The year of the visual web

An interesting article in ReadWrite, “2013 trends: the triumph of the visual web”, discusses a growing trend, albeit one that we tend to believe has been understood, simply because we stare at it each day: the so-called visual web, the progressive use of images to communicate. The worth of the companies considered the leaders in the visual web are stratospheric: Instagram and Tumblr were sold for one $1 billion and $1.1 billion respectively; Pinterest, after several financing rounds, puts its value at between $2.5 and $3.8 billion; Flipboard fluctuates between $800 million and $1 billion; while Snapchat has rejected an offer of $3 billion, and possibly another for $4 billion. Even an image-hosting site as straightforward as Imgur is attracting attention.

But beyond the colossal valuations, and possible warning signs of an emerging bubble, given to companies with no business model, or that at best have yet to be put to the test, one thing is clear: images are becoming an evermore important part of the web. On the one hand, the increasing availability of broadband means that compression is no longer necessary and it is easier than ever to send large files. Just look at the way that pages like this have developed over the last three or four years to see how the visual component of the web has gained, well, greater visibility. The deal now is to combine words with pictures, and with greater emphasis than ever on the latter.

Some 65% of the world’s biggest brands are now on Instagram, many of them publish magazines on Flipboard that are reasonably successful in terms of subscriptions and engagement, and there are innumerable cases of brands using a range of strategies on Pinterest… even a tool like Snapchat is starting to attract attention.

Larger and larger images, banner headlines, using a central image as an anchor when entries are distributed via the social networks, visual metaphors directly inherited from magazines, mixing up the headline and the image so as to evoke luxury advertisements… without doubt images have taken the web by storm, and are now an indispensable part of any page. The goal now is to use anything that offers the chance to use graphic information, whether as a curtain raiser or the main event, despite the challenges in design terms, as well as those of adapting images to a growing range of devices. The trend is clear.

(In Spanish, here)