We’re all familiar with the age-old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” However, after having worked in different industries where being able to simplify your driving message into a few short paragraphs or even a compelling visual design, I’m finding that imagery - and words - that can drive the message home without requiring too much thought is becoming more of the norm. In Action Graphics’ article, “Worth 1,000 Words: The 4 Principles of Visual Storytelling,” we’re prompted to view the concept of Visual Storytelling as being comprised of four pillars: authenticity, sensory, relevancy, and archetype. As you can probably imagine, authenticity involves capturing real, genuine slices of life and using that to tell a story. The sensory pillar covers making viewers feel or sense certain things, perhaps thirst when seeing images of drought or desert, or pain if photos from a war zone are presented. The author of this article describes relevancy as holding some sort of connection to the audience (i.e. using a relatable person’s story to establish common ground). Lastly, utilizing an archetype or character to change how our story is perceived is an important part of visual storytelling. The author writes, “...the key takeaway to remember is that a memorable character with whom readers or viewers identify with are what make lasting stories. Consider the archetypes of your audience before planning your stories. And remember, visuals have the power to help us relate and make meaningful connections to the world around us.” No matter the approach of one’s storytelling, it’s possible for everyone to be one. The beauty of the digitalization of photography, film, etc. enabling the average person to become visual storytellers is that everyone has their own, unique story to tell and a platform from which to share it. In Seth Gitner’s “Multimedia Storytelling for Digital Communicators in a Multiplatform World,” he writes, “The need to share imagery using social networks is rapidly becoming ingrained in us as human beings. What used to be an expensive, exclusive hobby (photography) has become a feature of everyday life...For many photographers, the now-omnipresent mobile phone camera is a way to get back to thinking about photography on a daily basis” (Seth Gitner, 3 and 5). I myself am not a professional photographer (in fact, my primary camera is my smartphone) but when I take a series of photos for my social media account, various class projects, or cultivate other photographers’ photos (i.e. Stock images) and use them for designs for work, I’d like to think I’m conveying some sort of story through them. In the following five photos, my motive behind them was to share these moments on social media. I’ll share my thoughts and the story behind each one, as well as how I believe they contribute to effective storytelling: For my best friend’s birthday, I wanted to capture a posed ‘candid’ photo of her and her husband looking lovingly into each other’s eyes. Instead, this is what they opted for. The authenticity of their goofy faces and silly nature truly captures their entire relationship dynamic - without planning to, they always manage to be silly at the same time and have a tough time being serious for photos. This is a photo from one of my travels that I had planned to post on Instagram but ultimately ended up going with another one. I’d like to think that this image conveys sensory information - the feeling of crisp summer air, the smell of the sea, and the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks just a stone’s throw away from the lighthouse. Similarly to the last photo, I wanted this image to give my viewers a sensory experience as well. Perhaps they might feel a little chilly, given that I’m not wearing socks or close-toed shoes on this gray day. They should also be able to imagine the touch of seawater, wet sand, and perhaps even the roughness of the rocks underneath the soles of their feet. This is a picture of Portland donuts, and like most food-related photos, this evokes sensory feelings. The lighting reflecting off the colorful glazed donuts, the detail of the specks of sugar, and the elongated view of the row of donuts (hopefully) make viewers want to take a bite right in. Nichole Elizabeth DeMeré, a writer for Hubspot, notes in her article “The Power of Visual Storytelling: 15 Stunning Examples to Inspire You” that early advertisers had to rely on the power of imagery to sell to a mostly uneducated customer base - I imagine that this was often the case with food advertisements: “Before the days of neon lights and marquee signs, business owners had to get creative when it came to advertising their establishments...And with a largely illiterate population, pictorial signs were the only logical advertising choice.” I feel that this photo represents both the elements of authenticity and relevancy. It’s authentic in the sense that I wanted to candidly capture my friend taking a not-so-candid image of my perfectly Instagrammable latte art; I felt there was a bit of irony in that. But it’s relevant too because we’ve all worked certain angles and maneuvered our food in such a way that we’ll get more ‘likes’ when the time comes to post to social media.
Uta Russmann and Jakob Svensson’s report “Introduction to Visual Communication in the Age of Social Media: Conceptual, Theoretical and Methodological Challenges” shares some insight on how photography and imaging has changed with the evolution of social media: “Social media platforms also allow visual images to be framed, filtered and edited before being distributed. Hence, not only do online visuals add additional information to a message and elaborate on “who we are”, they also afford highly strategic and reflexive communication in order to give a specific impression of the sender, an object or a place among other things” (Russmann and Svensson, 2017, pp. 2). In other words, this photo captures the idea of posing a ‘candid’ moment that is tailored for social media use. In summary, as long as an image evokes some sort of reaction from viewers, it doesn’t matter which of the four aforementioned principles it utilizes. A message should be evident, or at the very least, a short story. Bibliography DeMeré, N. (2015). The Power of Visual Storytelling: 15 Stunning Examples to Inspire You.. Retrieved September 12, 2019, from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/visual-storytelling-examples Gitner, Seth (2015). What Ways Do We Think about Visual Storytelling Every Day. Multimedia Storytelling for Digital Communicators in Multiplatform World (1st ed., pp. 3-5). Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge Publishing. Russmann, U., & Svensson, J. (2017). Introduction to Visual Communication in the Age of Social Media: Conceptual, Theoretical and Methodological Challenges. Media and Communication, 5(4), 1–5. doi: 10/17645/Mac.v5i4.1263 “Worth 1,000 Words: The 4 Principles of Visual Storytelling.” Action Graphics, 17 Mar. 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2019, from https://actiongraphicsnj.com/blog/4-principles-visual-storytelling/
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