Visual Communication: A Creative and Powerful Form of Communicating

    There are several forms of communication. When someone says "communication" the first thought that comes to mind is talking; verbal communication. Despite this, the form of communication that is retained the most and, therefore, garners more responses is visual communication.

    Visual communication, when done correctly, has the power to change beliefs, to create and illustrate emotions and moods. It can be executed in so many different ways, through pictures, videos, drawing, painting, all sorts of artistic mediums. Although all forms of communication can be used creatively, visual communication provides the most artistic freedom to creatively send a message in the most meaningful way possible.

    With visual communication, there are many aspects that help clearly deliver a message to the viewer, but the most important and impactful is color. Every color has an emotion, feeling, thought, or mood associated with them. It could even be different for every person. Knowing and understanding the meanings of a color and what it can represent helps create a tone for a message, and seeing those colors can help the viewer understand the message clearly. But, color is powerful, and as much as it can help with conveying a message, it can hinder the delivery of that message as well.

    Visual communication is often associated with marketing. A key part in marketing is associating feelings to a brand. For instance, the makeup brand Glossier. Glossier has a beautiful, simple, and minimal style. Their brand colors are pink and white. Their pictures look like there is no makeup on the models, enforcing the brand's idea that makeup is meant to enhance someone's looks, not change them. Overall, the visual communication from this brand is highly minimalistic, fresh and simple, and is meant to target an audience going for that kind of look.

    Another brand with strong visual communication is Apple. Apple has the professional, simple look to their products and packaging. Their website colors are simple, white and black and shades of gray. The images they have available depict a sleek and simple style to their products, and create a feeling of luxury. These are a few of the characteristics that Apple uses to visually communicate what their products are about to their audience.

    The clothing brand Free People is another brand with strong visual communication, from photos of their clothing to the colors of their website. Their photos create a feeling of freedom, earthiness, and natural beauty and style, and framed with the earth toned colors, these feelings are what get people to buy their items. Even the logo adds to this feeling. It looks freely drawn and the cursive font is very feminine and elegant. Their visual communication creates the desire to continue or develop this naturally elegant yet simple and casual style.

    Visual communication is a creative way of delivering a message to an audience. It is powerful, but can easily be misinterpreted if not done correctly. But if done correctly, it isn't only a way of communicating, it's a work of art.