In the late 1980s, Nobel-Prize-winning Bell Labs' scientist Arno Penzias scoffed at comments that the paperless office was imminent. "You know what I do when I get detailed e-mails? I print them out, write a response on the printout and interoffice mail it back to the sender." Although Penzias' comment was tongue-in-cheek, his point is as valid today as it was more than a dozen years ago. Human nature will insist on the comfort-food-like nature of pen-and-ink words on paper for the foreseeable future.

Most of our people have spent their careers in print operations, including major metropolitan newspapers and national magazines, writing on a wide range of topics, from economic to financial, technology, medical/healthcare, legal and consumer issues. Therefore, we love words as well as the persuasion and storytelling that they enable.

We also understand that words are just one of many factors influencing the power of print. Companies often significantly undervalue art and design. In our experience, readers make judgments about a vendor within five seconds of looking at a brochure, annual report, newsletter or white paper. That judgment is made before they read any of the text. The headline's wording, font size and style can speak volumes about the vendor's focus and positioning. Color choice and design style signal much more, such as technical vs. consumer, serious and powerful vs. friendly and playful. The decision to use illustrations rather than pictures, along with the style of illustration and the content of those pictures, also communicates significantly more than most marketing executives realize.

If we've done our job right, we've pulled the readers in. But the art director's job is by no means done. It continues with the choice and style of infographics. Art can be attractive, but its sole purpose should never be merely decorative. It must advance the story and communicate data in a way that words cannot. Some newsletters look so high-end that they unintentionally telegraph "marketing." Our approach is to communicate credibility with a journalist design. We consider the different messages of photographs vs. illustrations, schematics vs. screen captures and at-a-glance text charts vs. attractive, yet minimally informative data. The well-thought-out infographic can be powerful.