Clarity and consistency are two important tools for capturing attention and developing trust with audiences. Visual perception is an important part of being clear and consistent, as 80% of what we learn comes to us through our eyes. I wish I could remember to whom I should attribute this statement, help me out if you know:

“The next time someone tells you that words are more important than visuals, ask him when he last read something before he saw it.”

Hey, I’m a writer as well as a designer, I believe in the power of words — I just know that you have to catch people’s attention first, and there’s nothing like visuals for that.

The visual goes to the emotional without the need for translation. That’s why we use pictures to communicate important information quickly, like “sharp turns in the road ahead,” or “don’t touch this hot electrical wire,” or “do this to activate your oxygen mask.” No need to translate into 6 or 8 different languages when good visuals are involved.

How many times have you seen these images on the card in the seat pocket in front of you? Did you ever have to wonder what they meant?

Keep this in mind the next time you’re communicating to your valued audiences — and make sure you choose the the right visuals to do the job.

[tags]visuals, clarity, consistency, visual perception, visual communication[/tags]

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 18th, 2007 at 10:28 pm and is filed under Tactics and Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.