Key Visual: Definition, Importance, Trends & How to Create

Currently, audiences only spend an average of 10 seconds watching an advertisement instead of sitting under the TV screen watching the entire 10 minutes of advertising. Key visual is the solution that brands use to capture the sympathy and attention of viewers in just these short 10 seconds. So, what is a key visual? What are the notes to create a key visual that attracts viewers? Let's find out through the following article.

What is the Key Visual?

The key visual is the creative image that represents the main message that guides communication throughout the entire product promotion process. In Marketing or advertising campaigns, key visuals play the most pivotal role in building potential customers and conveying the message that these campaigns want to give to customers.

Key visuals are developed based on creative graphic inspirations to convey the brand's characteristics. From there, those ideas are turned into stories told through "images" to enhance the value of the product. 

A standard key visual should be presented in an easy-to-understand, concise way and contain product characteristics. Your key visual idea must be unique enough for customers to recognize and distinguish it from other brands.

Don't confuse key visual and logo. You can understand that the logo helps identify your brand. It goes through all marketing campaigns. Meanwhile, the key visual is like a trump card "played" in each different marketing campaign, helping to strengthen the recognition of the brand name and logo.

Therefore, your creativity is maximized to develop the most unique and attractive key visuals possible.

For example, when it comes to Coca-Cola's advertising campaign, the image of a can with its signature red color and soft lines has become a powerful key visual. These elements not only create high recognition but also evoke a feeling of freshness and refreshment. This is the emotion that this brand wants to bring to customers.

The Importance of the Key Visual

Key visuals bring many benefits that directly affect the viewer's vision and create sympathy for the product. Below are some advantages of key visuals for businesses:

Increase Brand Awareness with Customers

The key visual is designed to be the most creative and impressive to attract customers' attention. Unique images with the ability to attract and convey information, the best product/service message. This ability will further increase brand awareness for brands and businesses to reach more target customers.

Create a unique brand identity

Using a "one-of-a-kind" key visual and pioneering the brand will leave an impression on customers' minds. Because when they see these images, customers will immediately remember your business.

Make the brand a trend

In the era of social media explosion like today, it is an advantage for a brand to own an impressive key visual. Unique and trendy key visual images on all popular social networking sites will help businesses grow. The power of these platforms will help brands and businesses increase brand popularity.

How to Create a Simple Key Visual for Beginners?

It can be said that key visuals are important to a brand. So, how to create a key visual? Let's find out what the important things you need to know when creating a key visual are.

Understand Your Brand

The first step to creating a successful key visual is to understand your brand. This includes clearly defining the vision, core values, and communication style that the brand wants to convey. Answer the questions: What does your brand represent? What is the main message you want to send to customers? What elements should appear in the key visual to fit the overall communication strategy? For example, if your brand represents modernity and creativity, the Key Visual can use bright colors, modern fonts, and unconventional images.

Understand the Target Customers

Second, to design an effective key visual, you need to understand the target customers. Who are they? What are their interests, what is their consumer behavior? Understanding customers helps you choose colors, images, and design styles that match their emotions. 

If the target audience is dynamic young people, the key visual can be used with fresh, dynamic visual elements, bold colors, and modern typography. Meanwhile, if your customers are adults who prioritize formality, the key visual should show an elegant, neat style with neutral and minimalist colors.

Color

Color is an important factor in creating a strong identity for the key visual. Color not only needs to match the brand identity but also needs to express the emotions and messages you want to convey. For example, red often shows dynamism and enthusiasm, while green evokes freshness and environmental friendliness. Color needs to be consistent with the entire design and create harmony with other elements in the key visual.

Image

Besides color, the image in the key visual needs to be iconic and easily recognizable. It can be a product image, a character image representing the brand, or a specific symbol associated with the message. When choosing an image, you need to ensure a close connection with the brand and campaign. For beginners, choosing simple but highly memorable images will help the key visual become easier to recognize and closer to customers.

Element

The layout needs balance and harmony between the components so that customers can easily receive information without being confused. You can use the rule of thirds to create a more balanced and attractive layout. At the same time, make sure that important elements such as the logo and key messages are placed in easy-to-see positions and are not obscured.

