How can you use art direction to increase content engagement?

1 Why art direction matters

Content engagement is the measure of how your audience interacts with your content, such as by reading, viewing, liking, commenting, sharing, or subscribing. Engaged users are more likely to trust your brand, remember your message, and take action on your goals. Art direction can help you to increase content engagement by creating a visual hierarchy that guides the audience's eye and focus, using colors and fonts that evoke emotions and associations, selecting images and videos that support and amplify the content's purpose, adding animations and transitions that create interest and surprise, and establishing a consistent and recognizable visual identity across all of your content.

2 How to plan your art direction

Before you begin designing your content, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish and who you want to reach. To help you plan your art direction, consider the following steps: Define your content's goal and message, so that your audience knows what to do, feel, or learn after consuming it. Additionally, define your target audience by considering their needs, preferences, and challenges. Then define your brand's personality and tone to ensure that your audience perceives it correctly. Research and collect inspiration from content that resonates with your audience and reflects your brand. Finally, create a mood board to visualize and communicate your art direction. A mood board is a collection of images, colors, fonts, and other elements that represent the look and feel of your content.

3 How to execute your art direction

Once you have a plan for your art direction, you need to apply it to your content. Depending on the type and format of your content, you may use different tools and techniques to create and edit your visual elements. For instance, blog posts and articles can be managed through a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or Medium, where you can customize themes, layouts, fonts, colors, and images. Additionally, plugins or widgets can be used to add features such as social media buttons, related posts, or newsletter sign-ups. Infographics and charts can be created with a graphic design tool such as Canva or Piktochart, with templates, icons, shapes, and fonts available for selection. Data visualization tools like Google Charts or Tableau can also be used to create interactive and dynamic graphs and maps. Presentations and slideshows can be created with a presentation tool like PowerPoint or Google Slides, offering a range of themes, transitions, animations, and media. Online platforms such as SlideShare or Prezi can also be used to share and embed presentations on websites or social media. For videos and podcasts, an editing tool like Adobe Premiere or Audacity can be used to adjust sound, lighting, effects, and transitions. Online services such as YouTube or SoundCloud can also be utilized to host and distribute videos or podcasts.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?