Missing From Modern Auto Advertising: The Power of Illustration

In the longest of my several careers I was an advertising copywriter and, later, creative director, working mostly on car accounts. At the time we depended on photography to show the cars, as is the case today. I wouldn't have even considered illustrations. Now, older and slightly wiser, I've learned to appreciate how art could add a sense of romance and adventure to our concepts of an automobile. I respect the work of those long-ago illustrators and if I were a creative director today I'd explore the use of art, especially with the magic of computer

drawing programs. If nothing else, it would set the client's ads apart from today's look-alike and not very interesting print materials.