Before and After Graphic Design Using Emotion Principles

Today some more advanced before and after graphic design examples. Where we use technical and advanced principles to make changes, in the amateur or pro graphic design category. Learn some essential tips in today’s post and boost your designs to pro status!

When we make small changes to a design and really think about the emotional response of the target audience, our graphic designs do become elevated. More effective and just better examples of the kind of work we want to be creating as graphic designers.

What better place to do that than in the before and after post by MockupFamily, where we dive into the difference between amateur designers and more professional graphic designers.

Graphic design as a topic and the practical thing need to be based upon the raw basics and the fundamentals that determine if a design will succeed in carrying the message effectively to the correct audience. With the knowledge of the adjustments that I make in today’s post, your graphic designs can be elevated to new heights.

I’m going to take some average-looking designs. Then apply some advanced graphic design theories and principles to hopefully improve their effectiveness. To do that today I’m going to concentrate on emotional responses from my viewers via the design.

For example, take this poster for a Tech Innovation Event. When it comes to my redesign I’m going to think first about what kind of emotions I want my viewers to feel. In a previous post, we looked at possible emotional triggers that designers and marketing agencies use. One thing I want the viewers of this first design to feel is a sense of exploration. This is because new tech and new innovation would imply adventuring into new experiences and almost like a new word.

I also want the viewer to feel a sense of all and appreciation for aesthetics. Now that might sound kind of complicated but let’s just get right into it.

Now as you can see with the original design, the poster doesn’t jump out and make the viewer feel in awe or shall i say visually impressed.

It doesn’t trigger a sense of exploration and new things well to me at least anyway. So with that in mind, I decided to ditch the flat style of illustration because it doesn’t really align with my emotional triggers.

This design is about innovative tech and so i want to make an epic design that captivates viewers who appreciate such technology.

This image here is a good starting block.

Also because it does communicate that sense of exploration and discovery that I want to get across. That so my first move was to overlay some carefully chosen imagery and play around with blend modes in Photoshop. Yeah believe it or not I do have some rudimentary Photoshop skills and I’m not vector nerd. I wanted to build up a design that is quite epic and all inspiring to look at for tech enthusiasts.

Something that communicates innovation and a sense that they are stepping into a new world. After playing around with all sorts of images and effects for some time I landed on this background the bass image.

But it’s time to add some typography and for the typography, we want an epic and innovative style. So this sans serif works just fine. I think the font I used here was basement grotesque black, and then some body text. This would be legible if it was printed out and in the viewer’s hand or on a poster wall.

Finally, to finish off the tech theme the dates in a very kind of sci-fi layout at the bottom. And for this I used the font Satori Shinka Regular.

So the guy’s body language and facial expression when matched with the lighting behind him and neon colors is very awe-inspiring and it communicates exploration and that’s exactly what.

I putting it next to the original I think my design is a lot more effective in this niche and it communicates to the right audience in a stronger way.

Net up though Salmon. Yeah, I love salmon, but I’m not so keen on this design.

I don’t think the salmon and the imagery of the food itself is portrayed very well. Especially considering the text, says the special menu. There are also way too many fonts being used which does make the design seem confusing and kind of amateurish.

But let’s talk about emotion. What sort of emotions do I want to convey with my design. Well I think I want to create a sense of craving, a craving for the food itself through the design. And to do that I’m going to need some top-quality imagery of salmon. As well as making it the focal point of my design along with a few carefully chosen design elements.

I also want to have a sense of appreciation for the food and to do that. I need to make it look special in accordance to that special menu text. The original design does actually look quite cheap and tacky. Sure five dollars for salmon is pretty cheap.

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But let’s create some craving and appreciation so that it becomes more desirable. I must add that I don’t know anything about the target audience of this design. That’s because I don’t know the restaurant or the brand if it was a real client. Then my design would likely change to fit the target audience.

But anyway the first thing I did was to make a very rustic and traditional background. My approach to creating appreciation is to make the meal and design look professional and at a high standard. It is said that we do eat with our eyes. Which is quite a true statement not literally of course.

But next, I wanted to find an image of salmon that would match the rustic background and which was clean. I wanted the food to be the focal points and for my design to have as much negative space as possible. This is so it would draw attention to the food. Conversely, the original design was quite cramped. Having the salmon on a rustic wooden chopping board with a natural ingredient selection will help sell the idea of high-quality food. Thus causing more craving and more appreciation to the viewer.

Next up is that special menu text. Special to me often but not always means a serif typeface. Here I’ve used a Crimson semi-bold if I’m not mistaken. Below that, I’ve gone with Aileron Font and I do like this layout at the start of my typography. But to remember I want the focal point to be the food in this design. For the body text, I decided to use Crimson Font again, keeping with that important quality and appreciation-driven style.

Then finally the Price and Order button below.

The original price tag was very cliche and tacky and the revised version is more subtle but crucially it stands out. I feel that my design does sell something that carries with it more appreciation and it could drive more craving and more sales.

I know the salmon is real. But in a rush making this post. I didn’t have enough time to find a cooked image of salmon, I thought would work. But here’s a quick process that you can go through to effectively use emotion on your designs.

Number one: Identify the target audience and what they actually want and why they want it.

Number two: Is to identify one to three emotional triggers. That actually appeals to your target audience and what they want.

Number three: Think about how layout color, typography, psychology, shape psychology, and imagery can help those emotional responses actually happen on your design.

If you do apply this process good things will happen. Knowing the target audience and what they actually really want is probably the most important part of it.