What a difference a picture can make
2.21.2006 – 11:07 am | by paul
If you come here very often, or you’ve just scrolled through a few pages… you’ve probably noticed that I put an image into almost every post. The story doesn’t always require an image, but I’m a very visual person. I like images. I like having a visual representation of the story.
This morning I came across this post, by Chris, over at Faraway, So Close. Chris had seen my post about the movie, A Scanner Darkly, and he followed the link to the trailer. He mentions he had also seen the original post about the movie on Binary Bonsai (like I did), a day earlier, but had not followed that link to the trailer.
What was the main difference between the two stories…? Mine had an image and the Binary Bonsai story didn’t. Having an image in the story made just enough difference to entice Chris to follow the link. As a visual person, and a designer, I find this very interesting.
Of course, this is not meant to say that all stories / blog posts everywhere should always have images. There are times when it may be best not to use images. It really depends on the content, the writer, and the intended audience.
February 21st, 2006 at 11:48 am
I was surprised to see the “found at Binary Bonsai” in your post and that’s what clued me in to the fact that I had probably seen that already. It’s inspired me to take a little more time with each post/entry and think about the visual as well as the words.
Oh, and thanks for bringing me out of being a lurker on your site! :)
February 21st, 2006 at 12:34 pm
I try as often as possible to use them on my blog, and I got that idea from you Paul!
February 21st, 2006 at 12:37 pm
(WP needs an edit comment function), anyways - just noticed, this is your 1,000th Post! Congrats.
February 21st, 2006 at 12:47 pm
(Feel free to merge these 3 comments if needed, sorry)
In honor of your 1000th post, I felt it necessary to go back in time and capture what ODL used to be:
http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/5530/logo7al.gif
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/1592/picture19xa.png
February 21st, 2006 at 11:04 pm
Cool! Thanks Laurence. I forgot all about that design.
Wow, 1,000 posts. I wasn’t paying attention… I had no idea.
February 22nd, 2006 at 7:06 pm
[...] I’m also trying something new. When it comes to certain things, I consider myself a visual person. I came across a blog post a few days ago that talked about how he added a picture to each post related to the main topic. I loved the idea and wondered why I have not been doing this all along. I’m sad to say I cannot remember which blog it was. I’m going to look so I can give them credit for the idea. Plus it’s allowing me to test out the Wordpress image upload option. It’s much improved since the last time I used it. [...]
February 24th, 2006 at 6:53 am
Even if a photo used on an entry has no relation to the overally topic, it sure as heck draws your eye in…lol. But serious, incorporating an image does make for a better read.
August 3rd, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Its funny, but something in me makes me ‘not be assed’ to read any articles that don’t have an image. It’s almost like an OCD… if it doesn’t have an image, I just don’t want to read it!