The cliché, “A picture is worth a thousand words” will always be true. The brain can take an image in, process it and act on it before you can finish reading this sentence. We do this hundreds of times a day.
Images are created to evoke a feeling or thought that a viewer may translate to action. That action could be to read a book, buy a product, turn down a road (or not), elect a leader, humanize those with whom we empathize, or dehumanize those against whom we war.
Illustrations can use symbols and abstract images that the brain will interpret. The human brain is exceptional at spotting patterns and completing the incomplete. It wants an image to make sense which is why we occasionally marvel at “Lincoln's face on a quesadilla.” Nothing supernatural about it, but it is miraculous in that the brain connects the elements and makes us spot the face where there is none.
Illustrators and artists made use of brain science before it was a science whenever they created images no matter what their purpose.
Comics, political posters, company logos and everyday road signs are all examples of imagery that put the brain to work for the illustrator’s ends. These images guide the viewer to a feeling and an action desired by the illustrator.
A comic book depiction doesn’t look like a real face, but the brain not only tells us it’s a face, but also interprets expressions. Is the character good, bad, happy, sad, funny, repulsive? All this will carry in what the illustrator has put on a two-dimensional representation in shapes, lines and color.
Propaganda posters can whip up a population’s nationalist pride and add to a people’s hate for an enemy. During World War II, U.S. posters depicted the Japanese enemy, not as another human, but as a yellow snake with Asian eyes.
The illustration struck at people’s deep primal fear and hatred of snakes and attached that to a dehumanized enemy.
A company logo can denote an attitude that attracts clients or defines the culture within a company. Bold fonts and colors suggest strength and power.
A company logo can denote an attitude that attracts clients or defines the culture within a company. Bold fonts and colors suggest strength and power.
Italicize the font and the company is in motion.
Cursive can be caring
or carefree.
Some rely on familiarity and require no words.
Some illustrations can save your life or at least some inconvenience. Road signs can work without words for people who may not speak the local language or may not be able to read at all. I don’t speak or read much Thai, but...
I’d slow down more readily than if the sign said “ข้ามช้าง” with no picture
Illustration plays a critical role in our actions hundreds if not thousands of times each day. We make myriad decisions based on the images that we assimilate, sometimes unconsciously. These decisions can be fleeting and seem inconsequential, but they coalesce like ripples into waves that take on a common powerful movement and become habits that determine the overall direction of our lives.
