Visual techniques for explaining complex ideas

There’s no universal visual formula for explaining complexity. Abstract concepts, research reports, digital products, and personal memories all require a different approach. By looking at some projects created with Readymag, let’s look at how designers help people better understand what’s difficult to explain with words alone.

Repetition makes variation visible

“Outcomes Studies” by Non-Objective makes randomness visible through repetition. The authors perform the same action again and again with similar objects—crumpling sheets of paper, scattering beans, popping balloons, or leaving marks with a coffee cup—then photograph the results.

The images are shot and arranged consistently, directing attention to the differences between them. The same process produces a slightly different result each time. Repeating blocks, consistent framing, and a strict grid bring the experiments into a coherent visual system: the setup remains constant while the variations accumulate.

Draggable elements invite experimentation

Mathias Blanc’s “Under the Pyramid” website turns his approach to design into something visitors can try for themselves. On the main screen, objects can be moved, compositions taken apart, and individual forms recombined.

The page becomes a kind of construction kit that reflects Blanc’s practice across graphic and material design. Draggable elements let visitors experiment with the basic principle themselves, taking existing forms, rearranging them, and seeing what new combinations emerge.

Variation and motion offer different views

“Clockwise and Otherwise,” another project by Non-Objective, brings together 145 different ways of visualizing time. Seen side by side, the clock faces show how the same concept can be represented through numbers, shapes, movement, or changes in composition.

Some works come to life on hover. Here, animation reveals how a particular clock face works over time, and a static image becomes a functioning system. Together, repetition, variation, and motion turn the collection into an exploration of how differently the same abstract idea can be visualized.

Hierarchy structures dense research

“The Frontline Gap” by Workvivo breaks a large body of research into a series of distinct topics, from communication and corporate culture to technology and career development. This gives readers a clear route through the material.

Different kinds of information are presented in different ways. Key figures appear in large type, data is translated into simple infographics, and some findings are accompanied by animated illustrations and visual metaphors. Changes in typography, illustration, animation, and data visualization help each type of information find the form that suits it best.

Spatiality turns the invisible into a place to explore

“Ty vodish” (“You’re it”) turns memory into a space made up of scenes, details, and gaps. Visitors move between fragments and discover connections among them, following a structure that feels closer to exploring a memory than reading a linear narrative.

Illustration and free-form layout give the experience its shape. Individual fragments become parts of a larger environment, while movement through the page becomes part of how the memory is encountered.

Interactivity demonstrates what a product can do

Instead of explaining what a product can do, this independent experiment combining Readymag and Spline lets visitors discover its capabilities through interaction. Embedded Spline scenes become part of the page itself, allowing visitors to explore and manipulate the product’s output without leaving the website.

Narrative helps understanding

“The faces behind typefaces” first breaks down a large volume of information into understandable parts. A vast archive, numerous stories, quotes, and photographs are transformed into a readable narrative through structure, clear sections, and typographic hierarchy. It also presents a complex phenomenon from multiple perspectives. The history of typography unfolds through a multitude of voices and characters, allowing for different interpretations. Equally important, it conveys history in motion: the introduction opens with a timeline, and each chapter becomes a transition between eras.