- Surprise is a great tool to attract the viewer.
Now, I don't mean add something terrifying
that causes a crazed stampede.
This is about the unexpected
or doing exactly what the viewer doesn't see coming.
Fortunately, most people like to find order
and expect a certain level of this as a constant.
You can create surprise with an unanticipated idea
or you can use the layout to startle a viewer.
I like to use preconceived ideas as a way in.
It can be as simple as shaking up expectations subtly.
This clock by the legendary Tibor Kalman
at first glance is a perfectly well-designed
simple clock with beautiful Bodoni.
However, upon closer examination
the numbers are all mixed up.
The solution is visually extraordinary and memorable.
On a physical object,
the material can also be surprising and delightful.
The cover for this book about Clorox Bleach
is made with a vacuum form plastic
that matches the actual packaging.
Scale is a good tool.
I expect a title and the information for a film to be large
and the image to be clear and easy to understand.
The viewer is forced to focus more
when I switch the topography to be small.
He or she also needs to concentrate
and make a judgment about an image
that is soft and not easy to understand.
You can make something that should be
an insignificant piece of information huge,
or a headline that would be small text cover a whole wall,
or play with the conventions
that we presume are a given,
such as simple, solid colors for end pages on a book.
Swap them out with an amazing pattern.
Rearrange the concept of a book or publication
by using the introduction page as the cover.
You're the boss of your own solutions
and it can't hurt to experiment.
Don't worry about making something
as shocking and surprising as the shower scene in Psycho.
That's not necessary.
You just want to shake up the viewer
and keep his or her attention.