Textual and visual communication

Posted: November 28th, 2013

Textual and visual communication

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Textual and visual communication

In textual and visual communication, a person should be able to capture the attention of the audience in order to communicate the information intended. To achieve this, the presentation of the information should be conveyed in a way that will attract the audience and intrigue the audience to know and understand the information being portrayed. The strategies used to make the communication more appalling include color, imagery, balanced design, video and animation and brand awareness.

Color is always associated with emotions, gender and occasions. Different colors can therefore, be used in textual and visual communication to enhance the emotion intended in the message to be communicated. Especially when the two or more colors are incorporated to match with the theme color, it attracts the audience from far. For example, color red is associated with romance while color black is more of a bold look. Color, when used appropriately can have a significant impact on the message.

Imagery which contains certain shapes, charts and graphs when used in a communicating a certain message adds more meaning than a message presented in words only. There are certain symbols that when used, convey a specific message and whenever the audience view them, they instantly have a clue of what the message entails. Graphs, symbols and charts together with their texts should be large enough to be seen by the audience without them straining. In addition, they should be comprehensible, clean and powerful to convey the message.

Balanced design entails clean and good-sized fonts, page balance across the four quadrants, appropriate white space and even distribution of the message. The message should not be cluttered at the centre or corner but evenly distributed to allow the audience to view and read the presentation well. This strategy is used to appeal the message to the eyes of the audience through the attractive manner the message is presented on display (Kostelnick & Roberts, 2011).

Video and animation are used as strategies to engage the viewer and catch the eye. Video clips are a convenient and easy way of illustrating messages in whatever form it maybe either data, processes or slides. This strategy is effective provided the video or animation is kept short so that the viewer is not distracted easily. In addition, the video and animation should be presented in an interesting way to captivate and gain the attention of the viewer.

Brand awareness is used to present new ideas to the viewers because the logo and template is known because it has been in existence. This helps to grab the attention of the viewer, though the content is what matters more, hence the content should be excellent. This strategy is used to entice the viewer, but the retention of the viewer’s attention is dependent on the message or idea being communicated (Gillkin, 2011).

In conclusion, the effectiveness of textual and visual communication is dependent on the strategies employed to convey that specific message. The first step in achieving this is attracting the attention of the viewer and retaining it long enough for the message to be viewed, read and understood by the viewer.

References

Gillikin, J. (2011). What Strategies You Can Use to Incorporate Effective Visual Elements Into a Business Presentation. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/strategies-can-use incorporate-effective-visual-elements-business-presentation-617.html.

Kostelnick, C., & Roberts, D. D. (2011). Designing visual language: Strategies for professional communicators. Boston, MA: Longman.