Visual direction devices are like arrows that take the viewer on a journey through and around an image. They have been used throughout the history of image making. The renaissance painters were masters at this. They used visual direction devices such as elbows, objects, sticks, cloths and light to lead and direct a viewer through a painting and to the center of interest.

Transfiguration by: Raphael [1520]

This painting has been superimposed with arrows to illustrate the journey the artist wanted the viewer to take.

People in western society read text from left to right; top to bottom and this is also the natural sequence for reading an advert. Below is an example of how a simple change can make all the difference in an advert.

An experiment by 'Think Eyetracking' was carried out to see how visual attention could be used to direct a viewer through an advert. A pair of special glasses was used to track the eye movement of 200 people who were shown 2 adverts. The first advert featured a model looking out engaging with the viewer.

The results on the right image show the heatmap of eye movement. Little attention is given to the product shot and brand logo. Just 6% of the people looked at the pack!

In The second image the models eyes was changed to look at the product.

This small change resulted in 84% of the viewers now looked at the pack! This is 14 times more people. You can also see that there is overall greater engagement with the advert, including more attention to the brand logo at the bottom.

They are not suggesting that every advert should have the model looking at the product, but by guiding the viewer around the advert can be a very effective way of directing attention to your key messages.