Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Aleksandra Lipovac, junior adviser, DIALOG komunikacije
A blank white page, a flashing cursor and black letters have always represented a barrier for me in the development of any kind of communication strategy, concept or a simple idea for a new campaign. It took me some time to realize the power and influence an aesthetic and visually appealing desktop has on me. In that moment, for every pitch, even the “smallest” one that maybe concerned only a new idea for a long-time client, I began to create my own templates. The words then poured out of me with enormous speed. Ideas piled up, got sold and never repeated themselves. Each new template, each new task led to an entirely new way of approach to the issue, and gave birth to the brand new thoughts and ideas. Shortly after – without any underestimating of the sometimes even frightening power of words in the communications industry – the messages expressed in graphic visuals started occupying an increasingly important role in my daily activities.
Public relations have long time ago outgrown words, while new communication tools grow in numbers by the day. Far from saying that they should be ignored, but I believe that everyone should choose the path through which they will transfer the message of their client to its target audience quickly and efficiently. For me it was graphic design, which I enrolled in despite the busy schedule and many question marks about whether I truly need new tasks.
What I’ve always admired in my colleagues graphic designers, with whom I work daily within the agency, is not only the creativity but also the passion they have for the job, and most of all – their patience. They have to work on client’s brief which we refer to them (in most cases not clearly enough) unconsciously omitting details that we consider unimportant, the availability of visuals they need, and all with the general opinion that their job is simple and that they only “embellish things”. Although the lack time for a new dimension that graphic design brings into the job was one of the first things on my “cons” list, today it has very confidently climbed to the top of the “pros” list. A PR who best knows the brand they work on, the tone of communication, the target groups and is involved in every campaign from its inception to implementation and evaluation, they can transfer the key message in the simplest and quickest manner, using a language understandable to all – the visual one. The time is thus actually saved – brief goes directly to you, and you make any necessary change yourself, thus minimizing the possibility of communication noise and promptly coming to the desired product – perfect visuals whose purpose is not solely aesthetic, but also serves to give a clear message that sells the idea and is acceptable to the end user.
By creatively thinking about ways to visualize our message, we create a product that is not merely a tool for its transfer, but also a tool for conveying the emotion, which has an enormous power that goes beyond language, social status of the person we are addressing and the degree of their education. But the most important is the fact that a message conveyed in this way, in today’s extremely fast moving world that is constantly changing, not only easily attracts attention, but by overcoming the mentioned barriers it reaches a much wider public, and stays engraved in their minds for much, much longer than words.
This is precisely why PR professionals no longer need to fear that by resorting to visual tools they would lose something. In fact, the play of words and visual in conveying a message will result in bold, unexpected products which have the ability to weave all their passion, emotion, creativity, and finally the very love that “keeps” us all in this business.