The Significance of Visual Communication Jan 20th

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People on the rise of the internet have an attention span of fewer than nine seconds. According to a 2019 study published in Nature Communications, our collective attention span is actually decreasing, and this effect can be seen across a variety of domains, including books, web searches, movie popularity, and more. As a result, visuals, particularly on social media, are more important than ever. It helps everyone refocus and return to the main ideas of content by transforming it into a distraction-proof, problem-solving tool. They also provide a fresh, eye-catching way that words alone cannot and allow a more personal and creative approach to communication.

Visual communication is the practice of representing and communicating information in the form of graphics, images, and visuals. This allows us to efficiently and effectively share important and relevant data. This also addresses challenges such as the limited attention span of the audience and memory retention of content.

When you get lost in your country, it is easy to ask for directions because you know how to speak the local language. What if you're in a foreign city and you don't speak the language very well? Maybe asking directions won't do much good but utilizing visuals through maps, landmarks, routes, and familiar signs can successfully lead you to your destination. This scenario shows one use of visual communication.

A pictogram conveys meaning through its resemblance to a physical object such as wayfinding signage at airports. Ideograms represent an idea or concept such as the red circle that means “not allowed”, or the orange or yellow triangle that means “attention” or “danger”. Both are graphical symbols used in road signages, buildings, streets, train stations, electronic devices, computers, etc. In some cases, they can be combined such as the “No Smoking” sign. 

Today, everyone has unlimited access to a camera and we can easily take photos. Pictures are a representation of someone or something produced by drawing, painting, or photographing. It is widely used by people to express their ideas, opinions, and sentiments. Pictures and images are an effective way to communicate because our brain processes them faster than text, increases message memorability, and crosses language barriers.

Another valuable visual communication tool is infographics, a visual representation of information or data. They are useful for providing a short overview of a topic, explaining a difficult procedure, displaying research findings or survey data, summarizing a long blog post or report, comparing and contrasting, and raising awareness about an issue or cause. Excellent at simplifying difficult information.

Canva is probably one of the most powerful and easy-to-use content marketing tools for many professionals. It allows us to create and edit customized images for sharing on social media, illustrating blog posts, and much more. Adobe Spark is also great in creating graphics, collages, flyers, videos, and animations that look professional in just a few clicks.

There is no denying that we live in a visual age. That implies you're losing your audience if you don't have a visual content creation strategy. Marketers, communications professionals, and designers must understand the fundamentals of visual communication design to create high-quality content that gives factual information in a captivating manner.