Design is Storytelling — A review
Imagine this: A world where every pixel, every colour, and every curve on your screen isn’t just a design choice but a psychological masterpiece. Design isn’t just about aesthetics but weaving a story, tugging at your emotions, and awakening your senses. If you’re intrigued by the idea of unlocking the secrets behind design’s power to captivate the human mind, then “Design is Storytelling” by Ellen Lupton is the book.
As someone with an appreciation for psychology and design, I really enjoyed reading ‘Design is Storytelling’.
This book is divided into three ‘acts’: Action, Emotion and Sensation. Each of these acts delves into how design triggers various human experiences. It explains the various tools and principles designers can use to evoke various emotions.
This book doesn’t just talk about various concepts but provides insights using great examples and illustrations. Now we are all aware of how colour can impact our emotions but Lupton takes it a step further by showing how color brings life to our other senses. One such example used to explain this is how wine tastes use metaphors to describe aromas and can infer more about the wine from its colour. It’s a fascinating demonstration of how colour profoundly influences our perception of flavour, and it’s just one of the many intriguing examples within the book.
Another example that I resonated with is using personas as a tool to create a character in the story the user is about to embark on. Imagine you’re crafting a user journey, and that journey is your story. By creating personas, you can empathise with the user, better understand their needs, and design a narrative that resonates with them on a personal level.
Beyond all the pretty visuals, the book also explores how our brains process information through design. It helps you understand how our minds work in the world of visuals.
At the end of the three acts, the author touches upon the critical aspect of tone and voice in design. The way we communicate in both words and visuals can profoundly impact the narrative we convey, and this insight is invaluable to designers and storytellers alike.
I would really recommend this book to designers, marketers, and anyone curious about the connection between psychology and design.
