Visual storytelling in higher education: An alternative perspective on the visual aesthetics of communication design
DOI: 10.23951/2312-7899-2026-2-196-211
In this article, the author explores the ability of the visual aesthetics of communication design—which shapes a harmonious appearance and perception of information about higher education—to act as visual storytelling, a strong communication concept in social media. This approach typically employs a sequential change of visual images, sometimes incorporating video and audio elements, actively narrating the past and present of the subject being presented (in this case, higher education) and fostering a strong emotional resilience toward it. This situation is supported by: (a) the high level of competition among universities in the educational market, and consequently, the search for new ways to attract the attention of prospective students, partners, and others; (b) the pressing need for communication designers to enhance visual “communication” by integrating narrative elements into static graphic solutions, thereby creating deeper emotional engagement among various target groups with the university. The scholarly novelty of this work lies in the proposition that encapsulates the essence of this idea. The visual aesthetics of the communication design of higher education is able to act as an active “storyteller” about it (as storytelling), provided that the communication design of information about higher education is created not by the traditional arrangement of established visual objects and palettes of the customer's choice, but by plot. This is achieved by working through the main theme, characters, selected and aligned design elements (color palette, balance of background and key figure, multilevel placement of design objects in the composition), as well as through the use of a variety of stylistic techniques, such as shifting the focus from the foreground to the background, highlighting individual graphic elements and darkening others, drawing objects in “dynamics” (accents that simulate movement), and including text fields. All this creates an intense effect of a multi-layered “dynamic” narrative of a graphic image. It is noted that: (a) the aesthetics of visual communication design, as a form of storytelling, involves the creation of a unique narrative built on unique visual elements reflecting the values hidden behind information about higher education, presented on any media, forming a deep emotional context associated with it; (b) the modern visual aesthetics of communication design of higher education in the context of storytelling narrates, through the variety and layering of visual images, its fascinating past, exciting present, and promising future. It is suggested that in the current circumstances, visual aesthetics in the role of a “storyteller” is aimed not only at promoting active involvement in higher education, but also at forming its holistic, vivid, and memorable visual image, emphasizing its uniqueness, recognition, and value, and evoking a positive response in society about it. The research is based on: (a) a visual turn in socio-humanitarian knowledge, focusing on the visual aspects of culture and society, considering images, visual media, and aesthetic practices as important objects for study; (b) a narrative approach focusing on narratives that convey experience, values, and culture. As a result, the article offers a variant of communication design, using the example of higher education, the visual aesthetics of which acts as visual storytelling about it.
Keywords: visual aesthetics, visual storytelling, communication design, narrative, visual image
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Issue: 2, 2026
Series of issue: Issue 2
Rubric: ARTICLES
Pages: 196 — 211
Downloads: 80