that's what we're concerned with, aren't we? Impact.
What I am trying to demonstrate here is that there are multiple ways of critiquing an advertisement, and there is no "one way." I think it is important to test one's hypothesis about the extent to which an advertisement is effective, and given the sheer number of people who have seen this ad, the statements made in this thread appear to represent a minority opinion. Given that I can not create an advertisement that will appeal to everybody, I can only create one that draws the attention and approval of the majority of those whom I am fortunate enough to solicit for feedback (I typically don't ask for feedback myself as I do not want to bias the reaction I get, so I give it to others to petition feedback).
I would normally agree that a straight on, plain-jane advertisement is often the way to go...if we were selling milk, perhaps, or if the industry weren't already saturated with myriad examples of advertisements and products that only differ from one another on a few variables....what's the number one variable that differentiates one knife from the next? Design, mostly...the materials are much the same, the technologies used in their making similar, so the only remaining element that sets one knife apart from another is DESIGN. Design is merely a product of each maker's individual creativity. So if what we're selling is one maker's design sense in contrast with that of a zillion other makers, it may also be important to make an advertisement that stands out from the rest of the crowd. In this way, the differences between all of these knives can be more clearly observed. The magazines are filled with the same old knife advertisements, all adhering to one of perhaps three different design approaches. If you want your knife advertisement to scream that it's just like every other knife, then you shouldn't be concerned with this point.
Finally, to make a statement about the cropped rendition of this advertisement, I enjoyed it! You must, however, realize that publishers offer a number of standard ad dimensions, and your rendition wouldn't fill that dimension. Also, and I mean no offense by this, you would have merely submitted an advertisement that looks so much like every other knife ad being run today.
- Joined
- Oct 4, 1998
- Messages
- 529
It would seem that since the "trend" is to do perspective pics and to clutter up ads with a multitude of smaller pictures then the original, uncropped ad would fit the bill as "advertisement that looks so much like every other knife ad being run today."
I am a meat and potatos kind of guy, I am not much into bells and whistles. When I see an ad I want just the pertinent info that I need to further make a decision. My A.D.D. can't cope with the rest of the fluff!! Anyway, that's just me and we are all different.
I am glad some of you considered this post a "good post". I figured I would get 2 or 3 replies...
Peace-
Cam
I am a meat and potatos kind of guy, I am not much into bells and whistles. When I see an ad I want just the pertinent info that I need to further make a decision. My A.D.D. can't cope with the rest of the fluff!! Anyway, that's just me and we are all different.
I am glad some of you considered this post a "good post". I figured I would get 2 or 3 replies...
Peace-
Cam
Gollnick
Musical Director
- Joined
- Mar 22, 1999
- Messages
- 29,258
He is right
and he is right too.
It depends on how you're trying to sell. Dr. Lathe's knives are not common commodities. They are exotic specialties.
Personally, I am tired of knife mug shots. Boring pictures that all look the same.
In the movie, A River Runs Through It, the father teaches his two sons to fly fish. "Casting," he drills them, "is an art practiced on a four-count rhythm between ten o'clock and two o'clock." And thus his boys learn to cast with consistently-good results. Consistency is the father's goal. One boy then goes off to college where he doesn't fish for years. The other stays home fishing most every day. When the first boy returns, the two naturally go out fishing. The first boy quickly returns to the consistent casts his father taught him, that four-count rhythm between ten and two o'clock. And he has good results. But, then he looks over and sees his brother who has broken free of the four-count rhythm and developed a wonderful and bold style all his own.
"Knife photography is an art practiced on a four-count rhythm between ten o'clock and two o'clock. First count: put the knife flat on a simple, neutral background with the tip at either ten o'clock or two o'clock. Second Count: Light the knife perfectly evenly. Third count: Focus exactly on the knife and compose the picture exactly centering the knife as the knife runs diagonally thorugh the center of the frame. fourth count: Click the shutter."
One, Two, Three, Four. One, Two, Three, Four. One, Two, Three, Four....
And just as those fly casts are consistent, so the pictures start to become consistent... they become a commodity. One might say "duplicative," or even, "monotonous."
