Volume 9–2 (Low Res).pdf

avertise ez), v.t. i. Notify,
warn, inform, (person of thing, that);
make generally known (thing by circular,
in journal, also abs.);
CONCISE OXFORD DICTIONARY
Not a lot of help as definitions go. Not a word to say that if the advertisement doesn't catch
the eye, few people will be notified, warned or informed. Not a word about roomfuls of
desperate people all over the world gazing at blank sheets of paper. Nor a hint that if they
succeed in their quest for something eye-catching, that same eye will soon wander once they
start to inform.
Slogans are a help. If U8-1c were a golfing magazine we could say: 'Scratch golfers use Else
on their print orders', with the scarcely hidden suggestion that here at last is something that
might improve your golf more than a new putter.
Or it would probably cost less to advertise in one of those airline magazines that we all read
so thoroughly while waiting for the drinks to arrive: 'High fliers use Else in their corporate
literature'. This would also sit a little better with the Advertising Standards people, as there
is no difficulty in demonstrating that anyone placed five or six miles above the ground can
be called a high flier. You only need two, after all. But the information will still deter. Unless
we say that Else comes in four colours, does 125 mph, accelerates from 0 to 60 in 4.8
seconds, and can be used in any Western capital including Athens. Plus Moscow.
`Notify and inform'. 'Warn' is more of a problem. What can we warn you about? We can
warn you, perhaps, that if you don't start using Else you won't have so much time for golf,
or that you'll find it harder to pay for the air fare than those who do. Or we could warn you
that three more manufacturers have joined Alphatype and Autologic in putting Else on their
systems, and that you will shortly be getting pressure from them, too, to use the series.
The truth of the matter is that a good advertisement in this magazine is a lost cause. It is
designers who read U8-1c. The last thing designers want is a better ad than they can make
themselves. But a bad ad excites a certain morbid interest.
It follows, therefore, that if you have read this far you can make a better layout using Else
than we can. Now is the time to get on with it.
If you are one of those who was 'notified' in our last advertisement about the competition we
are holding for the best use of Else, we have some additional information. There will be six
categories: Books, Magazines, Display Advertising, Mailings, Corporate Literature and
Work done by a Student under 21. All except the last category, which may be for an
imaginary project, must have been published by the run-out date of 31st March next year.
The run-out date may be extended if the series has not been available on at least five systems
six months previously. We also hope to have the series on transfer lettering for the students
in sufficient time to help the impoverished. The prize in each category is a week in the Hotel
de l'Abbaye, or its equivalent in Europe if something untoward happens, and five hundred
dollars towards travel and drinks. The week we would prefer would be in early September
1983, giving the winners a chance to meet each other and as many judges as have collected
enough in the way of backhanders to go as well. Although we think such a gathering would
be fun, swimming, rowing and drinking together, it is not obligatory to go during the week
we propose.
Further details are in preparation and a printed announcement will shortly be available for
anyone who wishes to read the fine print before applying.Yet we are able to accept entries
from now on. Entries received will be acknowledged by returning a copy of the entry, or part
of it. The name and address of the designer should be fixed to the entry, but preferably in
such a way that we don't have to blank it out before the judging which we think is better
achieved without knowing the names of the entrants. If as we hope, the quality of entry
is high, we should also like to mount a show of some of the best, at which point we would
indicate whose work was involved.
The main criterion of judging will naturally be good design, that the work should be effective
in its task, but it is plainly an advantage if the use of the Else series should help achieve this
aim. Exclusive use of Else is not necessary.
NORTON PHOTOSETTING LTD P 0 BOX 13 PRINCES RISBOROUGH BUCKS ENGLAND