Less is more

'Less is more' is almost a cliche. But every time I come across a piece of communication, I get reminded of this phrase. The greedy side of you wants to say everything, but the smart side should try restraint. Look at any form of communication around you. Hoardings (Billboards), TV advertisements, Posters, Presentations; they are all one and the same.

You have so much to talk about.
But your audience has less time.
They get exposed to your message (eg. slide or hoarding) for a small amount of time.
Their is so much communication clutter. So many messages, billboards, TV ads, SMS-es, emails.

How can you get your message across and make sure people remember it?

This is the biggest challenge for any communicator.

We faced the same challenge when designing our stall. Every year around this time a grand exhibition (fair) is organised. Over 27 lakh (2.7 million) people in the city of Hyderabad visit the fair. My company has a stall here. A small stall among hundreds and hundreds of stalls.

We could have talked at length about our product on the inner walls. How great it is? How it is better than others? What it does for you? What it contains? But we chose to be simple. Just large images of our brand ambassadors, the product image and the brand name (in English and vernacular).

We want a visually appealing stall which does not force visitors to start reading. No one is there to see our stall. They are there to eat, enjoy and have fun. We have to subtly invite them inside and make sure they remember us for a long time to come. So a simple design which is a feast to the eyes. That's our best bet.

Designing a stall and making a presentation are so so similar. I discovered it just now, as I started writing this post. More on the similarities in my next post. The stall is getting inaugurated tomorrow and we are still a long way to go.