Visual Rhetoric and Web Design

With the proliferation of websites, creating a memorable website is more important than ever before to help a page stand out from the others. One of the most popular elements of web design today is known as visual rhetoric.

Visual rhetoric

Visual rhetoric is a relatively new concept that uses images to represent ideas and cultures instead of purely aesthetic purposes. Projects use these images to communicate meaning or to advance an argument. For example, while a website might have used a picture of a sunset before because the sky looked nice, now they might use an image of lavender fields to conjure up ideas of the Province in southern France.

Visual rhetoric and web design

Visual rhetoric is used in advertising. When used in web design, it creates a holistic approach in which everything on a website is designed to communicate a certain meaning. When used to help design web pages, visual rhetoric can make the site much more effective. The site uses the pictures to support the message of the website. For example, instead of simply showing a picture of a house from the outside or a company car, a cleaning service company might show pictures of impeccably dressed employees or clean, well-organized rooms to communicate standards and expectations to potential customers. On the page images are located, image size and orientation can all affect how the image is perceived and how it affects the viewer.

Visual rhetoric is a powerful new tool that can help website owners distinguish their site from everyone else's. It can also create powerful messages and feelings about the site and the products, services or advice it offers.