Print and Web design have a number of things in common, one of the most important of which is their role in delivering visual impact. Marketing through design is all about making an impact visually, this means that beyond aesthetics, the psychology behind the design of your postcard printing or brochure printing pieces need to be geared towards making the best impressions both explicitly and subliminally. Colors and graphics play vital roles in doing this.
Background Colors: A Subliminal Message
Colors in large quantities have subtle yet essential psychological impacts. The background colors of print material for instance, would carry a subliminal message apart from what the material’s text says. Using colors in print design because they are serviceable enough for it is no guarantee they will work. Shades of pink are design-worthy enough, but its frilly associations need to be downplayed by more colors in the design to not detrimentally affect the outcome of the material’s impact.
Another case in point is using red for a greater male or female demographic audiences. For male audiences, brighter, purer shades are preferred, while for females, blue-based shades like purple and burgundy are better.
Foreground Colors: Retention and Comprehension
Where background colors help set the psychological mood, foreground colors directly impact retention and comprehension. Think of it this way: items in colors contrasting with their surroundings are not only easily noticeable, they’re easily memorable too. Research has shown that the simple act of highlighting text in college textbooks not only makes the particular highlighted lines, but the entire message that comes with it, more memorable.
Some print material like flyers have very little resources with which to deliver a marketing pitch or message. Effective use of contrasting foreground colors can help make that delivery successful and more effective.
Graphics and Eye Movement
When we were babies our eyes sought out geometric figures and shapes and other graphic elements first. Only later on in life do we learn the importance of text. This tendency never goes away, and can be taken advantage of when using graphic elements in print design.
The basic concept is to use graphics to control eye movement – leading it from one graphic element to another. A main geometric or graphical element would make a reader’s eyes naturally gravitate to it, then the eyes would be led to lesser graphic elements and figures. Done correctly, using graphics to control eye movement could make an unwitting passerby look at a print ad, focus on its main image and sweep the entire ad for other images, and grasp what the ad is saying without even intending to.
Graphics and Variety
Monotony is print design’s enemy, as modernity has conditioned us and our eyes to expect something new every other moment. Graphics in print design can help sate this involuntary thirst for variety in everyday life, and in everyday print material regardless if it's a postcard we get in the mail or a custom brochure someone hands to use on the street.
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