One of the more popular styles for visual design you will find has occurred due to the increased use of mobile device phones and the emergence of the “selfie” as a common photographic style. The other innovation that has triggered this style of photography is the wearable camera. Think along the lines of a GoPro-style of camera that puts you right in the action.
Did you know that there are 93,000,000 selfies taken EVERY DAY! That’s a lot of selfies.
WHAT’S A SELFIE?
I was sitting in the bleachers at my son’s swimming event and I noticed my daughter, age 17, was taking tons of photos of herself – like way more than a normal person would take. I finally asked her what was up. She said she was chatting with a friend via Instagram. It turns out she was taking a selfie of herself as a facial response to a comment her friend had sent her about something. Some of the pictures weren’t even full-face shots. This was her way of showing emotions in her non-verbal communication.
For those of you not in the know with pop culture, it is the act of using the rear-facing camera on your mobile device to take a self-portrait. Typically, they are taken at arm’s length or into a mirror. Most of the time, the person taking the photo will post this image to social media sites, such as SnapChat, Instagram or Facebook.
You have probably started to see the notorious “selfie stick” showing up in public places. This allows people to take selfies that are wider than a normal selfie might be.
This is not a commentary on whether I am a fan of the selfie or the people that incessantly take them and post them to social media. Y this is a common thing and people are becoming used to seeing it. Therefore, it is now showing up in our normal visual culture – places like ads, television shows, and commercials.
POINT OF VIEW PHOTO EXAMPLES
What is interesting is that we are starting to see lots of professional imagery that puts the camera in the in the action, in place of a person, in a situation.
Here are some examples of what I am describing:
How can you exploit this new visual style so your eLearning has a fresh and modern look to it? Images such as these cause your learners to perk up because it is unexpected and eye-catching. They aren’t stale, corporate, stock art.
HOW CAN YOU USE THIS IN ELEARNING DESIGNS?
These kinds of images are very striking and make great section start screens or menu screens.
Certainly, if you position the image in a balanced manner and off to one side or another, you could use it as the base for a content page. If you do this, be aware that this may be a very strong image, which distracts from the content you intend to put on the page. You may need to mute the image slightly.
Menu Screen Ideas
SECTION START SCREENS
CONTENT SCREENS
IDEAS IN VIDEOS
Today, on Facebook, I saw a video ad for Ziploc baggies. I would normally just scroll past this, but this time I noticed that it was using this design style, but in video format. So, I decided to stop and watch it. It turns out they have a few ads in this style, so I thought I would share them with you as an example of how you can use it in video.
See if you can spot the use of the Point of View style. It should be pretty obvious.
RESOURCES
If you are unable to take your own photos or video, you do have another way to get professional photos that have this style.
If you go to Istock.com and search the term “point of view“, you will find about 64,000 images that fit this style. I am not kidding. Click the link and see for yourself.
RAPID FIRE!
Quick! What are three ways you can use this style in your current or next eLearning project? Take a moment and share in the comments the ideas you came up with for this question.
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