The story of Pixar has been nothing short of a fairytale all through. Right from the moment “Toy Story” was released in 1995, they have delivered monster hits worldwide, including three more Toy Story movies, Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Surely, Pixar offers dazzling animation and 3D effects in their feature films, but at the heart of it is the story or central theme of the film that connects with the audience.

Pixar’s name is the benchmark for quality animated movies that instantly connects with its audience. Dory from Finding Nemo and Buzz and Woody from the beloved Toy Story franchise are household names among children. Pixar always amazes us with new stories and characters that are etched in our memory forever.

Storytelling in Web Design

It is not just movies or novels which require compelling stories to become a hit. And don’t think that storytelling is only for writers, marketers, or people in public relations departments of any company. Stories are a powerful tool to entertain and educate people pertaining just about anything and web design is no different.

Nowadays, it’s the age of the Internet, and businesses need to turn things around. It is now all about how stories can help a product or service get the recognition it deserves through intelligent storytelling. So, what are the main areas to focus on in getting a web design that talks with your audience?

Go through the following seven aspects that you need to emphasize to base your design on storytelling.

1. Background images

Large background images can make a great impression to the visitors if used in the right way. These visuals have the power to persuade visitors to think positively about any product. They may look subtle in the background, but their role is important in offering a story and take it forward. The color and layout can add so much to your design. On the other hand, your background image can be clear and central, taking in a semantic role for your design.

Furthermore, a background image can be powerful enough to tell a story on its own if used aptly.

2. Imagery

Images are a great way to start a visual story. A picture is worth a thousand words, and just like a background image, smaller images can also depict a great story. Many designers prefer them over text as 2-3 images can represent a story that may require few paragraphs. And still won’t have that much impact. Everyone visiting a website can have a pleasant experience with images play a major online in getting the attention of people. Putting up essential information and knowledge about a product can be rightly depicted through suitable photos.

3. Illustrations

Illustrations have virtually all the obvious advantages of an image. But there is one big issue, as they can either be realistic, or somewhat abstract, which may, or may not, make things understandable to a person. Illustrations can be merged into collages, combining several aspects, and that’s why they can be an even more flexible way to tell a story.

4. Personality

Modern web design can easily connect audiences with companies through the use of a personality. The relationship can make a real difference in the success of a website. Personality, like a person narrating the history of a company, can help to tell a story about company goals, or the products. And the reaction from the audience can be encouraging for the company.

Personality can be instrumental in telling an authentic story about a company that can raise interest from the visitors. A person belonging to the top management of a company can be the ideal one. You can expect the results when the owner of a company narrates his humble beginning and share his experience.

5. Social Media

A prevalent marketing tool, social media can get businesses the eyeballs they look for. The personal nature of these platforms is perfect for companies to connect to their target audience in an informal setting. Building a loyal community for any product is easy, as over 2 billion monthly active users use Facebook. Businesses can make a community after engaging several people, and they will turn into a loyal audience.

Make sure you tell a story that is worth listening to. A story rich in detail and meaningful will translate into something much bigger.

6. Video

Videos to tell stories on the web is one of the easiest ways, but very few companies can do that. The premise is straightforward, you sit down behind a camera and tell your story, but things can get wrong if you are not able to do justice with the content. You can create a video story for your product in a fun and informative way. You can also show customers’ testimonials for a good impact on potential customers looking to check your credentials and past record.

7. Words

Apart from visual storytelling, words can make things work for you as they can have an equally strong impact, just like a video or image. And I am not talking about long stories that can take 10-15 minutes to read. I am talking about short sentences and CTAs that can make people looking for a product that you are marketing.

Think of every single word very seriously as you don’t know which sentence or phrase can entice a person to for your product. Consistency is the key here as you need to be on top of your game for narrating a story through words.

Over to you

I have described seven different aspects of how to incorporate storytelling in web design. It is now up to you to decide how to include all of them so that it can best suit your requirements. Remember, we all love stories and a good one etched in our minds forever.

If you think that you can add something valuable to this, you are more than welcome. And if you want to enquire about this blog, you can do so by using the comments section below.