Think about its design – what makes it “beautiful” in your mind?

Santuario de las Lajas, Basílica Church, located in Colombia, South América

For myself, this way a hard question – I don’t associate the word ‘beautiful’ with

designs, I immediately think of places, cultures, or architecture. But when trying to think of a design, I couldn’t.

When I started asking other people – was surprised by their answers. Many people said tattoos, paintings / drawings they’ve done, or childhood objects that have stuck with them. This was surprising because they were so simple, they weren’t complex designs, ads, or even professional works. They were things that were special to them, and only them. They have a direct impact on their personal lives. These items usually bring the emotion of happiness, joy, or uniqueness.

With this new focus in mind, I finally had an idea. Instead of thinking of the word ‘beautiful’ so closely, I began to just think about items that have meaning to me. Now, I am not a material person, I do have 2 things that I will always keep close. The first being a dog tag from my dog Sam. She past away in the summer of 2016 unexpectedly, and I was very upset by it. A few days after she passed away my father gave me her dog tag that simply says “Samantha” then our phone number under it. He told me to look at how worn down the tag was, it means she had a long life, and the fact that I am so upset at the fact that she is gone, meant she was loved.

That dog tag had no fancy design and honestly not a lot of thought process in it. But looking at it brings up so many memories which, at times, brings up grief, but more times than not the tag brings up joy.

I believe that to bring up emotions in a design, marketers and graphic designs have to hit at the heartstrings. While I know that makes a lot of customers nervous, I believe we can all think of an ad that makes us cry. *In the arms of an angel*  I know whenever I hear that opening lyrics, I need to change the channel or I will start to see a sad puppy or kitten that needs help. That commercial pulls at my heart and makes me what to help. Another one that comes to mind is the P&G Thank You, Mom ad at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (you can watch the ad here). This ad honestly makes me everytime. Because again, the ad pulls at my heart.

Now, don’t take this the wrong way – not all ads should be sad! Take Kia’s most recent ad with Melissa McCarthy, McCarthy hustles to save the whales, the ice caps, the trees, and the rhinos.This commercial won “most stressful” for its cascade of dangerous environmental adventures. (you can watch the ad here). This ad makes us laugh, and invokes the emotions of joy and humor, which helps us remember the car. Hey we may even save the world with this car!

Putting emotions in designs is a tightrope. As marketers we want to invoke a reaction in a person / consumer, but we don’t want to make you want to change the channel every time our ad comes on *In the arms of an angel*  Making an design or advertisement ‘beautiful’ isn’t always just appealing to the eye, its about what that design / advertisement makes a person feel. It’s important that we balance the two, appeal and emotion, to create a beautifully emotional design.