5 Essential Tips for Creating Meaningful Full-Screen Graphics for Video

Full-screen graphics are great for advancing your video story. They can be helpful to condense confusing sound bites, introduce new thoughts and summarize important ideas.

While effective when done correctly, these graphics can run the risk of confusing and overwhelming your audience. It's important to use them wisely, sparingly and thoughtfully. Here are five tips for creating meaningful full-screen graphics for your videos.

1. Don’t overwhelm your viewer with text

When your audience is engaged in watching a video, a lot of text on screen can be a distraction. Full-screen graphics should be concise and to the point.

Try breaking your text up into a list of main ideas, key phrases or bullet points to engage the viewer and get them thinking more deeply about the words that are being said.

Don't write out every single word that is being said unless your on-screen talent is hard to understand. Think of it like a Powerpoint slide: hit the most important ideas rather than having a paragraph form.

2. Stay safe, don’t cut your text off

The last thing you want is for your text to be cut off by a projector, computer or phone screen. If your video is playing online, make sure your font is big enough to read. Full-screen video is an option on YouTube, but not every viewer selects it.

When creating a video, keep an eye out for the title safe zones, which are the markers that show the areas of your project that can be seen on a television or projector screen. They provide natural margins that will help keep your text from getting too close to the edges.

3. Simple graphics are the most effective

Complex graphics and special effects look cool, but they can take away from your message. Before looking for a special effects artist, think about the purpose of your video and its message. A clean, simple background might be the best way to tell your story visually. Movement with text is also effective, especially when transitioning from one idea to another. Just remember to keep it simple.

4. Stay consistent for brand recognition

The video you’re creating is an extension of your brand. Take some time and find the font your company uses and incorporate it into your full screen graphic and lower-third (interview title) text. If your video lives on your website, you’ll want to make sure every element is consistent.

5. Timing out your text

Timing is everything. Before finalizing the text of your video, make sure to read it out loud first. Reading it out loud helps you read it at a more natural pace. Everyone reads at a different pace, so play it safe by adding a second or two on the end.

6. Don't start with your logo

Your viewer's time is precious and their attention spans are short. You can't give them any reason to stop watching. According to Vidyard, you have eight seconds to capture your viewer's attention. If your logo is 5-7 seconds of that, you've already lost them.

It's so important that you capture their attention with real, interesting content rather than wasting their attention span by starting your video with a logo.