Like it or not, you don’t get taught how to become visually literate in school. It’s all up to you. Growing up, I pestered my Dad to buy the VW Santana because it looked sleeker than the Peugeot Evolution he’d intended to buy as a second car. I saw a Santana recently and it looked ridiculous. I quizzed myself on why I was obsessed with the car back then. Was it my age? What changed?
Like many people, I’ve become visually literate when it comes to cars. And that’s because we’ve giving it our attention. We’ve allowed our minds and desire to soak-in the sight of sleeker cars, such that our awareness has been greatly improved in the same way formal education does to the mind.
However, on the contrary, when it comes to being visually literate on things that pertain to business as it applies to communication, identity, presentation or packaging, even some of the most formally educated are super illiterate. Why?
Reason is simple. A person becomes visually illiterate when you do all of the opposite with regards to the mindset, character and attention you give to sleek cars. In other word that kind of “who that one epp” disposition.
Late Steve Jobs was a genius visual literate. Ask around in the corporate circles, his business presentation style is a model. Also it is on account that Michael Jordan drove the city streets looking around to see how the logos of big companies looked like just to have a visual awareness to ripen his desires before he contracted the logo for Air Jordan. GTBank is one bank that pioneered development of visual communications in Nigeria upon inception. See how they milked the public of virtually all the young adults. How Did They Do It?
Simple:
1. Be conscious and make deliberate effort to expose yourself to a visual experience that takes you away from the basics.
2. Develop the tolerance for it till your mind desires it, gives it attention and covet’s its value.
3. Believe that it has enormous commercial reward, indeed it does. And trust it as the surest way to truly stand out and be unique.
Visual literacy is one of the secrets of the world’s most successful people.
