0.013 seconds or 13 milliseconds – that’s all it takes to process an icon. Emoticons. Emojis. Icons. Who knew such simple and small icons could pack such a large punch? 👊🏼💥
Sometimes what we need to say can’t be described through words or generic stock media. We need something more. We need icons! But what’s the big deal about iconography?
Icons share messages at a glance and are universally understood. For example, a megaphone is generally used to represent news or a big announcement 📢, while an envelope usually indicates someone’s email or how to message someone 📩. Can you guess what these would represent in a status update: 🏝 or ✈️? Probably travelling or on vacation! Utilizing icons in your video can help further explain your message as icons “speak” multiple languages, allowing your video to target international audiences.
Icons are compact and support with visual shortcuts. Perhaps the message is listicle, such as listing a product’s features or a pros vs. cons list, icons are the best way to clearly visually iterate the message in an efficient way (spatially and representationally). Their compact size displays and relays a message without taking up tons of space. This can provide a target audience much more context in a short amount of time, versus deciphering a generic stock image which may also not relate entirely to each listicle item.
Icons can pinpoint or emphasize specific points/topics. Icons can easily break up chunks of text, which can help maintain or capture an audience’s attention. Instead of using generic stock media, an icon can specifically emphasize one important fact or topic. Blocks of text can be overwhelming to the eye, however icons help streamline content and make it easier to digest by highlighting one or two key points.
Icons can tell stories. The challenge of storytelling can be quite tricky to tackle, but with more abstract concepts, icons are the most suitable visual aid to use. Abstract ideas or concepts can easily be supported and digested through icons, such as a business service that is intangible like business intelligence. Stock media would not properly articulate or convey your business services or enterprise story, where as icons would properly represent the message – and even more so with branded customer icons. Check out this great example of how Swiss RE incorporated icons into their video:
Lumen5’s video creation software allows companies to tell their stories with icons: a unique point of differentiation in storytelling. Our provided icons are flexible, animated, and built in to our video platform. With over 100 icons ready for use in our library and specific scenes designed for icon use, it is still as easy as drag and drop. ✨ For more on how to access your icons and add them to your video, visit our help guide.
