Visual communication as the name suggests is communication through visual aid and is described as

the conveyance of ideas and information informs that can be read or looked upon. Visual
communication solely relies on vision, and is primarily presented or expressed with two dimensional
images, it includes: signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, colour and electronic
resources. It also explores the idea that a visual message accompanying text has a greater power to
inform, educate, or persuade a person or audience.

The evaluation of a good visual communication design is mainly based on measuring comprehension
by the audience, not on personal aesthetic and/or artistic preference as there are no universally
agreed-upon principles of beauty and ugliness. Excluding two dimensional images, there are other
ways to express information visually - gestures and body language, animation (digital or analogue),
and film. Visual communication by e-mail, a textual medium, is commonly expressed with ASCII art,
emoticons, and embedded digital images.

The term 'visual presentation' is used to refer to the actual presentation of information through a
visible medium such as text or images. Recent research in the field has focused on web design and
graphically-oriented usability. Graphic designers also use methods of visual communication in their
professional practice. Visual communication on the World Wide Web is perhaps the most important
form of communication that takes place while users are surfing the Internet. When experiencing the
web, one uses the eyes as the primary sense, and therefore the visual presentation of a website is
very important for users to understand the message or of the communication taking place.

Use visual communication to:

• Engage your audience.

• Communicate complex information.
• Tell a story and convey emotion.
• Simplify information.
• Communicate the impact of your data

Characteristic of visual communication

1. It is transmission

2. Need of Media

3. To motivate a response from receiver.

4. To create understanding in others

5. Base for action and cooperation

6. Required at all levels of managements and at all times

7. Proper understanding on message

9. Communication may be a transmission of facts, figures or feelings

Advantages of Visual Communication

The visual communication helps in re-enforcing the oral communication & supporting it, if you are
reading about something, need to add the visual aids such as the graphs, the diagrams and the
charts to the content that you are reading to understand what you are reading and explain the
meaning of it very easily.

The pictures and the illustrations have stronger impact than the words, the pictures can be used to
tell the things that the words do not have the strength to tell, the visual communication makes the
person more involved and connected, as the visuals can pull down most barriers of communication
and open up the people.

The visual communications can be understood by the literate and the illiterate people, so, will be
able to see the things with the eyes unlike the written communication that requires that are
educated and able to read and write before can understand it.

Do not need to speak a particular language, the visual communication is the communication where
the ideas and the information can be read or viewed through the means of visual aid, Most of
business organizations are using it to present the information.

The visual communication helps to take a quick decision, so, the management prefers the visual
techniques to communicate with the others, it will be more effective to exchange the information
and that can easily understand the information that is presented visually.

The complex information, the data and the figures can be easily presented very simply on the
graphs, the pictures and the diagrams, the picture is retained in our memory longer than the words
or the quotes and the people will remember the visuals very well.

The visual communication prevents the wastage of time, Written and oral communication takes
much time to exchange the information, But number of receivers can be communicated at a time
through the visual methods.

The visual communication is very popular because the people do not like much speech and long
explanation rather than the chart & the diagram, it is very fast, the graphic of any kind can elicit a
stronger reaction from the reader, and it is more efficient way of communicating with less effort &
time.

Visual communication disadvantages

The visual communication involves the use of poorly designed visual aids that are difficult to
understand or see, If the irrelevant information is presented, the images can be distracting and
impede the main concepts.

The visual communication can be very expensive to produce it, Unlike some other channels of
communication such as the oral communication, Storing the visual communication can be very
expensive, Only large company or organization can use this technique as drawing the maps, charts &
diagram is very costly.

The visual communication takes more time and effort to produce it, just imagine the amount of the
time and the effort that goes into the creation of the visual aids such as the graphs, the maps, the
diagrams etc and it is not alone sufficient for exchanging the information.

When the visual presentation of information becomes complex, the receivers cannot understand
the meaning of the presentation, It will be an incomplete method, It will not be sufficient to
communicate effectively and clearly but it can be successfully used with the oral communication.
The visual communication takes much time to communicate, whereas the oral communication takes
no time to exchange the information, it is difficult to understand, it requires a lot of repetitions in
visual communication, since it uses the gestures, the facial expressions, the eye contact, touch etc,
for communicating with the others, and they may not be understandable for the simple people.

It is difficult to present all the topics or the subject matters, all the information cannot be displayed
through the visual communication, so, the whole concept or idea will not be

understandable, it requires more time and effort to select, compile, and present the information.

Function of Visual Communication

• IMMEDIATE: Studies have shown that the human brain deciphers images almost simultaneously
while language is decoded in a linear, sequential manner that takes more time to process. Perhaps
that’s why children look and recognize long before they can speak. By some measures, visuals are
processed 60,000 times faster than text!

