Why Do Pictures Speak 1,000 Words? Looking At The Connection of Visuals & Emotions
This will take around 10 minutes to read
TL;DR: This article is a collection of science facts, illustrations and stories to share why visuals are so effective - it’s because they connect to more than just what we see. Images connect to our emotions and our sense of sight tells us what something feels like, smells like and sounds like just from experience.
Ever since the first person thought they needed to show someone something and drew it in the sand or on the cave wall humans have been using visual communication. Then over time we perfected that art by creating symbols and agreed upon icons that meant certain things, until written languages were formed and words also because visual indicators of what we were thinking. But where are we now with visual communication?
I did some research and found some super fun visual science magic that explains why visuals work well for connecting with others and how they connect to our emotions.
SOME BRAIN SCIENCE BASICS
Here are some visual facts that I’ve collected for you below. It’s important to remember that with all research this doesn’t apply to everything and each situation may require more or less visuals. The ultimate way to connect with people is through respect and allowing others to take action or try something out. That’s how humans learn best.
Here’s what you need to know about brains and visuals:
65% of people are visual learners
Educational & supportive visuals go straight to long-term memory
90% of the info going to your brain is visual information
Our brains are pre-wired to translate visual differences SUPER quickly (hello biases)
40% of people are visual THINKERS (they NEED SIMPLICITY AND visual aids)
We remember things when we can see how to do it and then take immediate action.
So what does this mean for us? It means that we shouldn’t ignore visuals because people are processing them rapidly and a lot of it can be helpful for remembering something for longer than one second. We see that most people find visuals helpful and a collection of people need clarifying visuals to understand a topic.
DO ALL VISUALS WORK THE SAME?
The important factor I found in all this research is that it can’t just be any visual. Visuals that add little value to what you’re saying can actually distract or deter the reader. Each visual needs to be placed intentionally and provide extra information that they can’t get without it.
If you’d like to read more about choosing intentional visuals you can read this article with my top 10 visual aids for biased conversations and this burnout article about which visuals to focus on to avoid burnout.
Now let’s look at Emotions
Recognizing emotions is a skill that can be developed called Emotional Intelligence. I love this chart below because it shows emotion words beyond the common Fear, Anger, Happy, Sad, etc. It also shows the intensity of the emotions which is a helpful reminder because sometimes we don’t remember that joy is an intense feeling and can feel very overwhelming for people who don’t know what the feeling is. Think about how your body feels when you are experiencing joy - it’s a lot like nervousness. Click the image below if you’d like to read more about emotions specifically because I believe the linked article by Berkley Well Being Institute is a good one and has lots of different types of visual aids in it - which you know I love.
(the link will open in a new window)
Chart by Robert Plutchik
Understanding emotions was a very difficult concept for me to understand as I know it is for a lot of us who were raised in emotional absent, confusing or traumatic homes. If emotions are something new for you, then you may enjoy this digital activity I created in the shop. It’s called the Caring For You Brain Zoo and its the steps and process I used with my self (inner child) and that I use with my children to help them understand their emotions and befriend all of them (even the uncomfortable ones which we will talk more about in this article!)
Visuals and Emotions
Our brains are taking in visual information very rapidly. We’re discerning what is familiar and what is not and we’re taking in other senses and information that go with that visual to then categorize it into our unique brain’s organizing system (yes seemingly random piles of info is an organization system).
Let’s break down that all of that means:
We’re discerning what is familiar. Naturally we are more comfortable with what we are used to and that usually is what we see in our family, ourselves and our community. This is why representation is SOOO important. When we see more people who are different then us, they become familiar, it doesn’t feel so different anymore and we start to feel more comfortable when we see people/situations that are similar to this once-unfamiliar-but-now-cozy person/situation. So the emotions that arise during this part of the process are either comfort or discomfort.
