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How to Create Stunning Visuals for Creatives: A Jackson St Consulting Guide
Sep 24, 2024
4 min read
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Creating impactful visuals for your marketing or branding campaign isn’t just about throwing together colors and graphics. It’s about making a lasting impression while conveying your message clearly. At Jackson St Consulting, we understand the power of visuals to engage audiences and drive results. In this blog, we’ll break down how to create compelling visuals for your next creative project with examples, tips, and fun case studies.
1. Start with Purpose: What’s Your Message?
Before diving into design, ask yourself what message you want your visuals to convey. Are you introducing a product, building brand awareness, or driving engagement? The purpose will influence every design decision you make.
Example: A brand launching a new eco-friendly product line might want visuals that focus on nature, sustainability, and simplicity. Think of images of plants, eco-friendly textures like recycled paper backgrounds, and soft, earth-toned colors.
Visual Concept:
Imagine an Instagram carousel featuring an image of a leaf morphing into a product box as the user swipes. Each slide reveals more about the product, focusing on environmental benefits. This engages users to swipe through, keeping them curious while effectively delivering your message.
2. Utilize Strong Color Palettes
Color is one of the first things people notice. It sets the mood and creates emotional connections with your audience. Choose your palette based on the emotions you want to evoke. If you're working on a high-energy campaign, bold and bright colors can create excitement.
Case Study:
When Pepsi launched a campaign targeting younger audiences, they used vibrant blues and reds with neon accents. This color choice was intentional, giving the campaign a youthful, dynamic feel that resonated with their target market.
Visual Concept:
For an e-commerce brand targeting younger audiences, use bright, contrasting colors like electric blue and coral to grab attention. Overlay product images with bold, modern typography. Add interactive elements like animations or GIFs to inject energy into the visuals.
3. Incorporate Unique Typography
Typography can act as a visual element on its own. Well-chosen fonts communicate the tone of your content—whether it's serious, fun, elegant, or casual. Avoid overloading your design with text, but ensure the type you use is legible and adds to the creative's overall feel.
Example:
Let’s say you're running a digital ad for a luxury jewelry brand. You wouldn’t use playful or bubbly fonts, right? Instead, opt for elegant, serif fonts with plenty of spacing, in gold or metallic tones.
Visual Concept:
Create a billboard-style visual with oversized, sophisticated typography in gold foil against a sleek black background. The minimal text keeps the design classy and draws attention directly to the message and the brand.
4. Use Visual Hierarchy for Maximum Impact
Visual hierarchy refers to the arrangement of design elements in a way that leads the viewer’s eye to the most important parts first. When done correctly, it guides viewers through the content intuitively.
Case Study:
Apple is a master at this. Their ads often place their latest product front and center with a clean background, drawing the eye immediately to the product. Any supporting text is minimal and strategically placed.
Visual Concept:
For a tech product, create a Facebook ad with the product boldly featured in the center. Surround it with subtle, muted elements (like a shadow or a blurred background) to ensure the product is the main focus. The call-to-action button should be contrasting, so it’s the next thing the eye is drawn to.
5. Include Interactive Elements
With today’s digital audience, static visuals aren’t always enough. Adding interactive elements can enhance engagement. Think quizzes, sliders, or even videos that invite users to interact with your content.
Case Study:
Buzzfeed’s quizzes have become a viral sensation by allowing users to engage directly with the content. People enjoy personalized, fun experiences, which encourages sharing and engagement.
Visual Concept:
For a blog or social media campaign, consider incorporating interactive infographics where users can click to reveal statistics or facts. If you’re promoting a service, try a “build your own” style graphic where users can customize different elements of the service package and see real-time changes.
6. Keep it Fun and Light
Not all visuals need to be serious. Sometimes, injecting humor or a sense of fun can make your visuals more memorable. Take a playful approach to your designs where it fits the brand voice.
Example:
Wendy’s Twitter is known for its sassy and fun tone, and they often translate that into their visuals, from cheeky memes to light-hearted GIFs. This makes their content more shareable.
Visual Concept:
For a quirky, fun campaign, create a set of branded GIFs that can be shared on social media. These could include animated logos, playful characters, or humorous takes on your product. Encourage followers to use them in their own posts, helping to increase organic reach.
7. Incorporate Case Studies to Showcase Success
When creating visuals, sometimes it’s helpful to refer to case studies or successful campaigns from the past. This not only gives you design inspiration but also provides a template for results-driven creatives.
Case Study:
Take Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. The simplicity of the text paired with high-impact visuals of athletes in action created an emotional connection with the audience. By emphasizing performance, success, and aspiration, Nike aligned the visuals with their brand identity.
Visual Concept:
If you're running a campaign for a fitness brand, your visual could feature a slow-motion video of an athlete with overlaid text stating the brand’s tagline. The use of black and white footage contrasted with bold-colored fonts adds emphasis and sharpness to the message.
Conclusion: Bringing It All Together
Creating visuals for creatives is a blend of strategy, artistry, and technical skill. Whether it's choosing the right color palette or ensuring proper visual hierarchy, every detail contributes to the overall impact. And, most importantly, keeping your visuals fresh, fun, and in line with your brand’s voice will resonate more with your audience.
Call to Action: Need help crafting visuals that leave a lasting impression? At Jackson St Consulting, we specialize in designing creative campaigns that engage, convert, and grow your brand. Contact us today to start transforming your digital presence.