I find perspective to be a curious word. That is why I embarked down the rabbit hole of exploring the definitions of the word as well as considering the implications for visual communication. You can read about it below or check it out in video format here:

 

Perspective.
The root of its definition is latin – and it means to ‘look through’ or ‘perceive’ –  so generally speaking it always has something to do with looking. It can be more tangibly how you visually understand something to have height, depth, width and distance, ie a road that spans off into the distance and appears to get thinner the further along it you look.
Or, more conceptually, perspective can be how a person looks upon something, their personal ‘outlook’ or perception of a topic.
It all comes back to how something is firstly, observed and secondly, perceived. I’ve always considered there to be two quite distinct definitions of the word. And while most of the dictionaries do in fact list two different definitions, in spending some time exploring them I was surprised by just how similar they actually are.
Let’s take a look at a couple of dictionary definitions.
Upon a quick google search, the first set of definitions that you find are from oxford languages, and they are:
  1. the art of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other. That is, “the theory and practice of perspective”. 
The observable, factual perspective. At first glance it seems black and white. Height, depth, width, distance are all things measurable with specific numbers – That ‘thing’ is 10 metres high, 5 mitres wide and 100 metres away. Good old, straight down the line mathematics with a single correct answer . Well kind of – except that the numbers used to measure the perspective of this ‘thing’ are actually relative to the position in space and time of the observer. I say the ‘thing’ is 10 metres high, 5 metres wide and 100 metres away based on my observation of  the thing from my particular location. Maybe you are standing somewhere else and from your observation looking at a different side of the ‘thing’, it is only 1 metre wide and only 80 metres away. And yet, we are both correct.
Oxford Language then goes on to offer its second definition of perspective:
A particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view. “most guidebook history is written from the editor’s perspective”.
ie the subjective interpretational kind of perspective. One that is about your point of view, a point-of-view, relative to your circumstances, that gives you your particular outlook. So who you are, where you came from, your previous experiences all have an impact on your perspective. It’s relative to where you’re at in space and time.
In relation to the first meaning of perspective, the Cambridge dictionary says:
Perspective is the way that objects appear smaller when they are further away and the way parallel lines appear to meet each other at a point in the distance. 
So an object appearing smaller when it is further away is a matter of perspective – the mountain looks small because it is 100 kilometres away.
And for the second meaning of perspective Cambridge says:
a particular way of considering something.
to think about a situation or problem in a wise and reasonable way.
to compare something to other things so that it can be accurately and fairly judged. 
The mountain of fear now seems smaller than it did before because time has past and I am no longer as close to it as I was when I first experienced it and I am now standing at the base of a new mountain of fear that makes the previous mountain look comparatively smaller.  This bares some uncanny resemblance  to the first definition don’t you think?
So what does all of this have to do with visual communication?
When we are communicating information to our audience, we often treat our messages as if they are set in stone and correct – we approach the task confident in our knowledge that our message is 10 metres high, 5 metres wide and 100 metres away, because that is how we see it and we don’t always pause long enough to recognise that not everyone sees it the same way. So while we can send a message out into the world with a particular meaning and intention – it doesn’t mean that intention will be preserved and reflected in each member of our audience. As communicators we must remember that the particular location of our audiences in space and time relative to our message will affect their perspective on it. Their particular location in space and time can include things like, their cultural background, the language they speak, their demographics, their past experiences, existing knowledge base, how close they are to the topic.
When we make our messages visual, we are forced to consider perspective – by both definitions, because considering the first type kind of makes you consider the second. A visual message has dimensional form – it has shape of some kind, and shape can then also have size and colour and be in proximity to other shapes. So to capture a message visually prompts us to ask a bunch of questions. We first need to consider the point from which the observation is being made, and then we need to consider the height, width, depth and distance of the thing relative to this point of observation – or many points of observation. It takes what appear to be facts at a glance and it forces us to answer a bunch of questions to wrangle the thing onto our page into a visual – is it 10 metres high? Is it 100 metres away? Where should I be standing when I take the measurement?  Who is the observer anyway? Does it look the same if I go stand over there? This is the power of making messages visual, they take tangible form, far more than words alone can. It’s no longer a concept, it’s now an actual thing.
What an amazing and powerful tool you have at your disposal? And if you use it well, you can create great impact.
So here are 5 ways visual communicators can use perspective effectively

