The Power of Images
“When pictures carry the weight of clarity in a scene, they free words to explore a wider area.”
-Scott McCloud
We’ve all heard the phrase, “a picture tells a thousand words,” but have you ever wondered why that is? Just think, when you look at ten solid paragraphs of text with no pictures at all, what are the chances you will actually take the time to read it? Now, imagine walking into a museum with several beautiful complex paintings, what are the chances you will actually take the time to walk around and look at all the paintings?
The simple obvious fact is that images speak louder than words. There is so much more value in images than people give them credit. Images help us learn, they grab our attention like words cannot, they explain difficult concepts, and they inspire. I don’t know about you, but I would certainly rather read an engaging picture book than a book with several pages and tiny words containing no images. Images have the power to convey abstract and complex concepts, like facial expressions. They can also instantly change your mood and leave you with certain impressions faster and more accurately than words can. So next time before you automatically associate pictures with little kids or less advanced things, remember that images are actually much more powerful than words.
Just an example: Take a second and think about my blog that you just read: did you look at the words or the image first?
-Scott McCloud
We’ve all heard the phrase, “a picture tells a thousand words,” but have you ever wondered why that is? Just think, when you look at ten solid paragraphs of text with no pictures at all, what are the chances you will actually take the time to read it? Now, imagine walking into a museum with several beautiful complex paintings, what are the chances you will actually take the time to walk around and look at all the paintings?
The simple obvious fact is that images speak louder than words. There is so much more value in images than people give them credit. Images help us learn, they grab our attention like words cannot, they explain difficult concepts, and they inspire. I don’t know about you, but I would certainly rather read an engaging picture book than a book with several pages and tiny words containing no images. Images have the power to convey abstract and complex concepts, like facial expressions. They can also instantly change your mood and leave you with certain impressions faster and more accurately than words can. So next time before you automatically associate pictures with little kids or less advanced things, remember that images are actually much more powerful than words.
Just an example: Take a second and think about my blog that you just read: did you look at the words or the image first?
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