Before our children could even read, they could identify restaurants by their logos. Our oldest son was in the back seat singing “… The Simpsons” when he saw a sky with many cumulus clouds. Most everyone involved in communications understands how images entice the audience.

Sometimes logos conjure up other thoughts. For example, for many folks, ATT’s logo is called the “death star.” This is another topic for another time, though.

Many people working as communicators for corporations, nonprofits, or in the media see the visual as the “hook” to their written story. The concept of using visuals as “eye candy” is a way to make you stop and at least start to read the article.

Love her or hate her, Catherine Zeta-Jones helped shape the image of T-Mobile during her first run with the company. To celebrate the launch of their Mobile Makeover advertising campaign, she’s back again. The ads use her as the “eye candy.”

No question this works in advertising, but how does it go over with corporate communications or journalism?

I think those that use imagery as “eye candy” are like the tabloids or car magazines with women on the car’s hood. This approach must work, or these media types wouldn’t be doing so well financially. However, they are not taken seriously for their content.

You can use the imagery as the message and not just a hook. In journalistic examples, are the photos of the Twin Towers being hit by airplanes or on fire? Another example is Michael Phelps touching the wall first with others still behind him.

In journalistic media, we also see visual “hooks.” We see mug shots that accompany an article but say nothing about the story. How is this a hook? On sports pages showing the loser during peak action moments looking like they won is a hook.

I’ve learned the best images leave the viewer asking a question. “Why are the Twin Towers on fire?” is the question people ask when they turn on their televisions. It kept us glued to the coverage to understand and help us heal. Is this the photo of Michael Phelps winning the 8th gold medal, or what race is it?

We can learn from “eye candy” photography. If the image is exciting and has a visual impact, it will hook the reader. It would help if you surprised your audience. I have talked about this in past e.newsletters. Getting a unique perspective like a worm’s eye view or a bird’s eye view is a great “hook.” Making photos from the standing position straight on all the time is what amateurs do. You can create an informative intriguing image of most content to help tell the story with your pictures.

I shoot for different audiences. For example, I often shoot for Associated Press, magazines, corporate publications, websites, college recruiting and alum publications, and many other mediums.

I must tell the story in one photo when I shoot for AP. I must shoot tight, which means close-up and filling the frame. The users of AP images may run the picture small and will not want to use the photo if it isn’t close-up. It needs to have an impact. They may run it on a paper’s front page to help tell the story and sell the newspaper.

I have to take a different approach at an event where an AP photographer is there, and I am there shooting for a magazine. By the time a magazine comes out, the readers will have seen the AP images of the event. My coverage must be more than one impactful image. I have a variety of angles, from close-up to medium and overall shots of the story. I will use lighting to help influence the image even more.

I have been shooting many multimedia packages lately that require 30 – 60 images for a 2-minute piece to run on a website. I need photos as I would for a magazine and transition photos. I need pictures of noises you may hear in the audio to help the audience understand those noises are seagulls in the background near the subject. You still need strong images, but they can help tell the story and compliment the audio.

Most communicators today are using the same content in multiple places. For example, they send out a printed newsletter and post it on a blog, website, or eNewsletter. All of the pieces point to the website where more content and images can be placed than before this existed.

Capturing all the photos of the story, you will now have just started telling your story. That’s right—I just started. People like to be in dialogue and comment on your reports online. This outlet wasn’t available in print.

In the most recent Scientific American Magazine, there was an article on Celiac Disease. When you went to their website, the report was there as well. Still, it now will comments like this, “The illustrations in this article delivered to my mailbox today allow the complexities of the science of gluten intolerance to be easily understood by everyone.” Here is a link for you http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=celiac-disease-insights&page=6.

Is your material getting as many comments as this article? Are your visuals helping your audience to understand the topic? Using visuals effectively and not just as a visual “hook” will improve how your message is communicated.

Stanley is available as a consultant to help you improve your visual communication for your organization. Give him a call or email him to set up a time for him to work with your team.