Different responses to visual elements

There are effects of visual elements on the viewers. As a result of this viewers show various
responses explained below. In the following we’ll discuss about the responses to these visual
elements.

Sensory Response

If we want to study the viewer’s response to visuals, then first we have to focus on those
elements (visual) that catches the attention of the viewer’s eyes. For this purpose various
strategies are given. One of that is close your eyes while thinking about visuals. And while
opening it the first visual element that you see is the one that catches the viewer’s attention. For
the analysis of such responses of viewers some effects can be brought into consideration. These
are:

 Colors (reflection of light from an object back to our eyes)

 Line (this element is defined by the points that are present in space)
 Shapes (2D area within a boundary)
 Balance (state of equilibrium)
 Contrast (relation between opposites e.g. small vs. large)

Any visual design is comprised of the basic units. And these units are explained above. For
instance we can observe that when a viewer opens his/her eyes what color he observes at first.
These are basically the sensory responses to visual elements.

Perceptual Response

While considering these responses it is also important to analyze the perception of the viewer.
For this we need to know whether the person is attracted to such visual information or not. To
know these perceptual responses, we also need to bring certain factor into consideration. First
one is target audience specifics. It means the characteristics that must be present in a target
audience e.g. what the specialties of the audience are i.e. what is their age and profession. What
is their financial and economic status? Second one is cultural familiarity elements which mean
viewer’s familiarity with various aspects of different culture. It means what is their ethnic group.
What are their religious preferences and what are their school of though. To which social group
they belong. Then there is a third one i.e. cognitive visuals. It means what are their cognitions i.e.
memories, thinking patterns, decision making processes, learning processes beliefs, experiences
and etc. by keeping all of these factors in mind we can definitely try to know about the
perceptions of the viewers based on the visual information they are attracted to.

Technical Response

When we try to analyze the perceptual responses of the viewers based on the visual information,
we need to keep one fact in mind. That is there are certain technological factors that can affect
the viewer’s perception. For this we can also consider laws of perceptual organization. These
laws include law of similarity (elements with same visuals are considered to be more related),
law of symmetry (our brain tends to focus and like symmetrical elements), law of common
region (we tend to consider elements in a group if they are within a certain boundary), law of
continuity (our mind tend to observe elements arranged in curves or lines), law of closure (we
tend to observe an object as a continuous pattern despite of the breaks in that object) and etc. we
can also consider certain types of visuals that are drop down menus (it is computer term, it gives
a list of options), hover over highlighting (it is also a computerized effect which includes change
in colors while using mouse arrow), animations (manipulations of pictures as moving objects)
and quality of visuals (it includes importance of visual content i.e. to increase the value in the
market we need to improve the content of visuals).

Emotional Response

To consider the responses of viewers we also need to analyze their emotions. It means what type
of visual information and visual content the viewers want to see. For this we can analyze certain
visuals which are:

Mood setting colors (effect of colors on mood and emotions. It is scientifically proven that there
are certain colors which can enhance and alleviate our mood. They stimulate various sentiments
in people. For example we associate red color with love and yellow color with joy)

Mood setting lighting (Effect of lighting on mood. It is also proven that lighting affects our
sentiments. For example blue light in office leads to alertness and good performance)

Persuasive images (specific photos can manipulate the reader to act in a certain way. In fact
when words can’t describe a story properly and completely, pictures can describe it brilliantly)

Positioning of search or purchase buttons (there are certain buttons on the website. Users can
press these buttons to perform the action that the owner wants them to perform)

Social media icons and share options (these options are also very helpful. They allow us to
display our purchases on social networking sites for example Facebook, twitter etc.)

Ethical response

For analyzing such responses it is important to observe viewer’s values and belief system. People
of all age groups can view the page. So it is not appropriate to display any unethical and wrong
images. For this we can also analyze and consider certain visuals. These are:

Visual stereotypes (there are many images and pictures which display the prevailing stereotypes
in our society)

Limitations in diversity (apart from the advantages there are also many limitations of diversity.
These include language barrios, trust issues and etc.)
Inappropriate images for all audience ( it is also very unethical to display inappropriate images
on a website. Such pictures and images are not right and appropriate for any age group. People
use such imagefor the advertising purposes for example for the increase of views)

Digital alterations (Transformation of any picture using any related software. Such people are
called re-toucher and photo-shoper. It is also very unethical to manipulate the picture so that it
differs from the original one. This is called digital alterations)

False representation or advertising (use of wrong and incorrect information for the
advertisement of the product. So that it can lead to good sale in the market. This is totally against
the ethics)

All of these are very unethical.