Typography

Finally, it is typography. The font you choose needs to match your brand personality and be consistent with the message you want to convey. If your brand is modern and creative, you can use modern and easy-to-read sans-serif fonts. If your brand tends to be formal and classic, elegant serif fonts will be the right choice.

Steps to Create Outstanding Key Visuals for Marketing Strategies

To help the key visual become more attractive, brands should grasp the following steps:

Step 1. Identify the right customer target

In Marketing, targeting multiple customer segments is often done in a product or a communication and advertising campaign. Customer segments at large brands are often much clearer and more specific. For each customer file, a key visual will build a product concept corresponding to each promotional strategy. At the same time, this is the clearest reflection of customer needs and desires according to the segment.

Step 2: Touch emotions

What is the success of a key visual? It is an image that both touches the emotions of customers and has a certain influence in a close relationship with emotional value.

Step 3. What is the combination of colors in key visuals?

Color is also one of the important factors that contribute to creating visual effects for viewers. With the development of Social Media Marketing today, in TV commercials, YouTube videos, or other social networks, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. 

Your target customers will only glance at the product for a few seconds. Therefore, using and combining colors such as yellow, green, blue, red, etc. Eye-catching, outstanding color elements like this will further increase the deep impression in the customer's memory.

Step 4. Choose the right "golden time" to promote

Customers often easily pay attention to hot events, trends, dramas, etc., as a natural reflex. You can cleverly grasp these trends and cleverly "follow the trend" in advertising publications. This method will gradually create a link to the customer's train of thought. Besides, the key visual will further leave a brand impression in the minds of consumers.

What is the Difference between Key Visual and Logo?

Both key visual and logo play a role in building brand recognition, helping consumers easily recognize and remember the brand.

Some Prominent Key Visual Trends Today

Here are some impressive key visual trends selected to apply to Marketing campaigns:

3D design model

3D design style is one of the interesting ideas in communication campaigns. 3D advertising images and slideshows are often used to promote fields such as movies, technology, phones, cars, etc., to help increase the feeling of new experiences for customers. In addition, brands often invite KOLs, KOCs, Celebs, etc., to carry out projects following this 3D Key visual trend.

Brand Storytelling

What is the use of the brand storytelling strategy for key visuals? This is a trend that helps brands "get closer" to customers through stories and experiences in everyday life. At the same time, you can cleverly incorporate calls to purchase in the most optimal way. In addition, you can make the story more impressive by posting images or videos to a specific audience at the right time. Make sure your brand wins the hearts of viewers.

No Man is an Island

This trend in key visual design, No Man is an Island, emphasizes the environmental factor. About 60% of users search for images that refer to urban areas. At the same time, there is a more balanced combination of trees and nature. Data is taken from a survey by Adobe Stock using Adobe Digital Insights (ADI).

Icon

The Icon trend of key visuals in today's design focuses more on vivid icons. In addition, the icons also have a trend of bringing strong and cheerful colors. However, the icons are innovative and creative will actually bring many new things to users.

Vector and PSD trends

Designers are moving away from perfection and instead leaning into “imperfect” styles. They think of rough textures, asymmetrical layouts, hand-drawn elements, and organic shapes. These design choices add character, spark curiosity, and create a more human, relatable visual language.

There’s also a noticeable shift toward visuals that support eco-conscious messaging and future-forward thinking. Brands are moving toward themes like green tech, climate action, and minimalist lifestyles. 

Moreover, we’re seeing a rise in the use of 3D elements, gradient overlays, bold typography, and abstract patterns. These trends not only reflect changing consumer values but also offer brands a chance to stand out with fresh, dynamic storytelling.

Design Fonts

According to Freepik, typefaces with bold structures, rounded edges, high contrast, or custom-built exclusivity are leading the way. These fonts define the mood, voice, and personality of your brand.

For instance, simple and timeless serif fonts work beautifully for fashion brands, giving off a sense of elegance and heritage. Meanwhile, chunky, colorful, or experimental fonts are perfect for creative or tech-driven brands that want to stand out.

Conclusion

"A picture is worth a thousand words" is the best description for the key visual. Hopefully, through this article, you have somewhat understood the importance of designing key visuals for your brand and the ways to help you create them.