The Power of Visuals.
October 5, 2023 | Healthcare Marketing, authentic visuals, brand stories, healthcare comms, healthcare stories, healthcare storytelling, illustration, impactful imagery, med comms, visual communications
Emotion is the core of healthcare storytelling, but there are many ways to do it. This week, Jon from our Design Team explores a few mediums for doing so, from authentic images, discerning stock photo selection, or creative illustration.
In the world of healthcare comms, few elements can capture attention as powerfully as a poignant visual. Marry this with a captivating headline and a compelling story, and you form the recipe for some seriously impactful work.
But how do we navigate the journey from concept to creation, ensuring that the end result genuinely resonates?
In The Beginning
At the forefront of our endeavours should always be the story. However, big questions loom: what message are we seeking to convey through our visuals? Whose experiences are we representing, and what emotional response do we aim to evoke from our audience?
Emotion weaves itself intrinsically into healthcare comms, and it’s vital that we create a sense of connection and empathy with our audience, urging them to both sympathise with and believe in the protagonist’s journey. Just to complicate it further, all of this is fruitless unless these feelings are unpinned with a solid foundation of authenticity and sincerity.
Portraying Authenticity
One approach to achieve this authentic connection is the portrayal of real individuals – patients and HCPs alike – through well-orchestrated photoshoots.
While undeniably impactful, this approach demands significant planning and investment. When a viewer encounters an authentic, previously unseen image coupled with a poignant quote, it crafts a profoundly emotional hook that is difficult to resist.
Navigating the World of Stock
Alternatively, stock images offer an affordable alternative to custom photo shoots, albeit with their own set of unique challenges. The myriad of options and the potential disconnect in healthcare contexts due to posed and unnatural images can pose significant hurdles.
Often, the characters found in these images are overly posed and unnatural, meaning they don’t draw a response from the audience at all. If a picture paints a thousand words, it’s a shame to use one that screams ‘stock photo’.
High-quality platforms like Getty Images offer diverse, authentic, and relatable visuals, although these do come with a premium price tag. Conversely, exploring platforms like Pexels and Unsplash might require more discernment and patience but can unearth genuine and relatable imagery for communication needs.
Embracing the Art of Illustration
There is also a third option, one that we love to work with at GIG – illustration!
Whilst also one of our favourite mediums, illustration offers complete control over the scenes and characters, their emotions and features. The varying styles of character design mean that there is always something fresh to try and a quick way to establish a look for a brand or product that nobody else owns.
As well as time and budget benefits, utilising more abstract or stylised characters can also navigate potential sensitivities around gender and identity, providing expressive yet neutral storytelling.
Whilst making sure we don’t stray over into the inauthentic, illustration also allows for emotions to be shown more readily than with a photograph. It’s all about those exaggerated poses that strike the right balance between expressive and believable.
So putting our own love for it aside, there are many, many routes to explore with illustration. The design world has moved a long way from silhouette people and stubby icons and towards more expressive and unique approaches.
No matter which direction you choose, one core issue remains; we should always be looking for the heart of the story. The emotion and empathy we want to instil in the audience, is the core of healthcare and healthcare design.
This content was provided by The Good Ideas Group