Telling the right stories

Good creativity begins with good composition, but good composition by itself is usually never the goal.

It’s easy to focus on making things appear attractive, on having the right image, the right typeface, the right colors, and the right balance. Although visual composition is important, it needs a more significant aim: what does the viewer need to understand, and what do we want them to do?

Start with the objective, not the layout.

Before choosing where the headline should go or which product photo appears best, knowing the objective is important.

Are you launching a product? Explaining how an item works? Showing its advantages? Addressing an objection? Creating a desire for it? Getting the person to make a purchase?

Those types of questions should affect all the creative decisions that follow.

A sales visual should not just display a product; it should aid in telling the story about the product.

Consider an item lying on a shelf, being shown on a website, appearing in a social media feed, or being included in an advertisement. Each of these situations offers a different kind of opportunity and poses a different kind of challenge. The person viewing it may spend two seconds, ten seconds, or several minutes looking at it. Your creative effort has to be suitable for that situation.

Show more than the product

A frequent error made in advertising products is to regard the product alone as making up the whole story.

While a beautiful product photograph may attract attention, that attention doesn’t always lead to understanding.

What function does the product have? Why is this important? What problem does it resolve? What sets it apart from others? For whom is it intended? What information should a person have before making a purchase?

The most effective sales visuals are able to deal with many of those questions without the viewer having to read a paragraph of copy.

You’re not merely displaying the product; you’re assisting the customer in understanding it.

Design for where it will be seen

The place where something is sold should also affect the story you tell.



A product page can be used to provide information. A social ad has to grab attention quickly. A display ad might have space for only one point. Packaging has to convey its message from a distance yet also give solid information when examined more closely.

Producing a handful of similar visuals to use in all situations simply won’t work.

Thoughtfulness converts

Many people believe that better design alone will make a subject more visually appealing. In some cases it does. But most of the time, better design just means thinking more carefully.

If you take the time to understand the true objective of the product, the audience, the context in which the product is being sold, and the kind of information people need in order to make a decision, then the visual presentation becomes more purposeful and persuasive. It gives the customer confidence to take the next step.