3 Visual Storytelling Formats To Boost Your Content

Storytelling is something so intrinsic to human beings that its evolution has followed that of our own. Oral storytelling traditions and hieroglyphics eventually turned into printed books and moving pictures. Today, storytelling’s largest medium is digital, allowing us to access pictures and words from around the world with a touch of a button. What a time to be alive! 

But human beings have evolved, too. When it comes to consuming content, studies show that human attention spans are dropping. At the same time, Netflix binging is on the rise. If I had to hazard a guess, storytelling probably has something to do with that—and not just storytelling, but visual storytelling.

Achieving total recall

According to research, the human brain processes visual content 60,000 times faster than text. As a result, 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, which means we observe, learn, process and decide using visual information. We see this play out every day in digital formats, particularly on social media where compelling images can help your content average 94% more views. 

But visuals alone fall short of the full storytelling experience. In fact, a combination of written and visual presentation formats are often the best for active learning and recall. With the variety of digital formats on offer, achieving this combination has never been easier. 

To illustrate, check out these real-life examples that use both copy and visuals to elevate the storytelling experience:

  1. Social media photojournalism

Platforms like Instagram are elevating photojournalism to become more engaging than ever before. Take for example People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a media outlet that highlights important social issues by documenting everyday life in rural India. It addresses these sensitive and often overlooked issues by using photos from the field and interspersing them with striking copy. The images help magnify the humanity of its subjects to the reader, while the limited space for text necessitates carefully chosen copy. As a result, the story is distilled to its most impactful form and is more likely to leave a lasting impression.

This format is also ideal to break down complex subjects into bite-sized information, as we’ve experienced working with one of our social media clients, Binance Charity Foundation (BCF). As the charity arm of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, BCF often has to simplify technical cryptocurrency terms to make its content accessible to different audiences. This post on NFTs is one such example of how images and succinct copy can condense a broad topic in a compelling way. 

2. Interactive storytelling

The New York Times has been championing interactive visual formats that add an exciting experiential element to what would otherwise have been static stories. Take for example, its exploration of a classical artwork by famed Indian artist Chitaraman. The dynamic format zooms in and out of the painting, taking the reader on a digital art tour that is as illuminating as it is engaging. 

Another example was its interactive visual op-ed story that helped readers find their place in the COVID-19 vaccination line. Here the Times went a step further by asking for the reader’s participation before telling an impactful story through a clever infographic. Talk about being memorable!

3. Engaging infographics and visual-led reports

Some forms of content require longer formats, such as whitepapers or business reports.  In these cases, visuals play an important role in not only adding a refreshing differentiation between sections of text, but also bringing data and impactful words to life. 

LinkedIn, for example, publishes a number of data-led reports that consistently and generously make use of visual elements. Their 2021 Workplace Learning Report featured a combination of graphs, pull out quotes and vibrant visuals to create a report that was heavy on insights but light on the eyes. 

Some reports go a step further with an almost entirely infographic format, such as the 2021 Quarterly Job Market Index reports we worked on for our client RGF International Recruitment. The report series was almost entirely visually led, accompanied by a short commentary on each page. Aside from being engaging, formats like this offer quick takeaways that help both layman and media audiences easily navigate the report’s key insights. 

These examples show that hybrid visual and copy formats can be as complex or as simple as you need or your capabilities allow. But regardless of visual elements, it is important to remember that to get results, the basics of content strategy will always apply. This means always considering your audience, determining your objectives, and staying authentic to your brand voice. Once you’ve got this covered, let your visuals do the rest.

Need some fresh content or visuals to tell your story? We can help! Write to us at hello@mutant.com.sg 

We’re Feeling 2022: A Mutant Take on the Hottest Design Trends for the Year

It’s that time of year again where design trend forecasts flood the Internet. 

Although design trends shouldn’t be the primary driver of brand identity and logo designs, they play a huge role when ideating short-term campaigns and staying relevant on social media. 

