Visuals vs. Words

A picture is worth 1,000 words, right?

Well it turns out that an image is read by the brain 60,000 times faster than text. People are more likely to remember information conveyed with graphics vs. words alone, and consider images more engaging. Hence the effectiveness of infographics to convey complex processes and ideas. Icons transcend language and are understood across cultures.

Some writers argue that text is a visual too. But it takes the mind longer to translate the text characters into concepts than it does to recognize an image and trigger everything it associates with that image — positives and negatives.

To “illustrate” is to “throw light on something” — illustrations are often more effective ways to help people understand complex concepts, while photographs are more likely to depict a single example.