Wherever we look these days, there are alluring, alluring, and provocative images to entice us to click, read, or watch. Without these temptations, we move forward until something catches our interest. Okay, it’s fair to say that there are, in fact, words that can do this too. Actually, the sentences would be more precise. The right combination of information can stop us in our tracks and make us pay attention. Combine that with the right image and you have a sure winner. But wait… let’s go one step further: the right combination of words, the right image, and a sharp, professional presentation – now there’s a formula that leads you by the nose down the path of no return. You have been detained without even knowing it. So powerful is the attraction that you have lost all awareness that you have been sucked into a trap, your curiosity driving you deeper and deeper into the abyss that beckons you. Suffice it to say that this is the essence of effective marketing, one of the most manipulative forces in the cosmos. Transcending culture, intelligence, profession and any other human characteristic, this is a phenomenon of unimaginable proportions, capable of moving an entire life form towards the desired end.
But how fickle we are. With attention spans of no more than a nanosecond, we seem to be a nation riding the coattails of the latest fad, intoxicated by a momentary infatuation with the newest fad, usually the product of the media circus. At this very moment, we’re all caught up in the LeBron James decision, the BP oil spill, the obesity epidemic, and the global recession, in that order. But give it a couple of days and we’ll be in a whole new spectrum of more current issues generated by the hype of that day.
As a result, the competition is quite stiff for all those who aspire to achieve marketing superiority. Complicated by the many ways we market, including a predominance of those that are visually driven, I re-introduce the topic of this article: the importance of graphic design.
What exactly is graphic design? It is both art and science. It is the ability to package a visual presentation with the trappings of intellectual brilliance, psychological influence, and cosmetic brilliance. Using style and content to elicit the optimal viewer reaction, successful graphic design controls the entire message delivery experience, where the reception is consistently strong, compelling and memorable.
Walk down the aisle of any supermarket, stroll down any major avenue, or spend some time surfing the Internet or flipping channels and you’ll be bombarded with endless visual stimuli. Color, shape, size and composition: these are the variables that define our options. Do we respond to big, bold and rich, or delicate, subtle and pale? Modern or classic? Plain or embellished? Simple or busy? Smart or dumb? Ridiculous or sublime? The alternatives are endless. Effective graphic design grabs us by the throat and forces us to react impulsively based on our innate sense of taste and preference. Without a moment’s hesitation, we like it or we dislike it. Buy it or scrap it altogether.
This can be a big bet for the marketing team, betting the farm on a single concept that uses a particular mode of graphic design. All of us in sales know that you can’t please everyone all the time. But tell that to the pushy client who is waiting for the moon on a silver platter.
What works better: the tried and true, or the revolutionary and innovative? Do people feel safer with the same old or do they crave the thrill of something new and different? It really depends on the market you are targeting. With the tools of graphic design to work with, some marketers plan to wow the gullible masses with their favorite tricks of the trade, usually miraculous claims of suspicious origin. Then there are those who take an alternative route, resorting to sophisticated propositions to trick an unsuspecting segment of the market into swallowing their pitch: hook, line, and sinker. My octogenarian parents used to fall into this group: fooled by a letter telling them they had proven themselves worthy of belonging to some distinguished group that recognized that higher prices indicated true quality. Oh, the tactics that give this profession a bad name! Few and far between are the trusted vendors who take the high road, representing their products fairly and unequivocally, in a manner that emulates the utmost excellence.
This places an enormous responsibility on the graphic designer, who must be able to fulfill the role of marketing expert, client liaison, creative director, copyeditor, and visual conceptualizer, not to mention a misleading prevaricator and misleading feat, in some cases. cases. And in more than a few small businesses, that function is performed by one person.
While traditional Madison Avenue advertising boutiques may have utilized a group of specialists in the industry’s heyday, the result of that kind of collaborative effort was often a watered-down performance due to too many compromises brought about by self-centered goals. When a single artist is given free rein, the end result can be a surprising departure from the norm. Art by committee rarely is. Of course, that assumes the graphic designer is a genius with the ability to understand what is needed and how to make it happen. Too often, whether due to lack of experience and/or lack of talent, graphic design can easily miss its mark, sometimes confusing the problem beyond recognition, even stifling its appeal with a total lack of aesthetics!
Since graphic design is a component of so many varieties of communications, including advertisements, mailers, banners, publications, reports, letters, invitations, trademarks, websites, greeting cards, signs, displays, programs, movie titles, packaging, posters, jackets and more, to name a few examples, its applications are universal and its impact is indispensable. The next time you’re faced with a dilemma that involves making a decision about which product to buy, simply ask yourself, “Do I get this because I think it’s the best option, or do I reject it because it costs too much?” Whatever you’re doing, there’s a good chance its graphic design has influenced you in one way or another!