<rant>

I had the 'reverse-text' rule pounded into me by a very nasty Art Director, Helmut Krone, when I started doing commercial art at DDB in the 'sixties. Worked on VW brochures, Avis collateral. He, and then I, were true believers in Bill Bernbach's advertising philosophy, which went along the lines of “The purpose of advertising is to sell. That is what the client is paying for and if that goal does not permeate every idea you get, every word you write, every picture you take, you are a phony and you ought to get out of the business.” And from that, if the body text is hard to read, they are off your ad and onto the next page.

We went, back then, on what seemed to make common sense. Not on research, not on focus groups. It is quite possible that research could show that reversed-body-text is as readable as not. But it isn't for me, and I doubt that it is for you.

Headlines are different, of course. But what I'm trying to get across here is that the ad isn't about the graphics; it is about the product and getting the reader to actually show up at the point of sale. Two more Bernbach quotes for you --

“Is creativity some obscure, esoteric art form? Not on your life. It’s the most practical thing a businessman can employ.”

But --

“Merely to let your imagination run riot, to dream unrelated dreams, to indulge in graphic acrobatics and verbal gymnastics in NOT being creative. The creative person had harnessed his imagination. He has disciplined it so that every thought, every idea, every word he puts down, every line he draws, every light and shadow in every photograph he takes, makes more vivid, more believable, more persuasive the original theme or product advantage he has decided he must convey.”

Much later, ran my own business for 15 years. Ads, brochures, web, PR. I believed (and still do) that sales are the lifeblood of any business, and everything else, like finance, marketing, or HR, is just the icing on the cake. Back then, if I made an ad, a brochure, or a webpage for you, it helped increase your sales. It helped you get more qualified customers. The results were measurable, and our transaction was simple: you remained my customer as long as your increased sales justified my expense. And there was no way I going to screw that up with reversed-body-text in your next ad!

</end rant>