Category: creative

SILENT SIGNALS: The importance of visual decisions

Subtle visual signals can have a MASSIVE impact in creative work. All because they can help – or hurt – your message.

Let’s quickly breakdown an example :30 TV ad from Fisher Investments. And then I’ll share 3 simple questions to ensure you’re making the right visual decisions in your own work.

Fisher’s ad explicitly states they are “different from other money managers.”

Lucky for us, a comparison ad makes it easier to demonstrate these visual differences. Here are at least 9 signals they’ve used:

  • Relaxed professional vs. Buttoned-up professional
  • Natural environment vs. Urban environment
  • Collaborative culture vs. Isolated culture
  • Warm, inviting colors vs. Cold, stark colors
  • Personable (photos on desks) vs. Impersonal (sterile desks)
  • Unique, eye-catching carpet vs. Bland, boring carpet
  • Open body language vs. Closed body language
  • Stand with clients vs. No clients (maybe we can infer those clients just left for Fisher)
  • Elevator’s upward motion (growth with Fisher) vs. Downward motion (decline with other money managers)

All together, these visual decisions communicate that Fisher Investments is warm, inviting, collaborative and, as they state, different from their competition.

When thinking about your creative work, ground yourself in these 3 questions when considering visual decisions:

  1. Who am I trying to reach?
  2. What am I trying to communicate?
  3. What visual clues and signals would a) support the message I am trying to communicate (for example – speed, quality, freshness, uniqueness, etc.), AND b) connect and resonate with the intended audience?

Taking a moment to reflect on and refine your visual decisions will enhance your connection to the audience, reinforce your message, and help you better achieve your objectives.

LAST NIGHT A LIGHTBULB MOMENT SMACKED ME IN THE FACE

In 2006 I picked up a digital camera and began to document the summer camps our non-profit was leading. Kids were having an amazing, life-giving experience – and photographs helped capture that impact.

Less than two years later, we moved to Nashville where I focused 100% on photography at my day job, along with other creative opportunities outside of work.

And that was my world for almost 10 years.

But now, when I reflect back on first picking up the camera to document at the non-profit, the photographs were the means – not the end.

The photos:

  • Provided imagery for our future summer camp marketing and content needs
  • Eased parent’s worries because we posted the photos daily on a public photo account (on Flickr) so they could see all the fun things their kids were doing
  • Created visual mementos for counselors, staff and especially the kids
  • Connected us more deeply to our donors when we packaged up the photos from kids and counselors into a coffee table book as a way to demonstrate our collective impact and to say “thank you” for their gifts of time, talents, and money

The photos were important, of course.

But it was really the creativity to figure out WHERE and HOW to use them in unique, memorable ways to help us better engage and connect with our key audiences…

THAT was the x-factor – and my superpower.

Sometimes a lightbulb moment smacks you in the face.

I’m just thankful for continued and unfolding awareness of how my skills, strengths, and experiences have come together to make a deep impact.

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long.

We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

– Walt Disney

“Either you’re the creator or you’re the audience. Either you’re waiting your turn or you’re taking it.

Create the program. Or be programmed.” – Seth Godin