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14 June 2026 | Issue #128

In this issue:

• 10 Truths Separating Forgettable Content from Content That Converts
• Designers are out Ahead on AI. The Rest of Us Can Learn from Them.
• Recent Podcast Appearance
• Design Quote of the Week

The Visual Marketing Cheat Sheet: 10 truths separating forgettable content from content that converts

If you think great design is just a matter of “creativity,” you’re missing the mechanics of how people actually process information. Great design is a system. When you stop guessing and start engineering, your results change.

Here are 10 truths that separate forgettable content from content that converts.

1. Consistency beats creativity Brands with consistent messaging are worth 20% more than those constantly trying something new. Find what works, then keep doing it. Your audience isn’t exposed to your marketing as often as you are — they need repetition to build trust.
2. Visuals are remembered. Words are forgotten. People recall 65% of visual information three days later. Text alone? 10%. If your message matters, pair it with a visual.
3. You can control where the eye goes Visual hierarchy lets you direct viewers in whatever order you want. The most prominent element gets seen first, so make sure that element is earning its place. You have more control over the viewer’s experience than you think.
4. Every piece of content needs a goal Before you open Canva, know what action you want the viewer to take. If you can’t answer that in one sentence, you’re not ready to design yet.
5. White space is not wasted space The less you put in, the more attention lands on what matters. Empty space isn’t a failure to fill the canvas. It’s a deliberate signal telling the viewer where to look.
6. People don’t buy products. They buy better versions of themselves. Your visuals need to show the benefit, not the feature. Every person is the lead character in their own story. Show them the version of themselves your product helps them become.
7. If everything is yelling, nothing is heard When everything in a design is bold, large, and competing for attention, nothing stands out. Hierarchy requires contrast. If everything is important, nothing is.
8. Faces drive attention and emotion People are biologically wired to look at faces first. We have been reading facial cues since birth. Use faces in your visuals to capture attention, then point them toward whatever you want the viewer to see next.
9. Stock photography is your weakest visual asset A 2023 survey of marketers found that stock photography performed worse than any other type of visual content. Original graphics finished first. If you are leaning on stock, you are leaving performance on the table.
10. Audit your competitors’ visuals before you create Look at what everyone in your space is doing, then find the open lane. If every competitor uses blue, that is not a reason to use blue. It is a reason to go a different direction. The white space in your market is where differentiation lives.

Great visual marketing is not accidental. It is a system. Understanding how people see, process, and remember what is in front of them is where it starts.

This list is adapted from The Visual Marketer by Jim MacLeod​

If you want to download a PDF of these tips, you can get it here:

ARE DESIGNERS LEADING THE WAY IN AI?

Descript seems to think so. Check out this article that outlines how designers are staying ahead of the AI job apocalypse.

PODCASTS

Now that we're in full swing of the baseball season (even if it's not going well for some of our teams), it's a good time to share this recent appearance on the Baseball by Design podcast.

Thanks to a comment I made on Threads, I was invited on the podcast to talk about how I got to revisit one of my old designs and update the cap logo of the newly reformed Lowell Spinners.

I could talk about baseball and/or design all day long. Luckily, the host, Paul, was good and kept my segment to about 20 minutes.

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR FREELANCERS

I'm looking for 10-20 users who want to try out the app and give real feedback in exchange for a lifetime license. Reply if you're interested.

DESIGN QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“The life of a designer is a life of fight: fight against the ugliness.” – Massimo Vignelli

My AI disclaimer: This week's main article was originally posted on LinkedIn as a carousel and then repurposed using Claude to expand on some thoughts.

ChatGPT image prompt: I recently switched to ChatGPT for image creation, and I made a custom GPT. I've been trying for weeks to find a way to ditch Midjourney, but ChatGPT is finally good enough to create the types of images I want.

Thanks for reading,

–Jim

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