Visual Aids for Complex Topics
This will take around 8 mins to read
TL;DR: Life is complicated, so there are bound to be a lot of complex topics in our conversations with clients, students and team members. Visual communication tools like concept art, mockups and analogies bring playfulness, imagination and simple to break down stories that invite people to better engage with and understand these topics you bring to the table.
The fantastic thing about visual communication is that it's a universal language. So it can cross generational and language barriers. What I mean by that is that kids, elderly people, someone who doesn't speak your same language - they can all understand what you're saying with visuals because we have things like symbols and depictions of what we see.
This was an important piece of the early hieroglyphics and Japanese/Chinese/Korean character writing. They created so many symbols that everyone agreed on and understood. It was this early form of visual communication that was created so everyone could be on the same page.
We can use that same idea of symbolism and common simplified representations of the world around us to talk about complex topics.
And for those of us who work in the online space, we talk about A LOT of complex topics. We also are not right there in front of someone, showing them how things work or just talking about what's right in front of us. We're talking about things that people can't see often and it becomes difficult to replicate being there with that person.
Visual communication can do that for you by using color and style to create an environment or vibe that people can connect with and using symbols to break down complex topics into easy to remember analogies.
I often create an analogy for my clients when we're handling a complex topic so we can then break it down into stages.
For example, I supported a branding agency in simplifying a marketing plan that was becoming increasingly complex in spreadsheet format. They were working with a very creative client, who had tons of ideas and not all of the ideas went together. This can often lead to burn out and makes it hard to include other team members in the content creation process.
Instead, we created an analogy of a cocktail mix. And we made all of the platforms, content types and main talking points a different cocktail ingredient. Because they also valued humor in their branding, we created a bunch of ingredients that were really silly, throw-you-for-a-loop unexpected ideas. When the agency presented the marketing ideas to them as different concoctions that could playfully be mixed and matched as long as all the ingredients were present the clients felt more invested in the marketing plans because they were coming from a place of fun and understanding.
My three favorite tools to use for complex topics are:
concept art
mockups
analogy animations
Visuals bring out the humor in complex topics so that you can be in this complex topic, struggling along and making mistakes and trying to figure out what the hell's going on while also just having some humor about it and being silly.
Illustration and design can create worlds that might not exist for your clients. Maybe they don't have a website yet so you can't show them a literal website. And when you show them somebody else's website as an example, they say things like, “Well, that's not what I want my live website to look like because that's not my business.” It’s hard for them to imagine. Mockups and particular ways of presenting inspiration for brainstorming sessions can make that non-existent-yet idea more digestible.
Visual communication captures an easy to understand visual analogy or framework for people to work within. Picture books are a beautiful example of simplifying a complex topic into an understandable visual story. The readers can see what the emotions look like on faces and the cause and effect of how the characters react based on those emotions, etc.
This can work in any kind of setting where you need to be on the same page.
For example, I have a personal analogy that I use to help me understand when I’m leaning towards a more codependent relationship (it’s about boats and docks you can DM or email me if you want to hear more) and my wonderful therapist has memorized this analogy and uses it with me so I can work within that story to handle deeper topics that I may not fully understand.
Here's an example of a cupcake illustration that I did to show the idea of the nonbinary when it comes to gender:
A Variety of Flavors Makes a Better Bakery:
A lot of complex topics also have a lot of resistance and bias around them because somewhere along the way, somebody decided to make the subject matter “simpler.” And they made formulas for it and said “Just do it this way!” Most of life has a gray area and is not simple. It's not a binary or clear cut “you follow these eight steps and then you have this goal.”
Life is complex and has lots of gray areas and visual communication helps with those gray areas.
If you want to learn more ways to nurture your clients through concepts that are difficult to understand you can find more fantastic examples and baby steps to take in the Offbeat Illustrative Community! Check out more below:
Have questions about this article? Leave a comment below or email me at laura@illustrative.us.
AUTHOR | LAURA MATTESON
Laura is a neurodivergent artist, mother, wife, and founder of Illustrative with fancy drawing skills and a huge bucket-full of hope and love for humanity.