1. Zoom out and take a broader view

It’s easy to assume that your audience holds the same perspectives that you do and that the place that they stand to get their point of view looks similar to your own. Taking a moment to consider other possible perspectives will give you a richer understanding of your own message and increase your chance of it reaching people. Pull your message apart, spread it all out and step back, further, further, further  – yes that’s it great, now have another look at your message. Does it mean the same thing to you from back here that it did up close? Could it be taken the wrong way or could it leave people feeling excluded? Sometimes this is easier to see when you stand back a little. Giving a wider lens on the topic allows for more places to stand to observe it.
  1. It’s a reminder to preserve the language and the intent of the messenger
Particularly when you are visual notetaking information that someone else is delivering, paraphrasing and summarising are a key part of the process. But you are never going to be able to scribe every single word someone says in real time. Paraphrasing can be fraught with peril because you are always going to be filtering the content through your own perception and perspective which could be very different to what the speaker intended. The best approach I have found is to pull out key verbatim quotes as much as possible instead of just summarising key messages – preserving their word choices keeps their message in tact. I particularly look for quotes that describe their emotions in their  own words.
  1. It’s an invitation to take a walk in your audiences’ shoes – don’t assume or take for granted
When receiving information from others, or packaging up your own information ready to communicate it – don’t rush your communication choices thinking you know your audience well already. Chances are you are looking through the lens of a bunch of assumptions without realising it. It is hard, but you need to stay out of your own perspective as long as you can before it takes over. For each thing you want to state as a fact – reframe it as a question and see if you are so sure about it. ‘We always drive on the left side of the road’ feels like a fact for me here in Australia, but when I pause and re-frame it as a question… ‘Do we always drive on the left side of the road?’ ‘Who is ‘we’ in this context?’ Then I am prompted to remember that not everyone in my audience is in Australia and therefore they don’t share my same perspective. I can now re-write that considering a broader range of perspectives. Depending on where you are in the world – there’s a side of the road you’re expected to drive on, in Australia it’s the left.
  1. It’s a nudge toward being open to feedback and using it to grow
Building on from points 1 to 3, the more you take a step back and consider your messages, the more you endeavour to preserve the language of the people you are listening to, and the more you hold your own perspective back enough to walk in their shoes – the more comfortable you will get making changes and pivoting your approach and your messaging. With seeing feedback as a gift and using it to grow  – both yourself and your message. Don’t be afraid to learn and grow, give yourself permission to do so. Practice. And as Maya Angelou said ‘when you know better, you do better.’ The first mountain you draw on a horizon line might not look right. The first time you depict another person’s mountain of fear might not be quite right either, but you learn a lot about how to do it differently next time by having a go and listening to feedback. It’s vulnerable and sometimes uncomfortable but it can also be transformative if you let it.
  1. It’s a path to finding joy – and celebrating in the diversity of it! 
The fact that we all have different ways of perceiving, the fact that we come at things from different perspectives – this is a thing of beauty that we should relish. How bland would the world be if we all thought the same things all the time. How much amazingness would go unnoticed in this world if people weren’t looking at it from different places and spaces in time? That would be like everyone looking upon a blank canvas and all seeing an expanse of white emptiness and nothing more – if no one can see the blank canvas as a landscape or a still life, how will it ever become anything else other than blank? Finding that you hold a point of view that is different to someone else’s shouldn’t be a bad thing – it should pique your curiosity, it should make you lean in a little further and ask a few more questions. Seek to understand. This doesn’t mean you have to agree. Celebrate the magnificence of being human, of occupying a place in space and time and knowing that each of us has a place to stand that is unique and beautiful.
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Now go on, get out there, it’s time to make your mark.