Less text + More Effective Graphics = More Engaging Web Design

With the amount of websites we are inundated with everyday, it is imperative that we say more with less when attempting to communicate complex ideas. The job of great graphical design isn’t to be the loudest kid on the block, but rather a guide that makes the user-experience intuitive and effortless.

Why are visuals and graphics a necessity to clear and effective communication rather than straight text?  We will explore the importance of this concept and provide links to other similar thoughts and examples as well.

When I think of the relationship between graphics and text, I associate it with the relationship between tune and lyrics in music. The visually pleasing look of an ad, logo, or presentation relates to an enjoyable melodic tune that pulls your attention away from all the other stimuli around you and focuses your senses.  Success is only achieved when it focuses your attention.  Question for you: how many song lyrics would you recognize if they were out of context with the tune?  My experience is that unless you are a music junkie, you remember catch phrases in a song and not all the lyrics.  It’s much easier to remember a song when you hear a snippit of the tune.  In much the same way is Graphic advertising.  There are so many brand messages bombarding people that it is only in the context of the graphic and a catch phrase that a passerby may remember you and your message.  The trick is creating an experience that diverts attention from other stimuli and focuses attention on your message.

Luke Wroblewski and User Interface Engineering published an article in which they explored the value of graphics over text. “In order for visual design to communicate key concepts to your users by referencing the following needs:
•    “What is this?” = we communicate usefulness.
•    “How do I use it?” = we communicate usability.
•    “Why should I care?” = we communicate desirability.”
Clearly this communication goes beyond mere styling and “looking good”. When properly applied, visual design is all about communication. The better at communicating we are, the easier it is for our users to use and appreciate the websites we design.”  This article focused on websites, but these factors apply to any attempt to communicating a message whether on print, billboards, power point, flash design, or logo design.

In “Better Writing Through Design”, by Bronwyn Jones, she recommends “You remember those burning questions. The ones you ask yourself every time you kick off a new project. They probably go a little something like this:
•    Who’s visiting this site?
•    What do they want to know?
•    What’s service/product should we feature that will entice them to learn more ?
By answering these questions and designing a user-experience around your answers, you’re optimizing your presentation and you can then create a concept that will engage the interactive response you want. By designing text and images with the user in mind,  graphic design and effective flash animation helps us to:
1.    Quickly decipher complex information
2.    Break up and organize complex information
3.    Understand how things are related
4.    Quickly find information and resources we’re looking for

One of my favorite examples of the value of simplifying your message through graphics, flash in this case, is what Dropbox does on their homepage.  The simplification of brand message through graphics, flash, logo design, and presentations is what we strive to achieve at the 3 Magic Beans.  Let us know what you think!

Tags: Brand Messaging, Flash Messaging, Graphic Communication, Graphic Simplification, Text Simplification

and is filed under Denver Website Design, Good Design, Small Business. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.