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Consider an Illustrated Footer for Your Utility Website

Here are a few things to consider when contemplating adding a custom illustrated footer to your company’s website. We know great care is taken in selecting the words used to educate your customers on the critical information needed in their relationship with you; but have you considered the impact a personalized illustrated footer could have on those who use your website?

Wouldn’t it be nice if after scrolling through the important facts on your website, the viewer is met with an interesting illustration of recognizable features of their surrounding area? For an online customer, your website is the face of your company and, I am sure, like any company, you want to leave a positive impression.

Positive Impression

Ways to leave a positive impression on those viewing your website are achieved not only by having a website that is easily navigable to access information, but also by having a website that says your utility company is a friendly presence in their community and is ready to serve its customers. An illustrated footer is a meaningful aesthetic that subtly informs the viewer about your presence in the community.

To help the customer recognize your presence, we incorporate the unique features of your area which includes both natural and manmade structures: bridges, roads, buildings, birds, wildlife, rock formations, rivers, bodies of water, agricultural areas (to name a few). We do ask you what features you want in the design. Then our artist incorporates your company colors and uses creative interpretation to highlight a couple of recognizable features along with your company’s power poles and lines spreading across the landscape.

This custom designed illustration helps to show off the area that you proudly serve. This has more of an impact than the standard footer block which adds no character at the end of your webpage.

Lasting Impression

An additional advantage of having an illustrated footer is that it helps leave a lasting impression on your users by making your website more unique and memorable. When a picture is compared to a body of text, the human brain is quicker to grasp and remember the picture’s content than the body of text. The human brain can process entire images that the eye sees for as little as 13 milliseconds.

Adding Value Beyond Aesthetics

When it comes to your company website, providing your customers with thoughtful words and meaningful visuals creates value for your customers and helps set the stage for trust by encouraging familiarity and friendliness. Visuals also have a unique ability to go beyond being merely aesthetic; they can share a story without use of words.

 “Visuals aren’t just flashy; they can help define and complicate a brand’s identity by giving marketers another language to speak. And it’s not just logo design – branded visual content tells its own story through color, rhythm, humor, and tone. If you can show your audience who you are, you don’t have to waste time telling them over and over.”
– 
Emily Gaudette, Engaging Your Audience With Visual Content: The 2019 Report

The Starting Process

The essential groundwork to start on your footer is that we have a conversation to discover what your vision is and any details that may go into your custom illustrated footer. We will have you share information about your company and a list with photos of recognizable features in your area. After acquiring these foundational elements, our illustrator can begin the design process.

The areas covered by a utility company or electric cooperative may extend over many miles in which there are many unique features that could never be captured in one photo. This is where our illustrator takes the liberty to creatively incorporate into the composition elements that may be miles apart. Elements will not always be to scale, but this approach not only captures the essence of your area but highlights key areas and adds depth to the illustrated footer.

Consider allowing us to design you a custom illustrated footer to help share your company’s story. Many of our clients need help in identifying unique features that could be used to build their design. If you would like to learn more about what you can expect and how to prepare for your own electric cooperative illustrated footer, check out this blog post, What to Expect and How to Prepare for Your Electric Cooperative Illustrated Footer.