I am a huge fan of fast food. I know that is not a popular opinion. I probably spend way too much time in these establishments. I think it is safe to say I have seen a few fast food menus in my time. I recently noticed a change in the design of these menus. They now have videos and photos of extreme close-ups of the food. Once I noticed this, I started seeing it in other places.
I have seen it in commercials, print ads, YouTube videos, and so on.
Two of the fast food menus it was very obvious in were these:
- McDonald’s is using close ups of their burgers.
- Wendy’s is also using this style
Now, before you say “but Barry, they have been putting pictures of food on menus forever! How is this different?” Let me show you a few images from previous campaigns.
This is McDonald’s:
This is Wendy’s:
So, what’s different?
Past images tended to be wider, full-product shots. The newer ones are cropped to be extremely close up and you don’t see the whole product. It’s right in your face. You can see the juicy burger in all its glory. You can practically smell the flavors of the food.
This seemed like a new design style worth looking at.
WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?
I think this stemmed from all the people using their mobile devices taking pictures of their meals and posting them on social media. I know you have seen these types of pictures from your friends. Once something becomes common, the marketing world needs to essentially one-up the average consumer and give you something you don’t normally see. That way, it becomes eye-catching. So, they push the camera in further to the subject.
EXAMPLES
Here are some examples of the types of images I am talking about.
It even works with close-ups of textures, like this.
No matter what industry you are creating training for, you can probably find images similar to these. If not, you can certainly take some photos like these yourself.
VIDEO EXAMPLE
Did you see the Budwieser commercial during the NFL Superbowl this year? Not the one where the dog got lost and tried to find its way back home. The other one – the beer commercial about beer.
This commercial is an excellent example of this visual style used in video.
HOW DO YOU USE THESE?
I think they make great backgrounds for most any type of screen in your course.
You can use them as content screens or as section start pages or even section ending screens. I think they might even be cool with a semi-transparent color on top of them.
RESOURCES
Istock is a great resource for ideas or stock photography you may want to purchase. Here are some basic searches in which you may be interested. I searched for the term “extreme close up” and the specific industries.
RAPID FIRE!
I have shown you three examples of how you could use this style. Can you quickly come up with three ways to use it in your next course or the one you may be working on now? Share your thoughts with the community and let us know what you came up with.
OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES
Visual Design – See What’s Around You
Visual Design Trend – Point of View
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