Appropriate Imagery For Your Ebook Cover Design: #3

Visual imagery communicates your message in a flash!

(Third article in a series about getting the most from your graphics presence)

If we consider that the typical viewer is giving you only a few seconds of their attention, it becomes obvious how critical it is to use specific, appropriate images to support your message. Trying to lure a potential client along with hints and promises may have had its place in the past in other media. We dont have that luxury today.

Ok, so what is an appropriate image? An appropriate image is one that does two things:

1.It communicates your message clearly and immediately. Your images must reflect what your headline is saying, and give additional information if possible. If your headline is about making your first million, what does that look like and feel like?

2.It does so in a visually compelling way. If a client saw your image with no headline, would it communicate your primary message to them? If not, what is it communicating?

We have probably all seen business cards from people like plumbers and builders, with their name in raised letters and the little illustration of the happy man running with a wrench or ladder. Cute, right? Sure, but what do you take away from it? I think of it as an impersonal, dated, obvious icon that makes them blend in with their competition, instead of standing apart. There is nothing that stands out about it. Its overused, uninspiring, and it says nothing about their business really.

From my experience as a designer, I have learned that all the elements in a design must work in a coordinated fashion to deliver the message. That means it must be seamless every element directs the viewer to the message. I see designs all the time that are sometimes stunning, bold, rich and wild. But the message gets lost in the design elements, because the designer is focusing on the wrong thing making a clever design instead of delivering the message.

The most successful designs are ones that deliver that message so smoothly and seamlessly that the actual design elements that make it up are INVISIBLE to the viewer. The customer is unaware of all the elements working together, he just sees the products value and desirability, and is carried by the positive feeling it engenders.

If you give attention to each element, asking yourself if this image is adding to my knowledge of the product or if it is distracting, you will become aware of what makes for good communication, and what in the end is a pretty design but with a compromised message.

Whats the message then? Dont compromise! You can achieve the results you want by hiring a graphics pro like myself to ensure that your message is delivered in a way that motivates and inspires. I am fast and affordable, and will give your eBook cover or Minisite the look you deserve.