Thoughts of Visual Communication

                 For me, personally, the best kind of communication that I respond to is a mix of visual and written forms because I am able to picture it clearly in my mind when trying to remember what was said or what was taught to me. When writing things down I feel more comfortable being able to go back and reread what I need to do or how to do something. I am the type of person who always second guesses myself and wants to double check that I did everything correct. Especially when it comes to saving projects, I save things at least two times and to a flash drive, just in case. Being able to see what someone is doing makes it easier on myself to redo what they do. So teaching a lesson on how to make something comes easier to me by watching the professor do it and then doing it myself and seeing where I go wrong and doing it again.

                As far as visual communication goes, all of it, type, images, symbols, color, what have you, are all important tools. But when it comes to a specific style or a certain criteria you have, you being your own visual communication and what works best for you and maybe a client might differ. That’s what’s nice about visual communication. People will differ about what is an important tool what looks too much or too little.  Visual communication can be a mix of some or all of these things. Different things work for different people and that’s why all these are important tools to visual communication.

                Companies should always have strong visual communication and if it is done right, strongly plays in their favor for advertising. For example, Starbucks. You do not see commercials for Starbucks. You never see the word “Starbucks” written anywhere. The only form of visual communication you get is the weird green mermaid on the cover. What makes it weird is that it may, or may not, be a mermaid. It's an almost clear design that is very interesting and known by everyone. In your head, when you see that mermaid, you know it is Starbucks. It’s such a good self-promotion with no words or text and just colors and an image.

                Another company with good visual communication is Amazon. They have a simple logo with their company name on it in big bold letters with an arrow under it. Almost making it look like a smiley face. But when you look closely, the arrow doesn’t go across the entire word, just from A in Amazon, to the Z. When you think about it, Amazing has, “everything A to Z”

                Finally, another company with great visual communication is FedEx. I always found FedEx logo to be genius because it is so subtle. The Fed in FedEx is blue and the Ex is red. Simple at first. It seems to just be a way to make their logo jump out. But when you take a closer look at it, you see there is an arrow inside the logo in the E and the X. Which is a clever logo style to have.
                For me, the best kind of communication is a mix of both the visual and the written forms because I can picture it clearly in my mind when things are being taught to me. I can picture one or the other, making it easier to remember. I like being able to see what someone does and redo it for myself. Communication is important in every aspect of life, whether it is a communication course or any other class because communication is how we impart wisdom and share information.