The psychology of creative content – designing for the mind not the screen
- Matt Cunningham
- 15 hours ago
- 3 min read
If a customer is walking through an airport, shopping centre, maybe even dining at a restaurant, they are likely to spot something displayed on digital signage. To earn more than a passing glance, the content displayed on screen must work hard to earn attention in an environment full of distractions.
Pixel Inspiration has worked with some of the UK’s leading consumer psychologists to understand what the secret ingredients to capturing – and keeping – attention might be. We have found that it’s not just about what you show, it’s about understanding how the human brain sees, feels and remembers. Digital media content needs to work psychologically as much as it needs to look good.
We work best when we can collaborate with our clients to draw on their rich understanding of the audience and business objectives, and combine with our creative content, technical solutions and consumer psychology.
Capturing attention
Our eyes, ears and brains – all parts of the body’s “perceptual system” – are wired to respond to change. It’s easy enough to activate a perceptual system by throwing lots of movement or colour on screen but we have found it possible to engage with passersby more meaningfully by presenting creative content with a subtler approach – using unexpected timing and pacing, or by using a gentle reveal.
Colour plays an important psychological role too, as different hues carry well-established emotional associations. For example, blue is often associated with trust, red creates urgency, green calms and purple often adds a touch of sophistication. These traditional associations can be leaned into or disrupted, depending on the objective.
Knowing when and how to use colour is key to a successful digital media campaign. Subtle contrasts and clean design draw the eye. Bright backgrounds with dark text make words more legible, making it easy to understand a message in a hurry. A well-designed sign doesn’t always have to be loud – it should fit the tone and mood of its location, target audience and purpose.
This balance of creativity, clarity and relevance is especially important in environments where customers depend on accurate and helpful information. For Argos, we design and produce digital content templates that dynamically adapt based on live product, pricing and stock data. This real-time relevance helps build customer trust, reduces frustration and helps the content work with the perceptual system, rather than against it.
Emotion: the creative multiplier
The human brain tends to remember what it feels, not just what it sees. Emotionally charged content lodges deeper in our minds because emotion tells the brain that what we’re seeing matters. Even simple exposure to the same message, repeated over time, builds familiarity and a liking for the brand. But, there’s a catch: if the content feels irrelevant or annoying, the effect flips, and people start disliking the brand instead.
A viewer’s mood, environment and even position in a physical space can influence how content lands. A calm environment wouldn’t pair well with hyperactive content, while bolder creative choices would suit a high-energy retail setting well.
Creativity meets cognitive science
The lesson from the research is simple. Creative content should be aligned with, not fighting against, the psychology of the moment. That’s why our creative services team works closely with each of our clients to completely understand the target audience before developing content that will play out perfectly on any technical solution and display format you can imagine.
Our long-term partnership with O2 has seen us deliver creative services and content
management across its 450 UK stores for over ten years. Each week, our studio team design, produce, schedule and localise fresh motion graphics tailored to campaign objectives, as well as the psychological principles that drive attention and emotional engagement.
The job of digital signage content is not just to decorate the screen, but to resonate with a viewer’s perception, attention and emotion. The better we understand these drivers, the more meaningful, effective and valued a digital signage network becomes.
