Horizon in Visual Communications: Arenas of Promise and Challenge, The

Design Management Journal, Fall 2003 by Walton, Thomas

The ascendancy of visual communications-of graphics and the written word-over oral traditions is one of the great sagas of history. It is the progression from the cave paintings at Lascaux to the illuminated manuscripts of medieval times, and from there to the printed texts, engravings, and maps executed during the Renaissance, all the way to our Web sites, with their flashy graphics and myriad navigation options. It is the medium that supports political and social change-from autocratic governments and kingdoms to democracy and the rule of law. It is the basis for the economic transformation from barter and local exchange to monetary systems and global trade. This is the proud breadth and heritage of visual communications.

Glimpses into the state of the art

In this context, it is appropriate to ponder where things are headed in this field and what the implications are for society, as well as for business. Suggesting that some things never change-that the state of the art includes certain classic activities-Roger Sametz, president and founder of Sametz Blackstone Associates, an identity and communications design firm in Boston, and Andrew Maydoney, vice president of research and strategy at the same organization, explore how storytelling remains a key element of communications design. Using carefully developed content and sharing narratives in a rich and compelling way, the objective is to connect clients with their constituents-current and prospective customers, investors, donors, staff, boards, and other audiences. For Sametz and Maydoney, this translates into thoughtfully integrating proprietary elements such as logos and taglines with thoughtfully designed messages, typography, color, imagery, space, and language. They discuss the nuances of their approach-articulating values, refining word choices, determining style (representational, evocative, factual, and metaphorical) and voice, selecting color and font, and composing the optimum graphics and illustrations.

Most wonderfully, they amplify their points with a broad range of case studies. For the Boston Public Library, they created a book, an exhibit, a CD, and a Web site to convey the ongoing validity of the history and mission of the institution as a pioneer in free lending, with a commitment to life-long learning. For Scudder University, a program of Deutsche Bank's Scudder Investments organization, they devised a multi-media retirement planning initiative. Unlike competitors, whose images of yachts, resorts, and trophy homes abound, the work done by Sametz Blackstone-including a retirement education kit and a set of on-line retirement planning courses-shows real people addressing real-life retirement questions, a strategy that, from a business perspective, draws higher and more diverse customer participation.

Continuing the study of visual communications as a pathway for relationship building, Rob Waller, principal of the Enterprise IG Information Design Unit, based in Newport Pagnell in the United Kingdom, and judy Delin, head of research for the same consultancy, probe how service brands can exploit design to reinforce ties with customers. Their key theses are twofold. First, all communications-paper, digital, and voice-must be consistent and form a coherent whole. Second, what they refer to as the Cooperative Principle must guide the development of communications content. This principle states that to build an enduring relationship with consumers, information must be relevant, clear and brief, truthful, and delivered in the right amount. Surprisingly, while these guidelines are straightforward, they are often breached. It is all too common to discover Web sites that are overly complex or out of date, medical bills that are full of jargon and distracting data, and insurance claims that are not honored because disclaimers are buried in fine print. Extrapolating the Cooperative Principle to contemporary media, Waller and Delin summarize important design recommendations in a chart. Paper communications, for instance, should make clear what a customer is expected to do, provide enough information to check for accuracy, lay things out logically, and personalize marketing pitches. Email should be secure and virus-free, arrive in a format and with graphics that match the customer's technology, offer a way to ask or respond to questions, and ideally fit on a single screen. They also outline similar counsel for Internet sites and text messaging.

Jeannette Hanna, vice president of Spencer Francey Peters brand and corporate identity consultants in Toronto, examines relationship communications from the viewpoint of cuttingedge technology. Her topic is mass customization-tailoring print media, including letters, presentations, and marketing materials, to the unique requirements of individual customers. It's certainly possible, as a story about Galileo International, a travel services company, demonstrates. It is currently rolling out a program that will enable it to respond to five different markets, four levels of decision makers, and 40 different customer needs. The message and design variations number in the hundreds. Salespeople are enthusiastic and say they are providing better information and have reduced the time it takes to get back to clients by 73 percent. For their part, multidisciplinary communications teams that include designers have discovered a new reality in which the focus is on strategy, connectivity, and message elements rather than on projects, in which gaps in the communications framework become obvious and need to be quicldy filled, and where design and redesign, writing and rewriting never stop. At Galileo, this has resulted in new positions, such as customer message management architect and customer message management content strategist. It's an approach to visual communications that is fluid and highly adaptable, one that begins to mirror the personal, context-based qualities of verbal exchanges. Are designers ready for this shift? Hanna is not convinced. Are companies ready? Hanna feels they will jump on board when it makes economic sense. As that time approaches-and it is approaching-designers had better adapt or be left behind.