Are you infected by The Make It Pretty Syndrome?

And in the end, just make it pretty!

There is no secret to the universe. To prove my point I will share a story a former (very crazy) creative director told me. He had been out “partying” one night and later had some very psychedelic, vibrant dreams. He awoke in the middle of the night to the realization that he had stumbled upon the Secret of the Universe. Since it was only 3:00 am, he chose to write it down and went back to sleep. In the morning he remembered that he had experienced an epiphany but couldn’t recall what it was. He raced to read what he had written. On his notepad were the words, “The cucumber is in the street.”

Now, I like cucumbers but there really is no secret to the universe. Or at least I haven’t found it yet and time is marching on. That said here is something you can believe–and it's no secret. We can go around and around about marketing, branding, planning, targeting, identifying and strategizing but in the end, there is no single “right” answer, no “secret” bullet, no “magic” formula. It’s all a best guess as to how people – human beings – will respond. And it changes every time.

Great, now what do I do?

As a graphic designer, my go-to solution is, “just make it pretty”! We are visual creatures by nature, and we have evolved to be able to read and process visual cues in nanoseconds. If our eyes are confused our minds will follow.

Body language expert, Patti Wood tells us that humans generate a first impression of each other in less than one second. This first (non-verbal) impression is more powerful than 3 hours of 1-on-1 conversation! Patti can even tell you that the direction someone is pointing his or her toes or how they tilt their head are clues as to how interested they are in what you have to say. All the talk in the world won’t stop that disinterested bloke from bolting.

All the elements of visual communication matter

First impressions count in the visual world too. So many elements come into play, like the theories surrounding the emotions of color. For example, there is scientific proof that orange and turquoise when used in tandem increases one's appetite. When Howard Johnson's was looking for a way to increase their business, they consulted with scientists and psychologists to find out what colors would bring the customers to their restaurants and help to subliminally increase their appetites. They found that orange and turquoise worked best, by a margin of 30%, and that color combo saw a higher food consumption rate than any other color combo. So H.J. changed all of their locations to the orange and turquoise combo. Whoda thunkit?

Red induces anger, nervousness, agitation and lust–not the reactions you are seeking in a restaurant - or a proposal or a marketing piece. Okay, maybe a little lust. Yellow, on the other hand is smack in the middle of the color spectrum and sometimes use for fire engines, school buses, road stripes and McDonalds. It is the color of caution and attention. And we all know that blues and greens are calming and help us concentrate.

Engage their brain

In addition to color, the way you layout a page, the feel and size of the paper, the size of the text, whether you write in prose or bullet points, the length of the line, the depth of the paragraph and the way you use photos, graphics and color will also either engage your reader or subconsciously fog the reader’s brain. Good page layout increases readability, retention and action.

The Make It Pretty Syndrome

But wait; there are some misguided souls who think there is something wrong with a page, an image, a graphic or a webpage being attractive. They call it the Make It Pretty Syndrome and see it as the marketing equivalent of the swine flu. For some reason they view it as being in conflict with the fundamental role of marketing being about the customer and don't see the value of non-verbal communication.

Since marketing is about the customer why would we intentionally make something as important as visual communication boring and non-engaging? Or worse, why would we make it ugly, distasteful or disagreeable? That is unless it’s one of those very strange and disturbing fashion ads. Years ago a Director of Production muttered a universal truth. “Making ugly bigger doesn’t make it better. It just makes a bigger ugly.”

The role of the visual, whether it’s the graphic design, color palette, images or illustrations is to communicate and make it intuitive and usable. You want the viewer to easily absorb your message. So, let’s not get hung up on dpi resolution, color depth, screen widths and font distribution any more than we do paper weight, print screen frequency and dot gain. No excuses. Yes you can accomplish the same goals and objectives on an electronic design as you do on a printed page. You don’t get a hall pass because a webpage is interactive. There is no web design vs print design – just good design. There, I’ve said it.

The point is never to make something ugly, or to make it hard to read, use or understand because of the delivery system. There is no conflict between “make it work” and “make it pretty.”

Try my theory

I was once interviewed by a 7th-grader who was writing an essay on how adults use math in their jobs. As a graphic artist, I actually don’t “use” much math (except on the happy occasion that I get to send an invoice), but I do use software programs that convert math and numbers to charts and graphs that readers can decipher more intuitively. So, we made up a poster board composed of examples of my work to go with her written report. She had the information and the examples to support it.

Then I shared the Not a Secret of the Universe with her. My advice was simply this – just make sure that whatever you turn in looks pretty! She got a 100 on her report – plus an extra 25 bonus points for visual presentation! My theory has been proven!

Just Make It Pretty

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Susan Heslup is visual communicator with a deep understanding of how design, layout, images and concept can help generate the desired results. She has been the driving force behind the look, feel and personality of projects for major corporations, branding, media and even book design. As a professional and a communicator, she "gets it." Susan is a partner at Think! Consulting Group.