"A picture is worth a thousand words". But where did it come from?, who was the originator?, and is it still valid today?
It turns out that are multiple references throughout recent history.
In March 1911, the Syracuse Advertising Men's Club held a banquet to discuss journalism and publicity. In an article in The Post-Standard covering this event, the author quoted Arthur Brisbane as saying: "Use a picture. It's worth a thousand words".
A similar phrase, "One Look Is Worth A Thousand Words", appears in a 1913 newspaper advertisement for the Piqua Auto Supply House of Piqua, Ohio. Image below.
The modern use of the phrase is generally attributed to Fred R. Barnard, who wrote this phrase in the advertising trade journal Printers' Ink, promoting the use of images in advertisements that appeared on the sides of streetcars. The December 8, 1921, issue carries an advert entitled, "One Look is Worth A Thousand Words".
However . . .
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) is credited with saying "A good sketch is better than a long speech".
Going back even further in history, we find that Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) wrote that a poet would be "overcome by sleep and hunger before [being able to] describe with words, what a painter is able to [depict] in an instant".
It is absolutely still a valid phrase and is used even in all forms of modern digital media, including AI artwork generators. You can see it in our banner heading image on our website home page and in many other images on our pages. Contact us via: alan@digitaladvantage.me to put it into action for your own marketing strategy.
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