What is visual communication?

An image, video or infographic: with visual content you can quickly and easily convey your message to your audience. But what is it and in what form is it interesting for you or your organization? You can read that here.

Visual communication is, in short, communicating through images, objects, gestures and/or colours. Think of images, illustrations, animations, infographics and videos.

Did you know?

• Do people remember on average 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they see and 80% of what they both hear and see?
• Images Attract 94% More Viewers?
• Web designers only have five thousandths of a second to make a first impression?
• 90% of the information your brain processes is visual?
• A video or landing page increases visitor conversion by 86%?
• When you use images in social media posts, it leads to 94% more visitors and engagement?
• 60% of internet visitors are more likely to click on a link with an image than an image without a link?
• The average attention span is 8 seconds?

Visual communication, why?

Our society is increasingly focused on visual communication and there are several reasons for this. Firstly, we are more attracted to visual content because our brain can process and remember it much better. For example, we are able to process visual elements 60 thousand times faster than text.

Quickly look up or order something, recognizable? Many people have little time or no longer take the time to read long text. We scroll, scan and make decisions very quickly. With symbols or illustrations you can make clear what you want to say at a glance.

We are also bombarded with information on a daily basis. Compared to 1986, we receive five times as much information in one day! Yet visual content is not a goal in itself: a combination of text and image remains the most powerful means of communication. Below you can read more about different forms of visual communication.

Medicine labels that contain both text and images are better understood than
medicine labels without images (source: neomam.com/interactive/13reasons)

Graphics and design

Image is a powerful tool to support your story, evoke an emotion, clarify something or attract attention. But beware of the 'monkey eats banana' syndrome, or the elephant in the room, where the text literally describes what the image shows.

How do you actually select the right photo for your target group? How do you create powerful images? And how do you visualize an abstract, often bone-dry term like 'savings interest' or 'soil remediation' in a way that is exciting and surprising instead of cliché?

During the training The power of the image learn to choose images that not only come in but also stick. Image expert and trainer Wim Honders explains how to visualize complicated or abstract concepts and choose images with the most impact.

Infographic

Whether you need to fill a website, publish a press release or present a research report, nothing beats a infographic to quickly, understandably and accessibly bring your story to the fore. You can choose a beautifully designed image, but also a moving variant such as this.

Simply put, an infographic consists of two parts: data and design. You start by gathering information. Think of a topic that appeals to the target group: What is going on among your audience? If the content is clear, you can continue with the design.

Online you can find many tools that do the work for you, but how cool is it if you can design an infographic to your own taste in the house style of your company or organization? In the training Creating infographics learn how to create an effective infographic from A to Z.

Video

It has never been easier to make, edit and post a video. Especially with your smartphone you can shoot and post a video in no time.

Can you explain more and better with visuals than with language?

A picture is worth a thousand words. You often hear this statement when talking about visual communication. Do you want to know how and when you can best communicate visually? Then follow the Visual Communication TrainingThe training is a journey of discovery into the world of visual communication.