For Love of Tulips

Thanks to Thomas Marzano on Twitter for pointing out this article in Smashing Magazine, Not Just Pretty: Building Emotion into your Websites. The article references two books on visual design for websites, Don Norman’s Emotional Design, and Aaron Walter’s Designing for Emotion. I wondered how their ideas on visual design for websites would translate to creating a photograph.

The Foundation of Design

“It is important to know what image you want to communicate, what your values and visions are, and how you want others to see you.”

As a photographer, it’s important to know yourself, what kinds of images attract you and why, what your values and visions are, and what you want to communicate.

In my recent workshop, Photo By Design 2, I asked the participants to do exactly that exercise when they posted their images on Flickr – say what attracted them and why, and what they hoped to convey. This provided a lot of insight into each photographer. We got to see what makes them tick. We got to know each other better. The why often had to do with emotional reactions – a curve, bold color, or high contrast.

Three Levels of Visual Design (Norman) 

1. Visceral

This level is the pre-conscious, gut reaction provided by the image. It is the first impression. In photography, elements like colour and light can set off a visceral (felt) reaction. Subject matter can also have this effect, for example, the expression on a person’s face, or something that indicates a loving relationship, might be the first thing you notice. On the flip side, images of violence or destruction often evoke compassion or sadness.

2. Behavioral

This level is about how things work or are put together. In my Photo By Design workshops, we start in Photo By Design 1 by becoming more aware of the underlying elements of visual design – light, lines, shapes, texture, etc. Then, in Photo By Design 2, we focus on how to put the elements together in a visually appealing way. This is the behavioural level.

There are universal designs in nature that are inherently appealing. That is why a photograph that follows some basic compositional guidelines tends to be more effective – like the rule of thirds, or the golden mean, or just odd numbers of things. Images where the elements are balanced, even asymmetrically, are visually appealing. As photographers, we have control over how we put the elements together.

3. Reflective

This level is about how we interpret and understand things. It is the overall impression. Photographer Minor White said, “Photograph not only what it is, but also what else it is.” As humans we want our lives and our images to have meaning. We photograph those subjects that are important to us. Usually, there is some universal aspect that the subject represents, for example, fall colour represents change, beauty, and the cycle of life.

By incorporating these three levels of visual design, we can create memorable images.