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3.5: Creating Visual Content with Graphic Authoring Software

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    In the last section, we discussed the benefits of including visuals and graphics in your teaching and learning.  In this section, we will briefly explore strategies, techniques, and some common tools for developing your own visual content.

    Creating Engaging Visual Content

    In today's highly visual digital world, creating engaging visual content is essential for connecting with modern learners and facilitating robust comprehension. Unfortunately, teaching materials often rely solely on non-engaging textual and verbal information. This can result in poor student outcomes like lack of motivation, struggling retention, and minimal participation. 

    For example, a lecture consisting of hours of static bullet points may quickly bore students. Presenting dense paragraphs of text on worksheets is cognitively taxing for learners to process. Walls of lecture notes filled with words but no graphics can be overwhelming. In contrast, using relevant images, illustrations, diagrams, infographics, and other visual elements can spark interest while easing your learner's cognitive load. 

    Visual content presented in colorful, graphically organized formats better engages students' attention and makes difficult concepts more accessible. Our brains decode visual input exponentially faster than text. Multimedia learning experiences that strategically incorporate interactive visuals, activities, and assessments are significantly more impactful than traditional mediums relying solely on written or spoken information (Vanichvasin, 2020).

    Creating Visually Appealing Materials

    Following basic graphic design principles creates more organized, pleasing layouts that effectively direct the viewer's attention. Begin with simplicity and purpose. Before even starting to design, understand what you want to accomplish. When designing educational visuals, utilize these graphic design strategies for maximum appeal and engagement:

    • Prioritize the most important information using larger-size typography, contrasting colors, strategic placement, and visual emphasis. Help guide the viewer's attention.
    • Align elements cleanly for visual cohesion. Use consistent margins, spacing between items, and alignment with edges or grid lines.
    • Add white space between sections and around edges to reduce crowding. Leave breathing room around items.
    • Choose complementary colors that reinforce relationships between elements. Use bright contrasting hues to highlight key areas.
    • Establish visual hierarchy by varying fonts, sizes, colors, etc. to distinguish headings from body text. Make titles prominent. 
    • Organize with groups, columns, or sections to segment complex information into digestible chunks.
    • Select clean, minimalist fonts that are easy to read. If you choose to use a decorative font support it with standard web-safe fonts.
    • Limit decorations. Too many graphics or effects create visual clutter. Use selectively.
    • Craft a consistent style through repeating design choices like colors, fonts, shapes, or graphic elements.
    • Review the entire composition for balance, flow, and clear entry points for the viewer's gaze. Refine as needed.
    Supplemental Resources/Tools to Explore

    There are many tools to use to create your own graphics and visuals.  The following is a list of some example graphics and the commonly used tools for each. Again, a quick internet search will provide you with many more options - these are provided just to get you started. You will also note that some of the tools are listed in mulitple categories.

    Infographics/Posters
    Presentations
    • Google Slides (free)
    • Microsoft PowerPoint (typically paid as part of Microsoft 365 subscription)
    • Canva (free basic version)
    Charts/Graphs
    Diagrams/Concept Maps
    Comics/Cartoons
    Images/Icons 
    Animations
    References

    Vanichvasin, P. (2020). Effects of visual communication on memory enhancement of Thai undergraduate students, Kasetsart University. Higher Education Studies, 11(1), 34.

    This page titled 3.5: Creating Visual Content with Graphic Authoring Software is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Nasreen Rahim and Renee Albrecht (Open Educational Resource Initiative at Evergreen Valley College) .