Sunday 29 April 2012

Be careful of dodgy relationships



There have been a few embarrassing juxtapositions doing the rounds this week, including the three above. The 'Man plunges to his death front' is at least six years old. I remember using it during design courses to illustrate the point that anyone laying out a page should always see the adverts first. Incidentally, I am told by my Aussie mates that the spelling of Pedophile on the Sunshine Coast daily is correct. New one on me. There is no doubt that the dodgy juxtaposition of headlines and pictures is rarely libellous and can cause amusement and a flurry of attention. But sometimes an inappropriate relationship can also be crass, in bad taste and occasionally hurtful. At best it will have people laughing at your paper, not a good thing. Subs, layout artists and advertising staff need to be wary of them. Here are a few more. Be warned.












Footnote: Since I posted these @SimonNRicketts has pointed out that the Obama page from the Washington Post is probably a spoof. Here's the evidence. @foodepedia asks if we would change an advert or story. It's a fine line. I haven't changed copy or the wording of an advert but I have moved stories and ads so they don't sit next to each other. I have even thrown and advert out of the paper ... and been thanked by the advertiser for saving him from embarrassment. 
 

1 comment:

  1. Great selection, Peter, but I'm sure Strauss-Kahn's hair-do was done on purpose! Sadly, we can expect to see more like these as more and more newspapers are stripped of their editors and sub-editors.

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