The 7Cs of effective visual communication in design

¶ … Visual Communication

please assign this order to: hisdudeness contact directly confusion order requirements . Final Project The purpose project provide opportunity student demonstrate understanding ability apply content developing producing a visual project reflects effective visual communication.

Cartoon

Symbols

Typography

In order to be able to pass a message across using visual communication or visual aids, there are several aspects of the communication that must be taken into consideration for the visual aid to be effective and to pass the message across in a manner which is comprehensible and catches the eye of the viewer Mary Beth Watson, Narasimhan, & Rhee, 1998.

These can be summarised as the 7Cs of effective communication Hinds & Kiesler, 1995.

Each approach used in the visual communication is important in passing the message across. They help in making the visual aid catchy and passing the message across with ease. When designing a piece of communication, there are these several approaches of communication that can to be incorporated into the visual aid to pass the message across. Each of these approaches has its own pros and cons and the type of approach that is chosen depends largely on the message being passed and the intended audience.

The 7Cs of communication

Completeness

The first C. is completeness. Here, it is important that the visual communication provides all information that is needed by the audience. The sender of the message must place themselves in the shoes of their intended audience in order to design the communication to fit into the mindset of the receiver and thus convey the message accordingly. A complete message should not leave any questions unanswered in the mind of the recipient of the message. It also helps the sender of the message to reduce costs since they will not need to spend more to clarify the message. Completeness of the message also helps to persuade the audience into the cue to action contained in the piece of communication Kaul, 2004()

Looking at the three approaches above, all of them are complete since they all give the necessary information to the receiver.

Conciseness

The communication should convey the message using the least possible words or symbols, signs or any other approach used. Conciseness saves time and costs for the send and the receiver too since they spend less time passing the message across and reading and interpreting the message. It also helps to make the message catchy for the reader Das, 2002()

Looking at the three approaches used above, all the messages are concise and the message comes across using the least possible words or symbols.

Concreteness

In terms of being concrete, the communication should be vivid and put actions in the verbs used. It should show the facts and, if possible, figures related to the particular action. In the three approaches shown above, all the messages are concrete and there is a cue to action. In the cartoon, the cue to action is to introduce their children to using condoms to prevent AIDS. The symbols and signs also encourage exercising caution in order to prevent AIDS and death. The last approach of typography also stimulates the audience to exercise caution by using a condom.

Clarity

Clarity is about using the precise words, symbols, signs or any other approach that the audience is familiar with. It also involves using the right order of words, signs and symbols or other approaches. It helps to make the communication easy to understand and enhances the meaning of the message.

All three of the approaches are clear and the message comes across with ease. In the symbols, the audience should be people who are well aware of the meaning of the symbols in order for the message to be passed on effectively.

Courtesy

Courtesy concerns showing emotion in the message. The emotions that can be expressed include politeness, reflection, enthusiasm and others. Courtesy is focused at making sure the message caters to the heart of the recipient and showing that the message is not biased in any way.

All the approaches used above are courteous and an emotion of politeness and reflection is passed to the recipient.

Correctness

Correctness of the piece of communication is about the message not having any errors or flaws. It helps to save time and costs that would be involved by the sender to correct the message. A message that is correct reflects on the confidence of the sender and creates trust of the audience in the sender.

All the approaches to visual communication that have been shown above are correct. There are no grammatical errors and the message comes across as being correct.

Conclusion

Of the three approaches used, the approach of the cartoon is more effective in passing the message across. This is because the cartoon is catchy and it respects all the seven Cs of effective communication. The cartoon also appeals to all audiences at all levels, whether it is old people or youngsters. The approach of the symbols fails to be the best because it needs a learned audience which is well aware of the meaning of each sign or symbol used.