We attach senses and information to what we see. If we feel comfortable with the image we see then other feelings of calm, happy, neutral, reminiscent or indifference are activated. If we feel uncomfortable with the image the stronger emotions flood in like disgust, fear, anger, confusion and sometimes joy. We feel joy if the discomfort is coming from something new and innovative that we haven’t seen but wanted to.
We categorize what we’ve gathered into our internal organization system. Based on the information we just picked up from our first glance of “familiar or unfamiliar” we then categorize it.
If we feel good about it we file it with other good things and those are now related. Or we keep it together with the context that the image is in and file the positive feelings with it. My ADHD brain like to just clump things up by feeling, we are all different with how we store it though there are some general rules.
If we REALLY liked it we store it in an easy to access place of our brain for later.
If we really didn't like it we may avoid it altogether by stopping our reading, blocking or removing the image or walking away.
If we feel uncomfortable but our higher self knows that this is something we need to get used to we work to understand it better so we can better categorize it - so we stare at it and focus on it until it makes sense. Maybe we take in the surrounding info.
*Quick semi-side note: This is why unlearning, inner un-biasing work and representation are SOOOO important for us to evolve and get along as humans. There are so many differences between us all that we have to actively categorize the similarities and seek out easier to handle emotions that tie with those images so we can start to react in a more supportive and understanding way towards others.
So knowing all of this we can keep in mind that our visuals need:
Good context around them
To be supportive with extra info
Accurate (otherwise it’s manipulative)
Match the vibe of what you’re saying (congruent)
It’s gonna take A LOT more visuals for uncomfortable topics and they need to be chosen carefully
Not only do visuals connect to our emotions while we are categorizing the image in our mind, but the details in an image can help us determine the vibe, texture, smell and location just from context clues. We pick up those context clues throughout our life.
The more things we touch the more we can see something and know if it will be prickly, soft, rough, etc.
The more things we smell the more we associate the smells with what made the smell and what that source looks like. Oranges smell citrusy and so do a lot of other fruits so we put that together. If we see something that looks like a citrus fruit we can guess what it smells like.
VISUAL THINKER EMOTIONS
Visual thinkers have a whole unique brain system that generally has more of a delay between information collection (senses) and information process (the cognitive center). We are EXCELLENT at collecting information. In fact, many of us are also highly sensitive to our sensual surroundings and other people’s emotions.
That’s why it’s important for visual thinkers to:
Check in with our bodies - our body knows how to process for us even before the information is done processing in our cognitive brain, so trust your body.
Experience new things often - collect sensations and information so that we can process in our unique kaleidoscopic way. The more “colorful gems” we collect the more dynamic and well-formed the vision.
Schedule time to create, test and play - we process by testing so set aside time to help your subconscious communicate with your thinking brain.
Your visual assignment:
Just to see how well visuals connect to our emotions I have a fun assignment or task for you to try out.
Go to Pinterest and create a new board (can be hidden or not)
Title the board THINGS I LOVE or HAPPY (here’s a link to my personal happy board)
Then take 30 minutes to fill the board with pictures of things you love
Now for 1 week look through that board with your morning coffee/tea/cacao and then again just before you sign off tech for the day.
Journal at the end of the week to see how you are feeling and if looking at that board twice a day did anything to lift your spirits
Further research LINKS:
https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Literacy-Learn-See/dp/0871206404
https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/350326/studies-confirm-the-power-of-visuals-in-elearning
https://medium.com/@njlechnir/why-visual-content-has-become-the-single-most-important-way-to-communicate-3014c85644f3
https://www.worklearning.com/2015/01/05/mythical-retention-data-the-corrupted-cone/
I’d love to hear how the assignment worked for you! If you have questions or want to share how it went you can leave a comment below or email me at laura@illustrative.us.
AUTHOR | LAURA MATTESON
Laura is a neurodivergent artist, mother, wife, founder of Illustrative with fancy drawing skills and a huge bucket-full of hope and love for humanity.