• MEMORABLE: Researchers note that words are processed by our short-term memory where we
can only readily retain about seven bits of information, plus or minus a few. On the other hand,
images proceed directly into your long-term memory where they’re often indelibly “etched.” No
wonder that it’s much more difficult to describe a circle than to show one!

• EVOCATIVE: Much more so than text, visuals affect us emotionally. For example, research shows
that exposure to the color red can heighten our pulse and breathing rate – making it no coincidence
that “sale” and “special” retail signs are almost always that particular hue, not to mention stop signs
and red lights! Graphics and especially photos can elicit even stronger responses than color. A red
sign stating “Beware of dog” may be effective, but a large photo of a snarling Doberman Pinscher will
undoubtedly take your warning to more arresting and visceral level!

• PERSUASIVE: In one example, academics who study visual aids conducted research on the use of
graphics in presentations found that those who employ visuals are 43% more effective in persuading
audience members to take a desired course of action than presenters who don’t. In fact, visuals are
no longer optional for most viewers! The same researchers discovered that audiences fully expect
presenters to include professional, high-quality visuals.

• CREDIBLE: That old saying “Seeing is believing” is largely true. In one signature study, a university
asked 2,440 participants how they evaluated the credibility of the web sites they were shown. Nearly
half (46.1%) said that the site’s design or look was the single most important criterion for discerning
the credibility of the presented material.

Visual communication is the use of images, symbols, and words to convey meaning. There are
many different types of visual communication, which can be broken down into six main
categories: graphic design, advertising, photography, illustration, web design, and video
production.

You need special knowledge and efficiency to deal with visual communication, the graphs, charts or
table may be in wrong order, the decision taken based on the wrong information may lead to
ineffective output or fruitless result and small amount of information can be conveyed via the
graphics only.

Graphic Design

Graphic design is the profession and academic discipline whose activity consists in projecting visual
communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives.
Therefore, it is an interdisciplinary branch of design. whose foundations and objectives revolve
around the definition of problems and the determination of objectives for decision-making, through
creativity, innovation and lateral thinking along with digital tools, transforming them for proper
interpretation. This activity helps in the optimization of graphic communications (see also
communication design). It is also known as visual communication design, visual design or editorial
design.

The role of the graphic designer in the communication process is that of encoder or interpreter of
the message. They work on the interpretation, ordering, and presentation of visual messages. The
design work always starts from a client's demand, a demand that ends up being established
linguistically, either orally or in writing, that is, that graphic design transforms a linguistic message
into a graphic manifestation.

Graphic design has, as a field of application, different areas of knowledge focused on any visual
communication system. For example, it can be applied in advertising strategies, or it can also be
applied in the aviation world. In this sense, in some countries graphic design is related as only
associated with the production of sketches and drawings, this is incorrect, since visual
communication is a small part of a huge range of types and classes where it can be applied.

Given the rapid and massive growth in information sharing, the demand for experienced designers is
greater than ever, particularly because of the development of new technologies and the need to pay
attention to human factors beyond the competence of the engineers who develop them.

Photography

Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either
electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such
as photographic film. It is employed in many fields of science, manufacturing (e.g.,
photolithography), and business, as well as its more direct uses for art, film and video production,
recreational purposes, hobby, and mass communication.

Typically, a lens is used to focus the light reflected or emitted from objects into a real image on the
light-sensitive surface inside a camera during a timed exposure. With an electronic image sensor, this
produces an electrical charge at each pixel, which is electronically processed and stored in a digital
image file for subsequent display or processing.

The result with photographic emulsion is an invisible latent image, which is later chemically
"developed" into a visible image, either negative or positive depending on the purpose of the
photographic material and the method of processing. A negative image on film is traditionally used
to photographically create a positive image on a paper base, known as a print, either by using an
enlarger or by contact printing.

Multimedia

Multimedia is a form of communication that combines different content forms such as text, audio,
images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to traditional mass
media which featured little to no interaction from users, such as printed material or audio
recordings. Popular examples of multimedia include video podcasts, audio slideshows and animated
videos. Multimedia can be recorded for playback on computers, laptops, smartphones, and other
electronic devices, either on demand or in real time (streaming). In the early years of multimedia,
the term "rich media" was synonymous with interactive multimedia. Over time, hypermedia
extensions brought multimedia to the World Wide Web.

What are examples of visual communication?

 GIFS.

 Screenshots.

 Screen recordings.

 Videos.

 Pie charts.

 Infographics.

 Data visualizations.

 Slide decks.

https://www.powtoon.com/blog/examples-of-visual-communication/

https://www.iiad.edu.in/the-circle/principles-of-visual-communication/