Sahar Ettehadmohkam - Assistant professor, Department of Visual communication, Shiraz University of Arts, Iran.

Images as an important tool for communication have value more than thousand words because they effectively show thoughts, emotions and purposes. Applying images in advertising to communicate with audiences, as integral components of visual communication process especially in advertising, is not new thing. In this exploratory study, we aimed to understand the features of images as a most influential visual element in advertising by audience-driven approach. An interview and questionnaire-based survey was used to define effective image features on billboards in audience’s view. The results indicated that five images related factors included color, composition, audience mentality, image appearance and content or messaging play a major role to receive the attention of audiences. Our findings also confirmed that form and content dimensions of images, as two important dimensions of images in billboard posters, have been indirectly pointed by the audience. Altogether, the results of this study describe audience-driven influential image features in the advertising billboards that can help visual communication designers to increase the efficiency of this communicational medium on viewer’s mind

Audience-Driven, Billboard Advertising, Image, Visual Communication