Tips from Idea15 Web Design

I am currently reading a book which I checked out from my local library. The book was in a special display with the promotional decor of a campaign called “Get a Grip!” According to my local library system’s web site, this is what the “Get a Grip” campaign is about:

Can you remember the experience of being so engrossed in a book that you couldn’t bear to put it down? The Get a Grip promotion aims to capture the feeling of compulsion that drives a reader to keep going while the dinner burns, while the train pulls away from the stop, or while their partner quietly snores next to them in the wee small hours. The books in this collection are not just from the obvious crime, thriller or horror genres, we have widened the theme to include non-fiction titles, gripping yarns from sea-faring adventures to mountain-top tragedies, plus short stories, literary and foreign fiction, and Black and Asian writing. So go on, grab a book from our collection – you might find that it has gripped you and won’t let go.

Nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is the promotional postcard which the library system has inserted into all of the “Get a Grip” books. Here is a scan of the postcard.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That building on the left is the north tower of the World Trade Center, and the other buildings are numbers 2, 3, and 4 World Financial Center. From the location of the background shot, the image implies that this photoshopped gentleman is hanging off WTC building 5 or 6, although the height he is dangling at would only match one other building. No need to mention which one.

Graphic designers are as clever as they are perceptive. Whoever designed this promotional campaign knew exactly which images they were using. And whoever approved this promotional campaign doesn’t get out much.  Make sure the latter isn’t you.

I’ve seen lots of photoshoppery which went over the line, but those images were safely confined to humour and entertainment sites. Not inserted into library books at public expense.