«Return to Blog List In a Visual Industry? Tell a Visual Case Study
We tell stories with words. But also with pictures.
In fact, depending on your industry, images can be just as important as the narrative.
If you’re a graphic designer, or create a product that people can see or hold, then your prospects clearly want to see examples of that.
An Australia design firm, Toast, found a compelling way to present its case studies visually.
Toast showcases high-resolution images of a client project in a Flash slideshow, with explanatory copy about the project underneath.
Each image shows a different angle or element of the work.
Here’s how Toast tells a case study about packaging designs for a new coffee brand.
It’s a sharp visual presentation with talk about how Toast approached the project. The only thing I would add is more text around the end results of the packaging design.
Seen other examples of case studies presented in compelling visual ways? Let me know and I’ll highlight them here!
Casey –
Thanks for sharing this great example.
I recently had an epiphany around the powerful role visual elements and multimedia play in reaching their audience. I’m a self-proclaimed bibliophile and a writer (both for work and for pleasure) … so, obviously, I have more than a passing love affair with the written word. My epiphany was that not everyone is a word geek like me. In fact, a huge percentage of the population detests reading and would rather stick needles in their eyes than dig into written marketing material. Using visual elements to pull them into and through a written piece, or presenting the same material in an audio or audio/video format can help you reach SO many more people.
Surprisingly, as a result of an online training I’m taking, I discovered that despite my love of the written word, I love to learn via video. Who knew? I think as we get deeper into 2010 and the years beyond, we will have more and more information presented to us in the multimedia formats – they are (when well done) entertaining, brief, and allow the viewer to absorb the message on so many different levels.
I’m looking forward to experimenting with these media formats in 2010!
Hi Jamie,
Thanks for your thoughts! You know, that’s a really important epiphany for writers. Instead of worrying that the written word is going away, we need to learn how to use other media with it.
I think writers are starting to learn better how to bring in images and video to communicate with different types of audiences, and to complement the text.
I’m actually thinking about taking a video production or broadcast writing course to help understand communication in video formats.
Have fun experimenting!
Have done several visual case studies with Microsoft’s “photostory”.. did one on building systems company I represented and how another municipality used the system and what happened..
It worked pretty well and I would put the link in some of my ongoing emails to people that wanted more info.. Now I do photostory stuff all the time for both case studies, business poems etc…
I am a neophyte with anything computery..but photostory is easy and flexible..
Thanks for the post.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbwUk3yzmvQ
Joe
Hi Joe,
Thanks for introducing me to Photostory. I haven’t used it before. It seems much easier and more cost effective than video. Perhaps a customer’s audio testimonial could be running as the photos go along.
I appreciate the example too!
Casey
Hi Casey,
Thanks for the post! I agree that adding the visual element to a case study makes the story so much richer. This is a cool and different way to display case studies using visual images: http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/en/us/customer-stories.aspx
The photos are either shot on site or taken from stock photography in order to really add flavor to the case study, and the “hotspots” are often whimsical and fun so people will be more likely to view the case study. Also the use of Silverlight really enhances the overall experience. Thanks again!
-Nate
Nate,
Nice example! Thanks for sharing. I really like the little “click points” on the photos to learn about specific results for each customer. I’ve not seen that before. The big visuals make me much more interested in reading the case study. I might feature these in a future post!
Casey
Thanks Casey,
That would be exciting to see a future post devoted to this. My company, Metia, worked with MS Dynamics to create it. Let me know if you have any questions and have a great day!
-Nate