Page 16 - AV Presentations - Student Textbook

Study Section 3: The Psychology of Visual Content - continued

3.1 Connect

There is a popular saying in the US which is, “clothes make a man.” In other words, what you
wear reflects on who you are. A person’s personality is revealed by how he looks. If he is
organized, he will have a neat appearance. But if he is messy by nature, then his look will
reflect that. The same is true when you create a visual display. If the visual is organized and
easy to understand and read, then your audience will respond positively to your message.
But if it is difficult to read and disorganized, then the opposite will occur: they audience will
not listen to what you have to say. And one of the key selections you have to make in creating a visual
aid is the FONTS that you select. Not only is the font important, but the size and density of the font
makes a big difference in how your audience will respond. So, we had better learn about selecting the
right font for the right visual aid. Let’s get started….

3.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to discuss the five types of fonts and the mood each font creates with an
audience.

2. The student should be able to state several factors that are important in selecting a font.

3. The student will learn about selecting free images to enhance the visual aid.

3.3 Font psychology

Reveal the power of text
Visual content boosts your message but doesn’t replace your message. So, your task is to
find the right balance between words and images and take care of typography because it
determines the first visual impression of your texts.

A font choice should reflect personality, too. Don’t overplay: two or three fonts are maximum you can
use to make your content exceptional; otherwise, they will distract your audience and make people lose
your message.

Five common categories of fonts today are Serif, Sans-serif, Slab serif, Script, and Modern. However,
these fonts actually fall into one of two different types of fonts. One is serif and one is San Serif. So,
what is the difference? Serif fonts have these little teeth; they’re kind of like knobs and in the case of
San Serif fonts, they’re more of a modern font; they have no edges and no teeth, so a little bit more of a
smoother looking.

Serif fonts have small strokes in a letter or symbol regularly attached to the end of the larger stroke of a
letter. Here is an example of a Serif font: T

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