That's why I try to break free of the four-count rhythm every now and then, change with the composition, experiment with the light, try a different angle, anything to add some creativity, some excitiment, something to make the picture different.
It's art, yes. But can it be advertising too? If it catches your eye, if it makes you stop and look, if it stands out from the crowd, then yes it can. It can carry the message: this is not just another commodity picutre of another commodity knife; this is different.
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2001
- Messages
- 4,399
Cam, where were you when we needed you? You would have made the perfect client!
My partner states in one of his books on advertising: "My ads are sledgehammers that break through the walls of indifference. I don't have to paint flowers on them to make them work better." (or something like that.) Creating a "creative" ad just to stand out from the crowd is a waste of money. If you have a good product, tell me about it.
A pregnant woman will read EVERY word of a 20,000 word full-page newspaper ad about baby care.
I can create an ad - USING TEXT ONLY - that EVERY member of this forum will read from start to finish. I guarantee it.
Quarter-page, half-page, full-page - it doesn't matter.
Headline in HUGE, bold letters (preferably Times New Roman):
"Knifemaker Tom Mayo to retire. Will give away ALL knives in stock to first 500 entries. Read rules below."
Then the rest of the ad in tiny, 6-point type.
I guarantee that if you're a member of this forum, you will read every word.
It's called "targeting".
- Joined
- Oct 4, 1998
- Messages
- 529
Cockroach-
If you put "Tom Mayo to retire" as the first words in your ad I would not read the rest of it. I would think that it was an article outlining his career history. It would be best to headline the ad with BIG BOLD letters "FREE CUSTOM KNIVES". Then you are guaranteed to have everyone's attention. But it would still be the bold header that gets the attention and lets the consumer know whether or not it is worth pursuing any further, prompting them to either continue to read, or not continue to read all the fine print. The same is with a knife picture. I could care less how much small print is there with all the other info I need about the knife specs, ordering info, etc. as long as the knife grabs my attention and warrants me pursuing it further. The thing is that I judge my choices in knives by what they are designed to do. I can tell what that is if I see a good side profile shot. If I see a good design that I like I will read the fine print. If I can't really tell what a knife looks like I will not read any further. If the knife's shape and profile is ambiguous but still "looks" as though it may be interesting (but you can't really tell because these perspective, flashy ads could be to make something look more appealing or to hide unappealing properties) I will still read the fine print hoping I can get some important info regarding the knife (such as blade specs) that SHOULD be evident from a simple picture.
Concerning the picture of the BM balisong above... I showed it to some friends who aren't knife afficianados and they had no idea what it was.
Peace-
Cam
If you put "Tom Mayo to retire" as the first words in your ad I would not read the rest of it. I would think that it was an article outlining his career history. It would be best to headline the ad with BIG BOLD letters "FREE CUSTOM KNIVES". Then you are guaranteed to have everyone's attention. But it would still be the bold header that gets the attention and lets the consumer know whether or not it is worth pursuing any further, prompting them to either continue to read, or not continue to read all the fine print. The same is with a knife picture. I could care less how much small print is there with all the other info I need about the knife specs, ordering info, etc. as long as the knife grabs my attention and warrants me pursuing it further. The thing is that I judge my choices in knives by what they are designed to do. I can tell what that is if I see a good side profile shot. If I see a good design that I like I will read the fine print. If I can't really tell what a knife looks like I will not read any further. If the knife's shape and profile is ambiguous but still "looks" as though it may be interesting (but you can't really tell because these perspective, flashy ads could be to make something look more appealing or to hide unappealing properties) I will still read the fine print hoping I can get some important info regarding the knife (such as blade specs) that SHOULD be evident from a simple picture.
Concerning the picture of the BM balisong above... I showed it to some friends who aren't knife afficianados and they had no idea what it was.
Peace-
Cam
- Joined
- Aug 4, 1999
- Messages
- 2,596
I think it's best for me to completely back out of having any involvement with the ad work. I'll stay with making the knives. I'm glad Dan didn't mention my stupid ideas or what I originally suggested 
It might have looked like a movie poster from the next Terminator movie
This is an excellent thread, lots of great thoughts and input!!
Neil
It might have looked like a movie poster from the next Terminator movie This is an excellent thread, lots of great thoughts and input!!
Neil