Using Visuals

Visuals can be very powerful. Check out this one I’ve used from Gizmodo.

“This particular rendering was made through Google SketchUp, Google’s 3D modeling software. Measurements were taken of a $10,000 stack of $100 bills (just half an inch thick!) and pretty much multiplied from there using simple geometry. In that trillion dollar shot, each pallet holds $100 million…and the pallets are double stacked. . . . As for that red blob on the left? It’s a human.”
What’s the library angle?
Look at your library communications. When was the last time you had a really interesting picture or graphic in your press releases? How about your annual report? (We don’t include staff and board headshots in this category!) Do your bookmarks contain a single, powerful, visual message?
So, can you make your collections stats more interesting with a graphic? How about circulation growth? I love the idea of replacing the bars in a bar chart with ever taller kids to show growth in kid’s use of the library. I love the idea of showing a user standing beside the HUGE pile of books available to them for free from the public library. What does the pile of database records look like if they were in print? How about the savings the library generates? Does it reach the moon? and back? How about the pennies per taxpayer vs the return?
This sort of stuff is poster and billboard quality! It gets the message across in seconds which is all you’ve got. Poster production is so much cheaper than it used to be. Do you have a cool poster up in every school and community center in your region?
Check out Google Sketchup or other graphics software in your toolkit and see what you can do.
Stephen