Reading - Principle 6 (Charge It Up)

Principle 6 - Charge It Up

  1. Art Evokes Emotion
    1. Pleasant or unpleasant pictures have pronounced brain activity
    2. Neutral pictures have no additional brain activity
    3. Emotion is powerful, usually short-lived experience as reaction to specific stimulus
      1. Other components are:
        1. Mood
        2. Physical
          1. Pounding heart
          2. Tightened muscles
          3. Sweaty Palms
          4. Light-headed
    4. Emotional graphics influence how a message is perceived and interpreted
      1. Aiming at emotions is a designer's best chance for interest if the viewer is:
        1. Distracted
        2. Busy
        3. Plain cynical
      2. Promoting attitude change is another reason for emotional appeals
        1. Social issue promotions
        2. Public service announcements
        3. Political campaigns
    5. "Advertisements that arouse positive emotions result in more positive feelings toward the product and greater intent to comply with the message."
  2. Emotion and the Information Processing System
    1. Emotion and cognition are distinct but inseparable
    2. Emotion affects mental processes
      1. Attention
      2. Perception
      3. Memory
    3. Emotions also affect how information is processed and encoded into long-term memory
      1. Unpleasant memories fade quicker than pleasant ones
      2. Pleasant experiences process more effectively and accurately
    4. Emotional graphics create arousal
      1. Arousal is cognitive and biological
      2. Monotony and boredom are generally thought of as unpleasant
  3. Applying the Principle
    1. Some effective ways to charge a graphic are:
      1. Convey emotional salience
        1. Take viewers beyond literal interpretation
      2. Provide thematic narrative
        1. Allow designers to create underlying emotional track
      3. Make use of visual metaphors
        1. Resonate w/the non-verbal quality of emotion
      4. Incorporate novelty and humor
        1. Startle audience w/innovative and unexpected approach
  4. Emotional Salience
    1. Visual ways to express emotional states are limitless
    2. Emotional salience stands out against neutral graphics
    3. Emotional salience compels viewer to pay attention and engage w/the picture
    4. Designing for emotion:
      1. Color has most emotional potential
        1. Feeling blue
        2. Green with envy
        3. Red with anger
      2. Reactions may be influenced by:
        1. Personal experience
        2. Individual taste
        3. Cultural Context
        4. Gender
      3. Cool colors have sedated feelings
        1. Green and blue
      4. Warm colors have more energetic feelings
        1. Red and yellow
      5. More saturated are more intense emotion
      6. Soft, pale, or neutral colors are less intense emotion
      7. To create tension:
        1. Use ambiguity
          1. Shapes and forms that are indistinct, obstructed and difficult to recognize
        2. Exaggeration
          1. Forms, colors, and textures obviously overstated
        3. Distortion
          1. Prevents cognitive closure
      8. Powerful imagery increases salience
        1. Facial expressions/emotions are stronger
      9. Symbolism plays critical role
  5. Narratives
    1. Stories are used to organize experiences
      1. Reading or watching stories
    2. Clever plots are interesting but emotional impact is stronger
      1. Books
      2. Films
      3. Theater
      4. Television
    3. Emotional drama is stronger than poor acting/plots
    4. Captivates audience, whether true or fictitious
    5. Create absorbing visual narrative
      1. Sequence of events and actions tied together w/emotional continuity
    6. Viewers fill in gaps if pictures are placed in temporal order
  6. Visual Metaphors
    1. Metaphors are how we understand things for which we have no specific knowledge
    2. When emotions are ambiguous/ethereal, metaphors make them more tangible
    3. Ways to bring metaphors to life:
      1. Combine qualities of two images
      2. Juxtapose two images in same graphic
    4. Synthesizes two objects/concepts to create new connection/deeper meaning
  7. Novelty and Humor
    1. Graphics with unusual twists invokes emotions
      1. Surprise
      2. Astonishment
      3. Shock
    2. Unfamiliar territory arouses curiosity and attention
    3. Novelty sustains attention because it doesn't match activated schemas in long-term memory
    4. Novelty arises from:
      1. Unusual juxtaposition
      2. Seeing objects in unconventional perspectives
    5. Moderate incongruities generate most favorable reactions
    6. Extreme incongruities generate confusion
    7. Humor is more interesting
      1. Deviating from normal expectations
      2. Incongruity that can be resolved
      3. Contrasts between everyday and unanticipated
      4. Surprise
      5. Inconsistancy
    8. Generally not a good idea to create light-hearted treatment of serious topic
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