To start a bill-posting campaign the advertiser would first of all con sult the artist, and receive from him rough suggestions of the poster he would consider advisable. These suggestions would be drawn to scale much smaller than the poster would be when completed. Such a sua gestion would give a complete idea down to the details of the printing. The next step would be the actual production of the poster itself, for which the business man would go to the colour printer. After securing delivery of his printed posters he would need the services of a bill-posting firm to provide him with an estimate for posting the picture on the various hoardings in the district he desires to cover. Many business men go to one firm, who will take over the work from start to finish. There are well-known printers who combine all these functions. They will not only get the poster by dealing with the artist, but they will both print and display it, making an inclusive estimate for the whole work. In other cases advertising agents act as the middle men, completing the under taking from every point of view. Some firms prefer to be relieved of all the detail work, while others go into the matter at every stage, from the first sketch supplied by the artist to the final contract for bill-posting. My experience has led me to the belief that most firms would prefer to deal direct with the artist for the poster itself, and probably they are right, for, after all, the picture one is going to put out is the vital point in the transaction. Another practical hint in the preparation of a successful poster is the importance of selecting a suitable title. Some goods are almost made through the happiness of the titles which describe them, and certainly half the battle lies in possessing a title made up of letters which attract the eye, and form a word easily memorised and conveying some idea of the goods offered. For instance, in my opinion, Oxo is a perfect specimen of the one-word title, while its competitor, Bovril, is another excellent example of what can be done in the descriptive manner by one word. The title helps in many ways. In the case of Oxo, by the use of three letters only it indicates the goods sold and the uses to which they may be put. Again, the word is brief and bright, and lends itself to all sorts of original adaptions in the designs with which it is associated. Many excellent advertising ideas have been worked by Oxo, using the formation of the title as the central idea. Even where it does not form part of the design, Oxo lends itself to incorporation by its neatness, and by taking up very little space owing to its brevity. A title with a long or ugly word, or with several words, not only makes the task of the poster artist more difficult, but it makes the printing details more elaborate, and by overcrowding the poster with letterpress defeats the aim of the artist, who makes simplicity in posters his keynote. I do not think I can emphasise
the necessity for a carefully chosen title too strongly.
The work of producing posters has opened up a very profitable field to the artist. Many men nowadays are producing posters almost to the exclusion of any other form of art, and they find in the work ample remune ration for their talents. I should consider the qualifications of a poster artist are (1) craftsmanship, with an individual style as simple, direct, and telling as possible; (2) a good colour sense, an important feature in the development of the poster ; while a third excellent qualification in the poster artist is some practical appreciation of the selling points of the article he is asked to advertise. It is possible to make a poster which is a very artistic creation and yet possesses no selling points whatever. I consider art in a poster a delightful thing, and the poster to my mind cannot be too artistic; but behind and beyond this the main point should not be lost to sight—the poster must do its work by influencing people to buy.
There is, of course, always room for first-class poster work, and there are not too many good poster men about. The trouble is, the conventional training of the artist at the schools is apt to make a man's poster work impossible. The production of a poster is a highly specialised form of art, and its technique demands a special training. I would strongly recom mend the young artist to go in for poster work ; indeed, I have gone so far as to establish a school where poster methods are taught by myself to artists who want to specialise in this important field. I recommend this branch of art to artists because I believe there is ample work, and there never was a greater demand for posters than there is to-day. It should not be for gotten, of course, that poster work is not nearly so easy as it looks. People who see work which is very simple, and frequently contains a few lines and little suggestion of drudgery, seem to think that things are done in odd moments snatched from a life of pleasure, the artist earning a fabulous income for a minimum amount of work. I need hardly say that the man who goes into the poster field with the belief that it is as easy as this is foredoomed to great disappointment. The simplest lettering poster very often represents the most sheer hard work, and to the making of these apparently easily conceived effects days go instead of the minutes allotted to their construction by the untutored critic in the streets.
Poster work provides big rewards for the successful artist, and it is a branch of art worth studying by the student ; but I may say that efficiency is only secured as a result of hard work, and the experience of constantly striving to secure the boldest effects by the simplest possible means.