I would like to get a slight bug-bear off my chest.  on the way out last night I caught this 16-sheet at Goodge street tube station.  its for a bed company and they’ve taken the tried and tested approach of utilising long copy on a cross-track.

but the copy is too small to read.

now I’d be the first to confess that my vision is hardly 20:20.  but I’d like to think that it’s fairly representative of the population as a whole.  and I simply couldn’t read the poster.

there’s no excuse.  Viacom (now CBS) can electronically mock-up copy in-situ and quickly get it to a client or creative agency.  whilst this won’t let you exactly see if every word can be read, it does give you a reliable idea of scale – allowing you to judge to what extent the copy can be easily read.

CBS optimistically estimate that they are asked for mock-ups of creative for only one in every thirty campaigns.  this just doesn’t seem like anywhere near enough.

waiting for a tube train is frustrating enough.  let’s not make it any more so!