Hook Visitors With Key Art Designs

Unfortunately, there's no helpful "how to" websites on how to design key art; it's one of the big secrets of the movie industry. All we can do is look at outstanding key art examples like movie posters. The keys to key art are simplicity, silhouettes, uncluttered backgrounds, a limited palette, and powerful, clear shapes that stand out even when you can't see the details from a distance.



Notice that the key art image doesn't necessarily appear in the real production. Those iconic cat eyes never appear in the musical Cats. In the same way, your article graphic does not have to be a literal picture of what you are writing about. Key art is a SYMBOL, not a photo id. It captures the IDEA, not a likeness. That's helpful, because it means that when you're looking for a graphic to represent your article, you have more choices. Be creative. What kinds of images suggest the feeling, the goal, the meaning of your work?



Visual quotes are one way to pack meaning into a small space. You can't copy someone's art, but you may create an original image that reminds you of something. Compare Han and Leia in The Empire Strikes Back to Rhett and Scarlett in Gone with the Wind.

As you can see, the web places extra demands on images: shrinking makes even great designs look cluttered and lose some of their punch. That's why Apple's aesthetic is to simplify, simplify, simplify.

Vintage Apple Poster for "Newton", early forerunner of iPad

Key Art often employs great tag lines (e.g. Apple's grammatically incorrect "Think Different"). However, use taglines with care on the web. Search engines need topic-focused, relevant words and phrases in headers and titles to help them match searches to your content. So puns, platitudes, and hints won't cut it with search engines. Don't be coy; spell it out. Save clever punchlines for the body of your article, the ending, or embedded in graphics.

However, you may not want text on your graphic. Seth Godin left the title off the cover of a recent book, Poke the Box, because the title appears right next to it in book listings. Notice how the cover art (right) is tailored to fit its Amazon listing, including the "look inside" overlay. Exploit and match the environment where your key art appears.

Image Credit: Qute on Stock Xchng

We're not made of money, unlike the movie studios. Unfortunately, we get what we pay for. If you want good key art without paying for it, you'll have to do a lot of searching. It takes time to find a legal-to-use, visually arresting graphic that has "key art" punch, but if you're trying to get as many visitors as possible to your page, you may want to take the time to find a graphic that works as a traffic magnet.

Don't feel bad if you can't find THE image. I have the same problem! Do the best you can. Over time, you'll improve your game, and the graphics on your recent articles will look better than on earlier ones.

Searching for images is a lot like poetry and word association. Play and experiment to get a sense of what kinds of words and phrases turn up visually effective images. Practice makes perfect.

My first go-to place is Stock Xchng, but note that some photographers ask you to notify them before using their work. Then I may try Clker, Wikimedia Commons, or Flickr's Advanced Search with the Creative Commons / Commercial Use Allowed checkboxes checked.

For a complete list of ALL the free photo archives and clip art galleries I use, see:
Free, Legal Web Graphics.

Of course, if you have graphic or photography skills, exploit them! You have more control and don't have to double-check terms of use if you make your own images.

How to Get More Clicks, Sales

I did not know about key art when I designed this graphic (left), but I knew that the better your lens logo is, the more likely people are to click on it. This tutorial is a 15-step guide to conversions (getting people to click, buy, or do what your page is designed for). You've just learned step one: have a great logo graphic. Here's some other suggestions.