Artwork and Advertising.
“Artwork is an illustrative work prepared for reproduction that may consist of drawings, hand lettering, paintings, photographs anything that is not typeset as only text. The final artwork (called camera-ready artwork) usually includes instructions for color registration and color matching”.
Research has shown that visual artwork used in advertisements or on product packaging affects perceptions of luxury and contributes positively to attitudes toward products. It is also a magnificent tool for marketers who rely on its communicative power in a thoughtful and honest manner, but those who use it thoughtlessly are not likely to impress anyone. Thus, the use of visual artwork has been recommended to promote products ad. However, further investigation reveals that the use of artwork in advertising can backfire and have a negative impact if the consumers don’t perceive a fit between the artwork and the product being advertised. It is therefore, important that whoever that lays the advert should consider him or herself primarily a communicator, and not a designer. The main objective of using the art layout in the ad is to get people to read and understand your message, and eventually trigger the potential customers to act. The artwork should not be about the design perspective, rather about adopting a professional communication concepts for ads. Artworks in adverts must communicate and show relevance to the product brand. For instance wine bottle labels, showing a luncheon will be rated highly and seen as appropriate and will have more impact on the advertisement objectives than the one that features a child and the mother. If the art does not fit, there can be negative repercussions for advertisers and businesses who choose to use it in their advertisements.
Photos of people can create empathy with readers. Women respond better to other females, putting themselves in the picture. Men respond to sex in advertising more than women do, according to advertising researcher Richard F. Taflinger, associate professor at Washington State University's Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, so pictures of females may be a better choice than photos of other men. If you show a face, have the person looking into your ad, not off the page; readers will often follow the eyes of a person in a photo, which may direct them off your ad and onto the next page.
As stated earlier, understanding the target audience for your advertisement is paramount. From research, men and women respond to images differently. Males objectively respond better to more linear shapes and simple objects, looking for an objective answer while women emotionally prefer curves, colors and people that create a story. Based on this principle, we may choose brighter, softer colors for an ad targeting women and fewer, darker colors for men.
The typographic display of colors in our ad plays a vital role. A white type placed on a dark background makes your advert stand out from others and will have a negative effects as it will be so difficult to read. Gimmicky fonts, headlines in all caps with a sans serif font, and text running over a photo all make copy more difficult to read, driving down readership. Consider tightening up your text by decreasing the leading, or space between lines, from the default setting of your page layout program. Use a larger font for older readers. If you are doing a multi-page ad or brochure, stick with one font family, using italics or boldface for headings and subheadings. Using too many different fonts decreases the continuity of your message from page to page or panel to panel.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/artwork.html
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-art-layout-advertising-12873.html