Not only in Pittsburgh, but all over in today’s world, new media is being spawned every second. I mean literally, by the time I finish saying this sentence, there will be a new media created. It’s estimated that the average American is exposed to about 3,000 to 5000 forms of advertising every day. With this total bombardment of messaging, people have created their own personal firewall to aid in blocking out these distractions. And while businesses and advertisers conduct months of research and spend billions of dollars, they still continue to scratch their heads and experiment with new methods in hopes of catching their audiences’ attention.
In all of this chaos there’s one tool that gets overlooked more than most people think. And that tool is design. Design certainly gets it’s day in the sun during the creative process, but it’s power and capability is what goes unrealized. Design can persuade, influence and sell almost anyone if done right.
Let’s say you’ve been invited to a dinner party and you need to grab a few things so you don’t show up empty-handed. A bottle of wine and some tortilla chips should do. For some of you, this won’t be a big departure from your normal dinner. But you’re not shopping for yourself, you’re shopping for the entire group. So what do you buy? In a sea of bottles, in a number of isles, there’s one bottle that grabs your attention. You’re not sure why, but it does. Same thing with the bag of chips. There’s plenty to select from, but you’ve narrowed it down to just one bag. Wonder why? Design, that’s why. It could be a number of things – an interesting typeface, warm or cool colors, a photograph, or a combination of all these elements working together in beautiful harmony. That’s design. Some of it’s good. Some of it’s bad. But it’s the great design that breaks through.
It only takes a split second for your mind to look at a product, an ad, a commercial, or those twenty billboards you passed on the way to the store to buy your dinner party essentials, and decide whether it’s worth your time or not. If great visual design is established, it can captivate your audience and create a wonderful brand experience.
Your company may have a great story to tell, a flawless product to sell, or provide a service that will benefit the lives of others, but it all means nothing unless you can first captivate your audiences’ attention, and then deliver your message.
So how do you get through to your audience? Design, that’s how. Smart. Bold. Creative design. Design always gets through.
