I recently came across this article…
“Corporate flat art proves big business is infatuated with ugliness”
…and it caught my attention.
That’s because there’s was something bugging me about a number of online sales letters that I had read in the last week or so.
This article made me realise what it was…the letters contained a ton of corporate flat art style images…and they annoyed me.
If you’re not familiar with the term…corporate flat art is a flat, geometric art style. It commonly features flat human characters in action, with disproportionate features such as long and bendy limbs, and minimal facial features.
There’s an example at the top of this post.
These type of graphics are everywhere in corporate communications. Public sector organisations, in particular, use them.
But…as mentioned above…they also seem to be quite widely used in sales letters by marketers….who may be missing out on sales, conversions and response as a result.
Now, it’s understandable why marketers might think it’s a good idea to use these kind of graphics.
Firstly, the proper use of graphics can improve the response from a sales letter. We’ll return to this shortly.
Secondly…corporate flat art is easily available and widely used. If that’s the case…then why not use it?
This is the mistake of thinking that if “Big Brands” are doing it, then you should copy what they are doing. More often than not…as people like Dan Kennedy point out…you’re better off doing something different.
Let’s go back and look at why you might want to use graphics in a sales message.
The great Claude Hopkins devoted Chapter 9 of “Scientific Advertising” to the use of pictures in advertising. He wrote…
“Pictures should not be used merely because they are interesting. Or to attract attention. Or to decorate an ad….Use them (pictures) only when they form a better selling argument than the same amount of space set in type.”
Victor Schwab in “How to Write a Good Advertisement” has this to say about…
What Your Pictures Should (and Should Not) Do…
First, an illustration should be relevant to the product, its use and your copy story about it.
Secondly, an illustration should not be used simply to produce an artistic effect, a decorative touch, or an “atmospheric aura”. It should do a specific selling job pictorially, substantiate and advance the copy story.
To emphasise the point…graphics are there to support and advance your sales message.
Now, corporate flat art images may be able to achieve this goal.
However, there are a number of reasons why they may be a poor choice…
(1) They may not provide a good fit with the copy. If you’re using a ready-made set of these images, it’s unlikely you’re going to find ones that really match your specific situation. This is a general problem with using stock images of any kind.
(2) As noted in the article mentioned above, a lot of people dislike these kind of images and may be put off from reading the copy.
(3) Because these images are widely used in the corporate world, they will tend to make your ads look more corporate style. Your ads are also likely to blend in with the crowd of (often) bland ads and fail to stand out.
One further point. In general, it’s better to use a photograph in your ad rather than a drawing or illustration. The exception, can be a well chosen cartoon.
So, if you are using corporate flat art images in your ads, it’s worth reviewing and looking at alternatives. Of course, as with any kind of direct response advertising, the best way to find out what will work best is to…TEST.