ONCE SEEING IS BETTER, THAN A HUNDRED TIMES TELLING
THE NERVES THAT LEAD FROM THE EYE TO THE BRAIN ARE MANY TIMES LARGER THAN THOSE LEADING FROM THE EAR, AND SCIENCE TELLS US THAT WE GIVE TWENTY-FIVE TIMES AS MUCH ATTENTION TO EYE SUGGESTIONS AS WE DO TO EAT SUGGESTIONS.
ONE SEEIING, SAYS AN OLD JAPANESE PROVERB, IS BETTER THAN A HUNDRED TIMES TELLING ABOUT.
SO, IF YOU WISH TO BE CLEAR, PICTURE, VISUALIZE YOUR IDEAS. THAT WAS THE PLAN OF THE LATE JOHN H.PATTERSON, PRESIDENT OF THE WELL-KNOWN NATIONAL CASH REGISTER COMPANY. HE WROTE AN ARTICLE FOR SYSTEM MAGAZINE, OUTLINING THE METHODS HE USED IN SPEAKING TO HIS WORKMEN AND HIS SALES FORCES:
I HOLD THAT ONE CANNOT RELY ON SPEECH ALONE TO MAKE HIMSELF UNDERSTOOD OR TO GAIN AND HOLD ATTENTION . A DRAMATIC SUPPLEMENT IS NEEDED. IT IS BETTER TO SUPPLEMENT WHENEVER POSSIBLE WITH PICTURES WHICH SHOW THE RIGHT AND THE WRONG WAY, DIAGRAMS ARE MORE CONVINCING THAN MERE WORDS, AND PICTURES ARE MORE CONVINCING THAN DIAGRAMS. THE IDEAL PRESENTATION OF A SUBJECT IS ONE IN WHICH EVERY SUB DIVISION IS PICTURED AND IN WHICH THE WORDS ARE USED ONLY TO CONNECT THEM. I EARLY FOUND THAN IN DEALING WITH MEN, A PICTURE WAS WORTH MORE THAN ANYTHING I COULD SAY.
LITTLE GROTESQUE DRAWINGS ARE WONDERFULLY EFFECTIVE... I HAVE A WHOLE SYSTEM OF CARTOONING OR "CHART TALKS". A CIRCLE WITH A DOLLAR MARK MEANS A PIECE OF MONEY. A BAG MARKED WITH A DOLLAR IS A LOT OF MONEY. MANY GOOD EFFECTS CAN BE HAD WITH MOON FACES. DRAW A CIRCLE, PUT IN A FEW DASHES FOR THE EYES, NOSE, MOUTH, AND EARS. TWISTING THESE LINES GIVES THE EXPRESSIONS. THE OUT-OF-DATE MAN HAS THE CORNER OF HIS MOUTH DOWN, THE CHIPPER, UP-TO-DATE FELLOW HAS THE CURVES UP. THE DRAWINGS ARE HOMELY, BUT THE MOST EFFECTIVE CORTOONISTS ARE NOT THE MEN WHO MAKE THE PRETTIEST PICTURES. THE THING IS TO EXPRESS THE IDEA AND THE CONTRAST.
THE BIG BAG AND THE LITTLE BAG OF MONEY, SIDE BY SIDE, ARE THE NATURAL HEADS FOR THE RIGHT WAY AS OPPOSED TO THE WRONG WAY, THE ONE BRINGS MUCH MONEY, THE OTHER LITTLE MONEY. IF YOU SKETCH THESE RAPIDLY AS YOU TALK, THERE IS NO DANGER OF PEOPLE'S LETTING THEIR MINDS WANDER, THEY ARE BOUND TO LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND THUS TO GO WITH YOU THROUGH THE SUCCESSIVE STAGES TO THE POINT YOU WANT TO MAKE. AND AGAIN, THE FUNNY FIGURES PUT PEOPLE IN GOOD HUMOUR.
I USED TO EMPLOY AN ATTIST TO HAND AROUND IN THE SHOPS WITH ME AND QUIETLY MAKE SKETCHES OF THINGS THAT WERE NOT BEING DONE RIGHT. THEN THE SKETCH WERE MADE INTO DRAWINGS AND I CALLED THE MEN TOGETHER AND SHOWED THEM EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING. WHEN I HEARD OF THE STEREOPTICON I IMMEDIATELY BOUGHT ONE AND PROJECTED THE DRAWINGS ON THE SCREEN, WHICH OF COURSE, MADE THEM EVEN MORE EFFECTIVE THAN ON PAPER. THEN CAME THE MOVING PICTURE. I THINK THAT I HAD ONE OF THE FIRST MACHINES EVER MADE AND NOW WE HAVE A BIG DEPARTMENT WITH MANY MOTION PICTURE FILMS MORE THAN 60,000 COLOURED STEREOPTICON SLIDES.
NOT EVERY SUBJECT OR OCCASION, OF COURSE, LENDS ITSELF TO EXHIBITS AND DRAWINGS, BUT LET US USE THEM WHEN WE CAN, THEY ATTRACT ATTENTION, STIMULATE INTEREST AND OFTEN MAKE OUR MEANING DOUBLY CLEAR.
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