Friday, October 16, 2009

Creating Great Visuals for your Content

the value of visual thinking in social business

By David Armano

darmano.typepad.com

Social business design vs. just social media design

Which of your 5 senses would you fear losing most? -- sight
The eyes are not responsible when the mind does the seeing- Publilius Syrus

Visual thinking-- changing our thinking process to be more visual

Expressing ourselves through a visual medim = Art

Design = combines form and function to perform a task

making a visual message requires a messy analysis.. behind simplicity is complexity

History of the Internet-- Vimeo (find link?)

Getting Visual in 4 "Ms"

Metaphor- comparing your content to an image that is already familiar
Model- condensing your content down to a visual that communitcates the idea visually (Bloom's) Mindmap- "Back of the Napkin" Dan Roam (slideshare), you see the relationship of different words and ideas in relation to one another
Manifest- "to make obvious"

6 steps to Getting Visual

1. Emphathize: See the world as a child
  • observe, notice the little things that other miss
  • ask, ask questions, even silly ones
  • explore, entertain your curiosity

2. Memorize: commit thoughts to memory

  • draw, or write down key words

3. Analyze: Take a step back
4. Synthesize: Filter signal from noise
5. Visualize: See it, then do it
6. Materialize: make it tangible, make it stick

  • i.e. the 4 c's of commuity- 1. content, 2. Context, 3. connectivity, 4. continuity

How do you visualize a "dynamic signal"?

For example- Twitter= Streams of data (streams, to oobvious to overlook)
What does a signal look like? (radio tower)
image: A wavy line, with random ripple radio signals at intervals.


Q&A:
What software do you use? Adobe illustrator,
Software not as important as the concepts... could be done in word, or ppt.
Social Marketing Compass-- Brian Solis Jess
Check list of rmaking content more visual:
use your brain and see what you are doing.

Why your content should be visual:

--Gets people's attention quickly
--Helps us learn faster and more effectively
--Let's people do their own thinking
--Helps us tell stories

Where to start:

Envisioning information, Tufte

Selling to the VP of No, Gray

The Back of the Napkin, Roam

Don't Make Me Think, Krug

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