DISPLAYING THE VISUALS
5.3.Displaying the
Visuals
1. How many and where. Use just one picture in a prominent position. The picture is the first and main hook to catch the attention of the audience. A good selection is crucial. A picture speaks a thousand words.
2. Quality and format. We need to ensure the high quality of the document and the correct format that fits perfectly in the final layout of the story.
3. Connection with the text. The relation between the visuals and the narrative is essential in order to reinforce both. We can use different directions: being coherent and descriptive with a picture that illustrates the message; or we can choose to be surprising and seek for some contrast or even contradiction.
4. Be creative (again!). Don't be predictable. Show new and personal points of view. Explore new ways of looking at what is happening in the city. Portray some unexpected details and features. Try to find something extraordinary. New ways of looking and new special points of view. Find some details that are difficult to notice and that provide remarkable information. Don't use a typical postcard picture. Everybody knows it, so we are not adding information or causing any interest like that.
5. A fresh view. Keep a (kind of) amateur touch. The visuals should be a plausible personal document as a result or memory of an experience. We can hire professionals, but the imperfection of an amateur contribution will be more compelling, trustworthiness and it will encourage further participation of citizens and visitors.
6. Put the past and the future in contrast. Images contrasting the inherited built city and the imagination of new paths in the urbanism of the future are very interesting and show the different layers of the city. Past heritage can host new technology and contemporary art, the urban intersection between them is very special, rich and compelling places that depicts all in one the whole timeline of the city.
7. Catch the action. Stories are happening and they are based on experiences. Visuals should show the multiple interactions of people, places, architecture, technology, landscape... Don't display just quiet façades, that's not a good example of a lively city.
8. Wow effect! Yes, despite not being professionals, there's beauty in the city, even easier to find if we are talking about CH. The prettiness is there to be caught in very different ways that can cause amazement.
