What is a story
Visual storytelling starts with a story. A story is the telling of an event or series of events via any medium and in any way, e.g., written, verbal, with images, via tv, via radio, via social media, etc.
A visual story is a story with the explicit use of visuals to convey that story. Visuals in themselves are powerful. Images are for example much more powerful than plain text. A great story is a powerful way to communicate. Adding images to that story strengthens the message even more.
In short, visual storytelling is a very powerful way to communicate. That’s why every professional and organization that has to communicate, and who doesn’t, needs to use visual storytelling if they want to communicate successfully. Read how you can improve communication with the use of visual storytelling and what the benefits of visual storytelling are.
Examples of Visual Storytelling
Everyone who has seen a movie, read a comic book or picture book has already experienced examples of visual storytelling. Visual storytelling isn’t just limited to the arts. Metaphors, for example, are also a form of visual storytelling. You may not use actual visuals, but when you use metaphors (‘I see a sea full of shark lawyers’), you spark the imagination of people to see the visuals you refer to.
Visual Storytelling for Marketing
Visual storytelling has also found its way in the business world. Even though visual storytelling is hyped by marketing and communication in recent years as if it’s the holy grail of marketing communications, in reality, visual storytelling has been around for ages. Businesses, for example, have been using visual storytelling for decades in for example commercials on TV or ads in magazines.
In the field of corporate branding visual storytelling has also been playing an important role in recent years, under the influence of marketing. Even small business owners are becoming aware of the power of visual storytelling to distinguish themselves from competitors.