Let’s face it.  Words, text, and paragraphs often combine to form a lethal sleeping gas.  Even as I look at this post on the preview panel, it looks tiny . . . like disclaimer text at the bottom of a TV screen.  Oh well.  Just keep reading; this book’s got pictures.

THE POWER OF DESIGN & IMAGERY

A few weeks ago I had posted a study on Why People Aren’t Reading Your Website.  The amazing thing isn’t so much that your web content might be terrible.  It could be phenomenal.  It’s that people aren’t READING websites, period.  They are SCANNING them.  In fact, the study showed that there is a specific pattern – or design – to how websurfers view a page once it’s loaded.  

So what?  

OK, thank you.  Indeed, you should be reading this for a “so what”!  The “so what” is that in this new economy we must embrace design and the use of imagery as much as possible to communicate.  

With pictures, you understand your own ideas better.  Employees (like 3rd graders) begin to embrace ideas.  You see higher commitment, buy-in, and execution.  Moderately complex processes become more memorable, and your crazy, world-changing ideas can become inheritable.

Did you like all those words I just used?  Did you remember them?  Here’s a recap in case you missed it:

TEXT - The Drug Free Sleeping Pill

IMAGE POWER!

See?  Wasn’t that fun?  Really, things are no different than 3rd grade, when we would judge any book by its number of pictures.  Images simply keep our ON buttons on longer.  With apologies to an array of lovely fonts and a full rainbow of colors, images just say more than words. 

I try to share this idea every single day to my clients.  After all, don’t we have enough information?  It’s got to be shared, right?  It’s data, policy, procedure, legalities, journals, and on and on.  UGH!  But using visuals at every available opportunity can make life more fun, just like 3rd grade. (E.G. chuck your job descriptions in the trash and build a Customer Service Roadmap!)  

So I’m on a mission.  Will you join me?  Starting today, right now, I am imposing a new “checks & balances” system for all businesses, for all applications, all systems, all policy, all relationships, marketing plans, budgets, strategies, and business models. It is a simple ONE-STEP process that will clear up 99% of your confusion, non-compliance, and inefficiency.  

Just ask, “But can a 3rd grader describe it?”

If the answer is no, draw more pictures!

I can hear you already . . . “I don’t have time.”  ”I can’t afford a graphic designer.”  ”I have a PC so I’m at a creative dead end!”  

OK, I hear you!  Just start with crayons or a white board.  These simple tools can spark a beautiful strategic beginning.  

BOOK RECOMMENDATION:  A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink