Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design

14. A Visual Marketing Firm Uses Optical Illusions to See Things Differently: Showing Prospects What You Are Capable of in Multimedia

Chico Marx once said, “Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?” A design firm is really about seeing things differently. Jim Keller, design director at Langton Cherubino Group, always had a fondness for optical illusions such as the zigzag patterns that look crooked but are really straight or the paintings and etchings of Escher that play with your sense of perspective. Inspired by the visual tricks usually found on paper, the design team set off to create a Room of Illusions game that featured the classic optical puzzles online in a well-designed environment.

Why It Works

The tricks are as old as the printed page—yet in the hands of a designer, as fresh as today. The setting for the illusions is a futuristic room with bright color patterns featuring a Warner Brothers–era cartoon soundtrack. When you click on an item in the room, a large window opens and the illusion is presented as a challenge. The viewer tries to guess what the real truth is, and after another click, the secret is revealed. Each example is engaging and addictive. It's like when Penn and Teller show you how a trick works and lure you in for more mayhem. How did this come ...