In an age of information overload and fierce competition for attention, clarity and connection decide what is seen, understood, and remembered.
Visual communication gives us a clear advantage, because humans process visual information faster and with greater emotional impact than text alone.
My Make People Care guiding principles are grounded in the belief that visual communication should create connection, trust, and impact.
Connection by Design is the method I use to put this belief into practice. It looks at three things: your message, your audience, and the context of your communication.
1. Clarity first
Translating something into visual communication that evokes a response from people forces you to organize your thoughts first:
What do you want?
Why do you want it?
Who do you want to address?
What are your resources and constraints?
What is your unique value proposition?
Clear thoughts convert into a clear strategy. A clear strategy helps you to achieve your goals.
2. Connection is power
The first and most important goal of Make People Care is to build connection and establish trust.
If you connect with your audience, your message will reach them. If you manage to earn their trust, they will listen to you. If they listen to you, you will influence them.
3. Impact or nothing
If you want your visual communication to be influential, you have to make it work. Do everything you can to ensure the outcome is impactful: analyze the needs, test it, refine it. Otherwise, your time and energy will be wasted.
People care when they feel that you care. That being said, creating something imperfect is part of the learning and development process. Improve, refine, iterate. That’s the path.
4. Easy access is key
Impactful visual communication is easily accessible to the audience. If people can’t access it, it doesn’t matter.
5. Each detail counts
Each detail communicates: the thickness of your outline, the hues, and the line spacing of your headline. Choose all your details in a way that supports and emphasizes your message.
6. Minimum waste
Create in the most sustainable way possible: maximum impact with minimum resources. With foresight, planning, and real-world testing, you reduce the waste of time, energy, and money.
Sustainable visual communication is created and maintained in a way that efficiently uses resources.
7. Longevity is king
Impactful visual communication is long-lasting. Its foundation doesn’t need to be replaced yearly. When designing for longevity, consider possible future developments.
The result is timeless and can be easily updated to influence audiences for years and decades.
8. Make it work everywhere
Impactful visual communication is flexible. It scales across media, platforms, contexts, and events without losing clarity or integrity.
9. Each case is magic
Treat each piece of visual communication, no matter how big or small, as a case of its own, so it can reach its full potential. A logo-printed ballpoint pen is standard. A personalized pen with a message about writing? That creates magic.
10. Be the hero
Standing out takes courage. People will care when you’re a trailblazer and do things differently.
11. Enjoy the journey
Visual communication is a powerful language of its own. It takes practice and patience to learn and use it well. Honor that process.