At Mutant, we stay abreast with the latest trends to help our clients achieve their communications goals. Here are the five graphic design trends we’re most excited about in 2022: 

Early 2000s Aesthetics: Nostalgia Still Sells

You may have noticed the resurgence of 90s visual cues over the past 2 years. Netflix’s Billion-Dollar Code is almost like a love letter to the 90s, and many brands that made it big in that era have proudly gone back to their roots through limited edition packaging and retro campaigns in the last year. With that said, we believe that the 90s aesthetics have reached a peak in 2021 and we’ll see more early 2000s aesthetics in 2022.

COVID-19 pandemic had an effect on the kind of visuals we’re seeing because it has an effect on the kind of visuals we desire to see. Texture became a big theme in graphic design as an overcorrection to the flat design trend back from 2018/2019.

In a world where glossy screens are dominating our attention, we crave the days of creased magazine pages and grainy photographs and those are exactly the things we saw in 2020 and 2021.

Texture isn’t going anywhere, but how it’s applied will. Gooey blobs (remember gel packaging?) and iridescent colours are already making appearances sporadically; look out for hints of the Nickelodeon green goo, Rugrats, Disney Channel, trading cards and MTV aesthetics!

The Bold and The Weird: Bright & Unorthodox Colour Schemes

This trend ties into the previous one. If you thought the use of colours in the 90s were weird, Y2K took colours even further. The early 2000s were marked by the iconic iPod ads and halftone-heavy textures inspired by magazines and comic books. 

The decade was also filled with uncomfortable colour combinations that somehow worked – think combos like purple and yellow, green and orange, and white and light blue. B2C brands will openly embrace this trend within the confines of their existing brand colour schemes, and it will be a pleasant surprise to see B2B brands follow suit.

Into The Metaverse: Giving Virtual Campaigns Another Try

  • Image credit: Meta

Hashtags for “meta” and “metaverse” have been trending ever since Mark Zuckerberg announced his ambitious vision to make the “metaverse” a thing, so don’t be surprised to see more visuals inspired by this idea. Keep an eye out for advertisements and social media campaigns featuring “build your own avatar” ideas, 3D virtual environments replacing photography, or even potentially interacting with real-life photography. 

Because of this, we expect a revival of AR in brand activations. Some of the more daring brands might even toy with launching events within developing metaverses. Perhaps it’s time to give Second Life a second chance after work?

Serving Strange Looks: Type Distortion

Wavy serifs, sunburst ultra-bold san serifs, trailing, disintegrating italics — distorted typography became popular at the end of 2020 during the height of the anti-design trend (looking at you, Spotify). 

A word of caution: although type distortion can look great, graphic designers are generally trained to avoid distorting typefaces for the sake of legibility. But no matter how you may feel about it, expect to see more of this trend play out in 2022!

Making Moves: More Kinetic Logos

  • Image credit: Fisher Price Rebrand by Working Not Working

Motion design isn’t going anywhere. Social media is increasingly video-centred, as proven by Instagram’s shift from a photo-sharing app to an entertainment and video platform as TikTok continues its reign among Gen Zs. This means that the only way for brands to retain attention is to make anything that matters move. We have seen a gradual increase in animated logos since as early as 2018, and this trend is only going to continue in 2022 and beyond. 

Perhaps it’s time to consider animating your current logo for splash screens, website navigation bar, and apps in your next rebranding exercise as animated logos can turn your brand identity into an organic system, just like Fisher-Price’s kinetic logo as shown here.

As a closing thought, it’s important to remember that trends are often precursors to changes in consumer behaviour. They serve as a good guide, but don’t feel pressured to follow every trend predicted on this list nor anywhere else! 

The key to staying relevant is to evaluate these consumer behaviour changes and create an on-brand strategy for your target audience. Doing this not only addresses your customers’ needs, but increasingly solves their problems in creative ways. Now that’s a defining quality of trendsetters.

Want to be on-brand and in trend? Reach out for your branding and design needs at hello@mutant.com.sg