Has this thought ever crossed your mind?

“For the same price as 1 full color ad in a magazine,  I can run a grayscale ad for 3 months!”

If you’re a designer, most likely not.  So why is it that this train of thought is so popular among clients?  In their mind all ads are equal, so the cheaper the better, and we all know that is not often the case.

A few years back I had a great client, but he loved to get as many ads in as many magazines as possible, so all his ads were grayscale.  In his mind he was saving $600 by not using color.  After some major convincing, he now understood the real reason why full color ads cost so much, and more importantly, why they have more of an impact than their grayscale bretheren.

When you have a client that is hellbent on getting 6 ads for $1000, this could make for some frustrating times.  You could just make the ads for him and be on your merry way, or you could do what’s best for your client, and inform them of the psychological impact a full color ad can have. (more…)