Great stories transport, inspire and make life less black and white. From a visual design perspective, storytelling is all about creating an emotion. Emotion draws an audience into a story to take them along on the journey.
To tap into emotion, great storytelling focuses on the audience first. If the audience isn't engaged, hard work on the design and content can go unnoticed.
When creating a visual story keep these questions in mind:
Who is the audience?
What do they value?
What are their challenges?
What are their fears?
What are their points of reference?
What do they care about?
What do they enjoy?
By answering these questions to understand the audience, creating an impactful visual story can be easier and even more enjoyable.
Julia Fletcher is founder of JEFS Storytelling Arts, a graphic design studio, where she uses her unique research skills and artistic talents to create custom visual stories that help clients’ increase engagement and promote the education of their audience.