Brain Training and Visual Communication

Pictures are a form of visual communication used to portray a quick, easy to remember, notion of what the authors point is. The subject of brain training is a fairly abstract field and to make an effective visual representation can be a challenging task. After looking through the industries attempt at visual communication there is certainly a trend towards more computer generated graphics, here's a smiling brain lifting weights. This trend isn't surprising considering how much easier it is to generate images that more directly represent subjects in the field, such as happy brains.

One of the biggest players in the industry is still keeping to traditional marketing images. Nintendo's Brain Training 2 uses an image of Nicole Kidman to show how sexy brain training can be. The image is very bright with a pleasant flower filled background. The image has a relaxing happy vibe almost punching you in the head. An interesting part of this picture is the apparent age of the person using the game, Kidman. The big selling point of Brain Training games by Nintendo is that they keep your mind young. Kidman doesn't look too old or too young. I think the image is supposed to attract a wide range of ages and portray that the game is for both young and old. Oddly enough, I also remember a commercial series run by Nintendo starring Beyonce playing their Brian Training game. An extreme change of user compared to their normal audience of 10 year old boys.

I did find one company still using real photography in a lot of their work. One of the best images I found on their site is the picture signifying the link for the program portion of their website. The picture summarizes the science and effort put into the program. It shows a computer with a cool graphic of a brain on it and a smart thoughtful looking guy. It screams science and technology, making you feel confident that whatever this thing is it works. The picture is well lighted with a very bright background which gives a focus on the scientist and computer. The image has the computer screen cut off slightly and placed nicely in the right third of the picture. It utilizes a lot of the strategies we talked about in class well. Hopefully, I can take a photo that is half that good.