Placing of Advertisements

Would it be possible to arrange your magazine so that all its subject-matter is contained on the inside pages and the advertisements are contained in the outer pages.

A bound volume would then be of moderate proportion and still contain all relevant subject matter.

Perhaps a compromise could be arranged whereby the more important reading is placed centrally and the reading of only temporary importance is interspersed with the advertisements. —D.L.D., Christchurch.

This is an old question, D.L.D., and not quite so simple as it sounds. All popular magazines consist of a large number of units—articles, illustrations and advertisements, and our problem each month is to combine all these units into one hundred or so equal-sized pages. It is really a very complex design prob-Irm. We endeavour to combine them in such a way as to achieive unity both of sense and of visual effect. We have also to achieve a physical unity; in other words, to make the jigsaw fit and to do all this in accordance with the mechanical requirements of printing and binding. The advertisements are an integral part of this whole, even if for no other reason than that the advertisers have paid for their insertion in order to achieve a specific result. Apart altogether from this, very many readers have told us that they find the advertisement of considerable value when they are seeking materials, appliances, etc.

From the visual viewpoint, we believe that 20-30 pages of solid advertisements back and front—many of which would conflict with each other in design-would not be nearly so satisfactory as our present policy of separating them with half-pages or so of even-toned type matter. The segregation of the editorial matter also would mean that frequently articles which conflicted in either design or interest would have to be placed side by side.

Despite the above, D.L.D., thank you for your interest and suggestion.

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