Graphics In Advertising - Part II - pictures, symbols, and how to get the message across

CONTINUED...........

All three components are basically pictures. Written messages are formed by letters of the alphabet, which are primarily pictures. We know man had started writing with pictures. When these pictures are arranged graphically to convey a specific meaning, then we call the new arrangement a pictograph.

Changes is the law of life, but the basic system of arranging pictures has not much changed. The picture have just been simplified and form graphic symbols. These symbols in groups are capable of conveying a message. They are complex symbols. One should develop an understanding between the user and the receiver. In other words, one should learn the symbols and their meaning, which we call language.

Pictures are like photographs or painting, are more direct and capable of conveying the message instantly. There is hardly any language barrier in understanding a picture.

Often both the above - mentioned pictures are not capable of conveying the message. You may have learnt the language and it's word symbols. But they may be so complex that you fail to grasp the inner meaning. Here pictures come to the rescue. Haven't you noticed that children's books are full of pictures with scanty letter content? As the child grows up, the picture content goes down. Yet even grownups often find language complex. Language is incapable of explaining a scientific formula without a diagram. An Indian child reading a folk tale of Malaysia will find it difficult to imagine the face and dress of a queen described in the story without an illustration.

Quite often, pictures too face this very problem. Can you understand a newspaper picture without caption? Will even the best photograph of an advertisement sell a product without a headline and a copy?

Therefore only a marriage of words and pictures is capable of conveying a message effectively. Here layout has a major role to play. Layout is a plan. We plan to arrange the words and picture with view to creating effectiveness. Both the writer and the designer work together and both are considered creative people.

to be continued............

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