How media design helps storytelling

Media Design is a crucial part of any great storytelling experience, yet those who are not in the media and communications industry might not know what it is or how they can be involved in the process. Here you’ll learn the basics of media design, why it’s important, and be able to work collaboratively with design companies.

What Is Media Design?

Media Design is the purposeful arrangement of visual elements on screen in order to move, entertain, or inform audiences. Unlike graphic design, which is used in mostly static pieces such as logos and magazines, media design uses movement in animation, video games, and more. In addition to visual elements, media design can also include the use of audio, such as a music score or sound design.

Multiplatform Storytelling

The ever-advancing landscape of digital media has opened new doors for design and storytelling, allowing for new forms of content. Multiplatform Storytelling is a new method of telling a story using several formats, ideally with some audience involvement. By using multiple formats, users need to interact with a variety of platforms to get the whole story. Media design is a crucial part of making each of those platforms accessible, easy to understand, and visually appealing.

The Harry Potter franchise is a great example of multiplatform storytelling. What started as movie adaptations of the books has since expanded across multiple platforms including a play, film prequels, video games, and the interactive Pottermore website.

Basic Principles of Design

There are many different principles of design, which when used creatively can lead to an effective and attractive composition on screen. A visually appealing composition will show viewers which elements to focus on and help them flow through the information as intended.

BALANCE

Balance is an important way to give structure to the overall design and create stability. Text and images all carry a visual “weight” on screen. Careful distribution of these visual weights can help achieve a design “flow” that will guide a viewer through the given piece.

Emphasis

Emphasis is created when extra visual weight is given to the most important element or message in your design. There are many ways to create visual emphasis, including using larger or bolder fonts to highlight a title, placing the important element higher on screen than others, or by making main visuals larger and more colorful.

COLOR

Color dictates the overall mood of a design, and represents your brand and tone. Bright colors signal happiness, blue often creates a feeling of calmness, and green can represent wealth or nature.

CONTRAST

Contrast is a difference between two opposing design elements, such as dark vs light or small vs large. The brightest element of an image is typically where the eye will be drawn to first, and is another way to create emphasis.

NEGATIVE SPACE

Negative space consists of the area between or around the rest of the visual elements. When used creatively, negative space can help highlight the important components of your design.

TYPOGRAPHY

Typography speaks volumes when executed stylistically, it involves formatting the text font style, appearance, and structure in a way that makes it legible and visually appealing to the reader.

enhancing content

Media design is a great way to ensure that your message, whether informative or entertaining, is comprehended as intended. It prevents important information from getting lost on screen and creates a visually pleasing experience for audiences. To take your media experience to the next level, multi-platform storytelling is a great way to fully immerse viewers into the story.

When creating content, considering how the use of principles such as balance, color, contrast, emphasis, and more can help make the message more powerful and engaging.

It’s also important to remember to stay consistent with your design, to ensure the style is the same throughout. Regardless of how complex the style is, create rules in the beginning and stick with them through the end.

Whether you need an animated video, website, or different type of content, look for media companies who offer both production and strong design services to ensure your project reaches its full potential. Check out PX2 for more examples on how strong media design can bring a project to the next level!

How Media Design Helps Storytelling