How Design Communicates
There are elements of design we don’t often think about whenever we see a piece of communication. Advertising, packaging, magazines, and even political campaign materials must use effective graphic design for the message they’re trying to convey to be successful.
Written communication alone is not enough, especially today, where so many of our media channels use visuals as an integral part of their delivery. Copy must work in tandem with the visual imagery accompanying it to be engaging and relevant.
Why Should We Consider Graphic Design?
With many benefits to visual communication, the most important thing to remember is how graphical images make information easier to digest and understand. Visuals can be personal to the designer but also the viewer. Visual imagery can create and evoke powerful emotions in our audiences that perhaps wouldn’t have the same experience without it.
Finally, visual imagery is a more effective way of communicating information. Whether it’s a video, a piece of graphic or motion design, or even a photograph used in mass communication, visual imagery adds depth, making communication more engaging and memorable to potential viewers.
Being Bold in Your Message
The elements of graphic design aid in packing a punch into the message your communication piece aims to convey. Color is incredibly powerful, but texture, shape, line, and composition are other things to consider. All of these things must work together with your text for your piece to be considered successful.
Take the poster from former President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. At the time, four variations of the poster were circulating in the United States. One, and arguably the most popular and recognizable, said “hope,” while others used words like “change,” “progress,” and “Obama.” Alone, the words on these posters are powerful enough, relaying the message of hope for the future, progress in American politics, and change in our national culture. Pairing them with this particular portrait of the candidate made this image iconic and led to its acquisition for the National Portrait Gallery by the Smithsonian Institution.
The colors, in particular, are a crucial part of this communication piece. The color palette is simple, with three colors employed by the piece; red, white, and blue, quintessential American colors. The lettering in the piece is always blue, indicative of the political party under which Obama was running for office. The cream color creates highlights in the portrait, parts of it which the audience’s eyes are drawn to, coincidentally, the main subject’s eyes are painted or surrounded by this color. This creates a personal connection or intimacy between the communication piece and the viewers. Finally, using red is probably the most essential part of the piece. Like the other colors, red is also used deliberately. It aims to connect with the other major political parties in U.S. politics. This is a visual representation of “reaching across the aisle” and trying to bring people together under the ideas of “hope,” “change,” and “progress.
The Art of Persuasion
It’s safe to assume that the point of mass communication is to inform, connect, remind, or persuade. Often, communication is used to nudge someone in a particular direction.
Whether it’s towards a specific product or event, or like in the case above, towards a person or idea, having insight as to how design elements like colors and composition can make the consumer feel and using that knowledge to then cater to those audiences and drive them to make certain decisions.
It is not necessarily an easy thing to do. A lot of thought, empathy, and intention has to go into making the right design choices to accompany a piece of textual communication. But doing so can elevate and carry out the message being transmitted to its full potential, reaching across audiences and ultimately being successful.
