II.

DEFINITION AND NATURE OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Visual communicationis one of the most important ways that people communicate and share
information. It is the type of communication that uses visuals to convey information and/or
messages.

III.ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF VISUAL

COMMUNICATION
ADVANTAGES

1.Effective for illiterate receiver: if the receivers are illiterate, the visual communication will be
more effective to exchange information. They can easily understand the information that is
presented visually.

2.Helps in oral communication: visual techniques can be used with oral communication. Oral
communication becomes more meaningful if graphs, pictures diagrams are used with it.

3. Easy explanation: Everyone can explain the meaning of it very easily. Easy explanation has
made the visual techniques more popular.

4. Simple presentation: complex information, data and figures can be easily presented very
simply on graphs, pictures and diagrams.

5. Prevents wastage of time: Visual techniques help to prevent the wastage of time. Written and
oral communication takes much time to exchange information. But number of receivers can be
communicated at a time through visual methods.

6. Helps in quick decision:Visual communication helps to take quick decision. So management

prefers visual techniques to communicate with others.

7. Popular:Visual communication is very much popular because people do not like much speech
and long explanation rather than a chart of a diagram

8. Others:Artful presentation, Ads impact to the information, quicker understanding.

DISADVANTAGES

1. Costly:The visual methods of communication are more costly than those of other methods. To
draw maps, charts, diagram is costly. That is why only large company or organization can use
this technique
2. Complex presentation:Sometimes visual presentation of information becomes complex. The
receivers cannot understand the meaning of the presentation

3. Incomplete method: this technique is considered as an incomplete method. Visual

presentation is not sufficient to communicate effectively and clearly but also it can be
successfully used with oral communication

4. Wastage of time: Sometimes visual techniques take much time to communicate. Whereas oral
communication takes no time to exchange information

5. Difficult to understand: Difficult to understand and requires a lot of repetitions in visual

communication. Since it uses gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, touch etc. for
communicating with others which may not be understandable for the simple and foolish people

6. Problem for general readers:General people are not prefers to communicate through visual
communication with others. Sometimes it cannot create an impression upon people or listeners.
It is less influential and cannot be used everywhere.

7. Others: Ambiguity, situational problem, delays in taking decision.

IMPORTANCE OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

1. It saves time: It is easier to process a visual signal quickly than to read a sentence of a
paragraph full of text. An image will pass a lot of information within a short a time because
one image can have a thousand words. Research shows that the brain processes images
60,000 times faster than texts. With this background information, it will save you time
when using visuals to communicate to people. Rather than loading an advertisement with
words, it is highly beneficial to utilize visuals to effectively pass a message within a short
time.

2. It is clear
Visual communication improves the clarity of information. You easily fall in love with a book
of a movie because of the graphics used on the front cover or trailer respectively. This is
the same way customers fall in love with products and services depending on how they are
advertised by using images and graphics. When using images for business advertisements,
use simple and clear graphics that will pass the same message to the targeted audience to
avoid confusion.

3. It helps in achieving consistency

This is mainly achieved by using same colors of the original product or company to
advertise. The use of logos and consistent colors boost the brand image of the business.
The company’s colors should be used in all form of marketing and advertisements. Also,
using consistent images, logo and colors make it easy for people to identify a product with
the company. Build brand awareness of your company or organization by using visual
communication.

4. Gives better retention of information

Since the human brain processes information in image form, a person will be able to retain
visual information for long. People easily forget what they hear or read easily but retain
images for long. This is because images are stored in long-term memory, and words and
texts are stored in short term memory. A study conducted on active learning showed that
10-20% of the participants were able to remember spoken and written information while
over 50% of visuals and images was remembered. It is important to aim at retention of
information when passing
marketing products
and services.
5. It is simple
The illiterate can understand visual communication hence makes it an effective
communication method to all. Its simplicity makes it easy for people to understand the
information. Coming with an appropriate image for an advertisement may take time, but
the end result is usually simple and understandable to all groups of people. The main
reason as to why you still remember road signs is because they are simple, clear, and
memorable.

6. It is flexible
Flexibility in visual communication makes it better than verbal communication. For
instance, if you are looking forward to advertising a product to millions of people across
different cultures, you may consider using images and graphics. This is because they are
flexible and can be understood by different people. Verbal communication will be limited
to language, and some terminologies may not be similarly understood by different
cultures. Images are more flexible than words.

7. It is effective
Visual communication is one of the most effective ways of sending information. The main
reason lies in the cognitive function of the human brain. Nowadays, images and graphics
have flooded the advertising field because of the effectiveness of visual communication.
The mind remembers images faster than words or texts.
8. It is popular
People love watching images, GIFs, graphic videos rather than listening to words or an
advertisement. If you are running a business, you will easily catch the attention of potential
customers by using visuals, images, GIFs in advertising. Social media platforms like
Facebook encourage ads to have fewer words and more graphics. Also, visuals stimulate
the emotions of the people making them respond quickly to an advertisement.