Peripheral vision in branding

We all know about peripheral vision: the part of our vision that occurs outside the centre of our gaze.

In evolutionary terms, people who noticed a threat coming from their peripheral survived to pass on their genes.

But in everyday life, it’s easy to forget how important being aware of the peripheral can be:

Researches at Kansas State University¹ showed people photographs of common scenes; a kitchen or a living room for example. In some images, the outside or periphery of the scene were obscured (tunnel vision²). In others, the central part of the images were obscured (central scotoma³).

This is the interesting part: When the central part of the photo was missing, people could still identify what they were looking at, just from the peripheral. On the other hand, when the peripheral part was missing, they couldn’t identify a living room from a kitchen.

Now, this example may be extreme — most of us are fortunate enough to be able to use all our vision. But, when we consider design and branding in a wider sense, it’s worth considering the peripheral: It’s easy to concentrate on the centre of your customers’ gaze, but it’s worth remembering all of the other visual elements around the edges that make up your brand and its identity. It’s part of building a branded experience — so when your logo isn’t there, customers still know what brand they’re engaging with.