As marketers move into 2015 and work on delivering their business objectives and goals for the year, now is the perfect time to take a fresh look at how to visually represent the business. According to a recent study by Visual Teaching Alliance, 90 per cent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual and we can absorb information much more quickly from imagery. In an increasingly visual world, it is more difficult than ever to cut through the clutter to make your business stand out from the crowd…and more important.

Marketers responsible for the external-facing appearance of a brand stand a lot to gain by using interesting and engaging imagery across ads, websites and blogs. Images can bring a brand to life and make a business far more memorable to new and existing clients.

To help marketers achieve the cut-through with their collateral to inspire and engage, here is a list of the top design trends our research has found will rise to the fore in 2015.

1. Text boxes across busy images: The rise of content marketing has increased the need for visual storytelling. As images are getting busier and more complex, the usual composition with copy space or captioning will give way to tinted and semi-transparent text boxes laid over busy areas of the image. By adopting this style, marketers can allow visuals to say even more.

2. Letterbox format in digital design: The 2.35:1 format that is favoured by some filmmakers will become one of the key design elements on business websites. A thinner, longer landscape format means the visual message is contained in a less familiar and concentrated form. Marketers can use this technique to create a more engaging story and a dynamic brand presence.

3. Interesting, quirky, dynamic women: The demand for visuals of women with diverse careers, lifestyles, loves and looks is finally growing and becoming a reality. We have identified that intriguing will become heroic in the visualisation of women in the year ahead.

4. Sensory immersion: As technology increasingly influences more aspects of our lives, the desire to be immersed in experiences that stimulate the senses increases. From high resolution images that capture different textures such as water – through to the use of slow motion video to capture movement (similar to Marks & Spencer’s sensual food ads) – marketers should use images to stimulate all the senses.

5. Personal viewpoint: Small wearable cameras offer access to the world through a personal and often intimate viewpoint. The love affair with this camera technology is only set to heighten in 2015 as stories are told from the user’s point of view and bring the audience closer to the brand and its vision.

6. Super still life: Small screens love big images, especially when it comes to still life imagery. Graphic and dramatic work well on a phone screen – particularly as screen resolutions continue to get higher and internet speeds faster. Expect to see more creativity and expertise in the representation of inanimate objects, through exquisite photography and skillful arts and crafts work.

7. Monochromatic colour: A key look next year is reminiscent of Kodak Portra colour negative film stock with bright whites and strong blacks. The effect is perfect for marketers looking to present their company as sophisticated, stylish and contemporary and offers an antidote to the technicolour of the digital world.

8. People’s point of difference: 2015 will be a year of celebrating the diversity that is humankind, a countertrend to the volume of images that represent samey-looking people. Consumers respond to people and images that are intriguing and different.

Businesses in the competitive environment and emerging from recession would do well to reconsider their visual style and approach. Those with fresh and appealing imagery, chosen with their audiences firmly in mind, can use these trends to convey their unique proposition and stand out not just in business but in identity as well.

 

By Rebecca Swift, Director of Creative Planning at iStock by Getty Images. 

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