The Six Priorities Determine Where the Eye Looks First | Persuasive Visuals (2024)

This chapter is from the book 

All things being equal, when looking at an image, we look at faces first. But, things are rarely equal, either by accident or by intent. What if there is more than one face in the image? What if there’s only one face but it’s obscured? What if the face is really small? That’s where these priorities come in; they help us guide the viewer’s eye to where we want it to look first.

I’m indebted to Norman Hollyn who first introduced this concept of visual hierarchy to me, though I’ve modified his order and definitions. Our brain is hardwired to process images in a specific order. We will refer to this list often as we create images because it determines the order in which our audience looks at elements within the image. (In fact, for easy reference, you’ll find these listed at the start of each section in this book.)

When looking at still or moving images, such as Figure 2.2, the eye goes through a “checklist” of where to look first, then second, and so on. I call this checklist “The Six Compositional Priorities that Determine Where the Eye Looks First.” That is, ah, a mouthful, so I’ll abbreviate this as the “Six Priorities.” The eye looks at an image and the elements in it in a specific order, based on these priorities:

If something is moving, our eyes look there first. If nothing moves, we look at that which is in focus. If everything is in focus, we look at that which is different. And so on. We look at elements that are higher on this list before we look at elements that are lower. These priorities are not only used for images or video; they also apply to how we look at the world around us in real life.

Let me illustrate each of these.

The Six Priorities guide the eye of the viewer so they see what you want them to see in the order you want them to see it.

It is impossible to overemphasize the importance of movement. Long before we learned to write, we were hunters—or being hunted. Our brains are hardwired to pay attention to anything that moves. Our first thought is, “Is that food, or are we food?” Movement always gets our attention.

Obviously, still images don’t “move” as video does. However, we can imply movement, even in a still image. This implied movement often makes for a more compelling image. (When we create video, movement becomes an effective tool for attracting and guiding the eye of the viewer. I’ll cover this in Section 3, “Persuasive Moving Images.”)

Movement is hard to show in a book. For example, if Figure 2.3 were a film, your eye would go first to the lead horse because it is moving and bigger. Here in the book, the image implies movement. A great deal of commercial photography—especially fashion—uses implied movement to attract the eye.

Next, our eye goes to that which is in focus. If everything in the image is in focus, which happens with most smartphone shots, the eye skips to the next lower priority. But, if the focus varies within the image, our eye sees the object that is in focus before anything else, other than movement. This is why so many ads and movies present images where only a small portion of the frame is in focus. It tells the eye where it should look first.

Figure 2.4 illustrates this. The frame is filled with people, but we see the laughing woman first because she is the only one in focus.

Next, the eye goes to that which is different. This is why the black puzzle piece in Figure 2.2 attracted your attention. The entire image was white except for that one piece. Different could be a different gender or color or shape or…well, just about anything. Our eye instantly spots something that is out of place, or different, from the surroundings.

In Figure 2.5, you saw the rectangular color palette first because every other shape in the image was either curved or lighter in color. In other words, the simple difference of the color palette was enough to attract our attention first.

Continuing down our list of priorities, if there’s no movement, everything is in focus, and all the elements are similar, our eye goes to that which is brighter. This explains why so many headlines in digital images are white. White attracts the eye, as you can see in Figure 2.6. (So does black against a white background, as in Figure 2.2, but that’s because black is different compared to the white background, and difference ranks higher.)

In fifth position is size; the eye tends to look at the biggest element in the frame first. In Figure 2.7, as the woman looks back at the camera, she is the largest element in the frame. (She is also in focus, which also helps guide the eye.) We see her first and then look over her shoulder into the room to see what the meeting is about.

It is common to combine multiple priorities in a single image to make sure that the eye goes where you want. It is the rare image where only one priority is used.

In the end, if all else is equal, our eye goes to the object in front. In Figure 2.8, all the men are roughly the same height and size. They are all wearing similar clothes. So, where does our eye go first? To the person in the front.

The Six Priorities are really helpful in understanding how to catch and control the eye of the viewer. The eye doesn’t stop exploring an image after its first look; rather, it explores the image based on the Six Priorities. By designing your image and text with these in mind, you can guide the viewer to see what you want them to see in the order you want them to see it.

Elements of the Six Priorities are rarely used by themselves; combining multiple priorities in the same image drives home where the eye needs to look first. We frequently use a “V” shape when positioning (called “blocking”) actors in dramatic or dance scenes, as you can see in Figure 2.9. Positioning the lead actor or singer at the front of the V, combined with a slightly different—and, often, brighter—costume and increased lighting guarantees that the audience will focus on the person the director wants you to watch, in this case, the lead singer.

Our number one goal is to capture and retain the eye of the viewer so that we can deliver our message. Applying the Six Priorities can help you better control where the viewer’s eye will look first, then second, and then third as it checks down elements on the list.