Digital Design and Narratives Help Easily Program Storytelling

The human brain perceives visual content at a much higher speed than text. When visuals are effectively communicated, our brains can process this faster than it does text. Digital designers keep this rule in mind as they create online content. They need to learn how to tell a story through visuals rather than convey their messages through blocks of text.

Interest in Programing and Passion for Writing

If you’re one of the lucky few with an innate passion for software creation or programming and a natural flair for writing, then you’re destined for a career in digital storytelling. In Pittsburg, young digital storytellers are getting the training they deserve.

According to a recent Pittnews.com post, a 40-credit Digital Narrative and Interactive Design course are now offered at Pitt. This is a collaborative major jointly offered by the School of Computing and Information and the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences.

The Pitt joint course provides introductory computer science courses to prepare students with software development and coding skills and narrative media skills. Students are delighted with this new offering while the faculty sees this as a way for students to get the exposure and career placement skills they need.

Digital Storytelling Rules to Live By

If you’re a website designer or a software developer and you’re interested in creating digital narratives, it’s not too late to harness your skills.

The new age of digital storytelling is upon us. Designers must know how to tell a story and it’s not about presenting a narrative. To fully understand and practice digital storytelling, consider the following techniques.

Good Content Material

Even if you have a niche, sometimes it’s challenging to find good inspiration. What content do you wish to create? Who will benefit from this content?

It’s good practice to use the Pyramid of Information or the DIKW framework. This is a description of the hierarchical relationship among data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. In the pyramid, data is at the bottom part while wisdom is topmost. Information is determined by data while knowledge is defined by information and wisdom by knowledge.

As you come up with a plot, consider what will support it or compliment it to further uncover your chosen topic. Comprehensive and interesting material must have good content, speech, and visual design.

Perform Deep Research

Conduct deep research of your selected topic. Use relevant online sources and stick with reliable sites. Use primary and secondary strategies when conducting research. You’ll find it easier to jump right into a topic after conducting thorough research.

Use Stunning Pictures

This is where digital storytelling comes to life. Adding pictures to your story text will drive more people to your content. Choose stunning photos that convey your plot. Many royalty-free stock picture sites making it easy to get good pictures but if you can’t find exactly what you need, it’s best to create your own picture.

The primary media useful in content marketing will always be video. Conduct a photoshoot, determine a good venue, the right lighting, a fantastic background. Find out how to effectively showcase your story.

You may also use other media like infographics if you’re describing vast amounts of information or data. Infographics are eye-catching and entertaining so readers can easily digest them. According to the latest stats by HubSpot, this media has shown the highest increase in users among B2B marketers in the past 4 years.

Consider new visual marketing trends such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). According to a 2019 count, around 42.9 million US consumers used a product through virtual reality while 68.7 million use AR at least once a month. Using these technologies to convey your story is sure to attract more visitors and more customers if you’re selling a product or offering a service.

Create a Captivating Headline

Awesome content deserves a captivating headline. Your title must be engaging and interesting. Designers and content creators also consider other important elements to aid conversion. For instance, headings that contain numbers work best for readers. Headings in the form of a question and those with a biting quote work well. Popular heading forms like those that show a list or a genre, are also preferred.

About Designs and Patterns

Digital design elements and patterns help create a pleasing and more professional work. When the design pattern is considered, this refers to a group of elements that are repeated for a specific purpose.

Take cues from modern websites, apps, or software. Compare which ones are easy and which ones are too tiring to look at. Was the page able to convey its message? Point out patterns in the sites’ design, cover, galleries, and so on.

Nowadays, many design apps can help you create effective and interesting visual content. Apps like Canva, for example, help you create presentations, videos, posters, social media posts, logos, infographics, photo collages, banners, and many more formats. This design app is one of the easiest to use and is available for free. You can also take advantage of a Canva subscription to unlock more premium content, themes, images, etc.

Consider the Right Font

Writing blocks of text to support visual content involves a careful understanding of the cultural context of certain fonts. For instance, a modern theme, content, or style calls for the Helvetica font. This font is used in urban signage and navigation because it denotes modernism. If you’re writing or creating content about Venice, the Bodoni font is the best choice because it is one of the earliest Italian fonts but continues to be widely used today.

Share Your Content

For your digital story to reach more people, add social media buttons to your content. These social buttons must be easy to see and should be in view even while the reader or viewer scrolls your page. Use call-to-action phrases to invite people to share your content.

Share your story on multiple social media platforms. Around 49% of marketers add visual content on websites and blogs for sharing on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

Bespoke software is unique and sets businesses or brands apart from their competitors. Knowing the right digital design, patterns, and visual content to create a digital narrative is like creating custom software. It has to be interesting, captivating, and at the same time, efficient and practical to use.

Final Words

Digital design and narratives work together to create an inspiring and inviting website or software. Your goal as a designer is to convey a message, to tell a story that will lead people in. With the right understanding and application of these digital storytelling techniques, you’re on the road to creating future successful digital campaigns!