Maeve Catherine

We live in a world of art and there are so many different forms that we can consume and interpret what artists are saying.

Visual storytelling is the act of using visual elements such as videos, photos, and graphics to strengthen a story. Erica Santiago explains “Visual storytelling can build an authentic, emotional connection between your brand and its audience, leading to loyal consumers who are invested in your story, products, and services”. No matter what type of media, the visuals included should convey a message to the audience, and there are six elements and four categories that help audiences understand the message.

Aspects of Visual Storytelling

Seth Gitner explains these aspects in the first chapter of his book,  Multimedia Storytelling for Digital Communicators in a Multiplatform World.

• Color: Creates mood and feeling.
• Light: Creates mood and feelings. Impacts angles and colors.
  • Silhouette: Adds drama and emotion. Use sparely.
• Moment: Captures actions that might occur, are occurring or about to occur.
• Composition: Enhances who/what an audience member should be focusing on.
  • The framing of a visual is also impactful. The mantra for composition is:
    • Fill the frame: Everything is within the frame and each has a reason.
    • Control the background: Everything that is in the background of a visual should have importance. Nothing that will distract a audience member from the story should be in frame.
    • Wait for the Moments: Find the meaning of what is within a frame.
• Distance: Enhancing or not enhancing the details of the who/what that is focused on. These details can include body language, facial expressions, mannerisms.

Visuals, specifically photographs, can also be divided into four categories:

• Informational: Tells a basic story and is simply created.
• Graphically Appealing: Originally an informational image but has clever composition, angles, blurs and other effects.
• Emotional: Subject is in an emotional state and the visual drives its audience member to have an emotional reaction.
• Intimate: Being brought into a very personal and private moment.

Bo Bergström details the three different kinds of storytelling techniques in the second chapter of their book, Essentials of Visual Communication.

• Dramatic Technique: There is little room for interpretation and the audience is basically absorbed right into the action. Conflict or balance lies at the core of this technique.
• Non-Dramatic Technique: Allows a large scope for interpretation. Audience member will use their own personal experiences and reflections to build help the story.
• Interactive Technique: A mixture of the two techniques above. Typically uses various forms of text, images, articles, videos, sounds to engage and involve the audience in the story.

Stories from Album Cover Art

My favorite type of songs are the ones that tell a story. However, I’ve never been one to look at the album cover art in detail until after I’ve finished consuming the songs.

In efforts to understand visual storytelling I took a look at my top 7 songs from the last 4 weeks and analyzed the albums cover art. Take a look!

References

Bergström, B. (2012). Essentials of visual communication. Laurence King.

Gitner, S. (2023). Multimedia Storytelling for Digital Communicators in a Multiplatform World. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.