"A picture is worth a thousand words" still rings true. How do you design a Doc with imagery that inspires? In this article, we share tips to make your Doc stand out.
💡 Want to see an example of a Foleon Doc with great attention to visuals? Check out this content by EIF.
Why are images important?
Studies show that when adding images, your content is 6 times more likely to be remembered. They transmit a message faster, trigger emotion and stick in long-term memory. For that reason, we strongly recommend investing time and effort into your imagery during the content creation process.
The relevance of the images to the content is vital — they have to connect to the topic that is being discussed. Luckily there are quite some types of images to choose from that we discuss in this article.
Concept (stock) imagery
Concept images visualize concepts — some metaphorical, some practical. There are many ways to apply them. In the customer example below, Atradius does a great job linking concept images to their content.
On the "Country overviews" page, they link the concept overview to a hot air balloon. They then apply a red detail to each image, tying everything together. With an approach like this, there are a lot of (free) stock sites to choose from.
Real situations
Real photography works — and your company might have a library to choose from. Think about employee portraits, pictures from your working environment, or events. Images like this are almost always relevant. For important portraits, it might be worth hiring a professional photographer.
💡 Learn how IDFA immerses its audience into their event.
Illustrations
Illustrations can leave a lasting impression on your audience — naturally, they should be aligned with your brand. If you use more than one illustration, it's recommended to stick to one illustrator for consistency.
If you commission an illustrator to create custom illustrations, a thorough briefing will help. As an alternative, most stock sites also have an illustration section.
Open-source illustrations might also be the answer. A resource such as Undraw lets you find images that fit your need. Use the on-the-fly color image generation to match your brand identity.
💡 Learn how EIF created a colorful report filled with interactive statistics and eye-catching illustrations.
Brand extractions
With a well-designed brand, it might be interesting to apply brand elements as an image. As you can imagine, we’re quite proud of the example below.
At Foleon, we use our brand colors, icons, and shapes as essential building blocks of our content. Next to that, animated icons and backgrounds make our Docs come alive.
💡 Learn how we implement our brand elements to spruce up our content.
Type as visual
If you’re low on visuals, it's always an option to use type as a visual. A good font can work wonders. Pick a letter, word, or quote and enlarge it — making the actual shape of the words become your visual. If done right, it can even have a bigger impact than the use of a photo. Play around with your brand colors to see what works.
💡 Learn how Knight Frank uses beautiful type on top of background videos.
💡 Learn how King's College takes bold type to the next level.
Data as visual
Who ever said that numbers are boring? Every company, department, or project has facts and figures — which work well to break up your page.
You might also want to consider creating a whole page for facts and figures. Our data elements help you make facts and figures more engaging.
