Nature, IKEA, + a Surprise for You!

Hello, Visual Communicators! 👋

Each month, we explore how visuals can make ideas clearer, smarter, and more memorable. This time, we’re decoding IKEA’s visual genius, learning from nature, and sharing a little surprise just for you.

In this issue:

• 🧘 Mindful Design: Nature’s Secrets: 3 Lessons for Visual Appeal

• 📣 Announcement: A Subscriber-only Invitation

• 🪴 Life Unfiltered: Why IKEA’s Wordless Instructions Work So Well!

Let’s dive in!

🧘 Mindful Design

3 Visual Appeal Lessons from Nature

I say it all the time: clarity beats beauty when you're sketching ideas or teaching concepts. But when you're trying to grab attention, share a message, or build a brand, visual appeal helps you stand out.

When I’m designing for visual impact, I often turn to my favorite teacher: NATURE. 

It’s a tried-and-true source of inspiration because our sense of what looks “good” is deeply wired into us as human beings.

Here are three design truths we can borrow from the wild:

🌼 Patterns Draw Us In

Waves. Pinecones. Honeycombs. Flower fields.
Repetition is everywhere in nature and it works like magic at pulling in our eye.
Appealing visuals do the same. 

🌴 Beauty Serves a Purpose

In nature, nothing is just pretty.

Butterfly wings camouflage. Palm trees flex to survive storms. Spiderwebs catch dinner.
So when you're designing for appeal, make sure it’s still useful. There is beauty in functionality.

🐠 Visual Appeal Comes in Many Forms

Not everything has to look the same to be eye-catching.
A tropical fish. A desert cactus. A snowy owl.

You don’t have to copy trends to make something visually appealing. Learn to honor your unique tendencies. There’s room for all kinds of aesthetics.

Before you create your next visual, take a look outside. Nature has already done the work, it’s just waiting for you to notice.

📣 Announcement

1:1 Discover Chats Now Open (Subscribers Only)

You’re invited to a relaxed, no-pressure chat about your visual creation goals and challenges. Bring your coffee or tea, and let’s explore what’s possible, just you and me.
Spots are limited!

🪴 Life Unfiltered

Why IKEA’s wordless instructions work so well.

This weekend, I built a set of IKEA drawers.

The instructions? Just a series of black-and-white diagrams, numbers, simple line drawings, and an occasional stick figure. I’ve built enough IKEA furniture to go through the routine intuitively. But this time I noticed something else.

There was no text at all. And yet… it still made sense.

No narration. No step-by-step checklist. Just visuals arranged in perfect sequence: clean, quiet, and surprisingly clear.

Why do I think IKEA instructions are so effective?

🪜 One step per image.
Each drawing focused on a single action. Nothing extra. No overload.

🌍 Universally understood
I didn’t have to read anything. It was not tied to any specific verbal language.

🧠 Space to think
The drawings were spaced apart, preventing distraction.

👁 Show not tell
Instead of telling me what to do, it showed me. It was simple.

Validation

IKEA didn’t just help me build furniture. It reminded me that visuals are often the clearest way to explain something, especially when words start getting in the way.

Stick figures, boxes, and arrows can work perfectly to explain a process. Visuals don’t always need to be about art, sometimes it’s just about sharing information simply and effectively.

What’s something you explain often? Could it be sketched, IKEA STYLE, with no labels or words, just simple drawings?

Thanks for joining me for the April issue of Learn Visual Communication! Watch your inbox for more visual communication insights, tips, and insider tricks.

Until then, keep creating!

Eva from📚👁️💬
(P.S. A reader asked - yes, I draw my own visuals, stick figures and all!)