Everywhere we look these days, there are alluring, alluring, and provocative images to entice us to click, read, or watch. Without these temptations, we move on until something captures our interest. Okay, it’s fair to say that there are, in fact, words that can do this too. Actually, the sentences would be more precise. The right mix of information can stop us in our tracks and make us pay attention. Combine that with the right image and you have a sure winner. But wait… let’s take it a step further: the right combination of words, the right image, and a sharp, professional presentation: now there’s a formula that leads you down the road of no return by the nose. You have been arrested without even knowing it. So powerful is the attraction that you have lost all awareness that you have been sucked into a trap, your curiosity driving you deeper and deeper into the beckoning abyss. Suffice to say that this is the essence of effective marketing, one of the most manipulative forces in the cosmos. Transcending culture, intelligence, profession and any other human characteristic, this is a phenomenon of unimaginable proportions, capable of moving an entire life form towards its desired end.

But how fickle we are. With attention spans of no more than a nanosecond, we seem to be a nation riding on the coattails of the latest fad, intoxicated by a momentary infatuation with the newest fad, usually the product of the media circus. At this very moment, we are all caught up in the LeBron James decision, the BP oil spill, the obesity epidemic, and the global recession, in that order. But give it a couple of days and we’ll be on a whole new spectrum of hotter issues spawned by that day’s hype.

As a result, the competition is quite tough for all those who aspire to achieve marketing superiority. Complicated by the many ways we market, including a predominance of visually driven ones, I reintroduce the subject of this article: the importance of graphic design.

What exactly is graphic design? It is both art and science. It’s the ability to package a visual presentation with the trappings of intellectual brilliance, psychological influence, and cosmetic gloss. Using style and content to elicit the optimal viewer reaction, successful graphic design drives the entire message delivery experience, where the reception is strong, compelling, and permanently memorable.

Walk down the aisle of any supermarket, take a stroll down any major avenue, or spend some time surfing the Internet or changing channels, and you’ll be bombarded with endless visual stimuli. Color, shape, size and composition: these are the variables that define our options. Do we respond to big, bold, and rich, or delicate, subtle, and pale? Modern or classic? Plain or ornate? Simple or busy? Smart or dumb? Ridiculous or sublime? The alternatives are endless. Effective graphic design grabs us by the throat and forces us to react impulsively based on our innate sense of taste and preference. Without hesitating for a moment, we like it or we don’t like it. Buy it or scrap it entirely.

This can be a big bet for the marketing team, betting the farm on a single concept that uses a particular mode of graphic design. Everyone in sales knows that you can’t please everyone all the time. But tell that to the overbearing customer who is waiting for the moon on a silver platter.

What works better: the tried and true, or the revolutionary and innovative? Do people feel safer with the same old, or do they crave the excitement of something new and different? It really depends on the market you are targeting. With the tools of graphic design to work with, some marketers plan to captivate the gullible masses with their favorite tricks of the trade, usually consisting of miraculous claims from dubious origins. Then there are those who take an alternative route, resorting to fancy propositions to trick an unsuspecting segment of the market into swallowing their cast: hook, line and sinker. My octogenarian parents used to fall into this group: fools for a letter telling them they had proven themselves worthy of belonging to some distinguished group that recognized that higher prices indicated true quality. Oh, the tactics that give this profession a bad name! Few and far between are the trusted vendors who take the high road, representing their products fairly and unequivocally, in a manner that emulates the utmost excellence.

This places a huge responsibility on the graphic designer, who must be able to fulfill the role of marketing expert, client liaison, creative director, copyeditor and visual conceptualizer, not to mention deceitful prevaricator and deceptive feat, in some cases. cases. And in more than a few small businesses, that function is performed by just one person.

While traditional Madison Avenue advertising boutiques may have used a group of specialists in the industry’s heyday, the result of that kind of collaborative effort was often a watered-down interpretation due to too many compromises brought about by self-centered goals. When a single artist is given free rein, the end result can be a surprising departure from the norm. Art by committee rarely is. Of course, that assumes that the graphic designer is a genius with the ability to understand what is needed and how to make it happen. Too often, either through lack of experience and/or lack of talent, graphic design can easily miss its mark, sometimes confusing the problem beyond recognition, even stifling its appeal with a complete lack of aesthetics!

Since graphic design is a component of so many varieties of communications, including advertisements, mailers, banners, publications, reports, letters, invitations, trademarks, websites, greeting cards, signs, displays, programs, movie titles, packaging, posters, dust jackets and what’s more, to name a few examples, its applications are universal and its impact is indispensable. The next time you’re faced with a dilemma that involves making a decision about which product to buy, simply ask yourself, “Do I get this because I think it’s the best option, or do I reject it because it costs too much?” Whatever you are doing, there is a good chance that its graphic design has influenced you in one way or another!