How the State of Hawaii Reaches Citizens with the Power of Visual Communications

Effective communications today often rely on visuals to make messages stick with audiences. According to John Medina, author of Brain Rules, our brains are wired to remember pictures. People retain 10% of information they heard three days earlier, compared to 65% of the same information when presented with a picture. The power of visual communications explains the popularity of websites built on rich images and videos.

The State of Hawaii understands that compelling visuals aren’t just important for commercial brands. Clear, information-rich communication is core to every government agency’s mission. From keeping people updated on routine construction so that they can plan their commutes to providing life-saving emergency instructions during a natural disaster, government communications have a major impact on citizens’ lives.

Agencies need to ensure their messages stand out, capture people’s attention, and can be quickly understood. That means focusing on the visual impact of communications, whether delivered through social media, email, print, or websites.

“The power in Adobe Creative Cloud for us is that we can create professional-quality work that citizens and internal teams really want to look at and read,” says Darryl Lajola, IT Service Delivery Specialist, Office of Enterprise Technology Services for the State of Hawaii. “We’re empowering agencies to get the attention of audiences and relay messages in more effectively.”

The State of Hawaii entered an agreement to provide Adobe Creative Cloud access to all of the state’s agencies. Creative Cloud gives every employee the tools that they need to communicate across channels quickly. With professional creative tools, employees now have the potential to become content creators, empowering their agencies to deliver better, more relevant content to respond to the diverse needs of constituents.

“Now agencies of all sizes have equal access to the professional creative power of Adobe Creative Cloud apps and services,” says Lajola. “Adobe Creative Cloud empowers any employee to become an effective communicator who can create easy-to-understand, visually compelling messages that keep citizens engaged and informed.”

Read the story to learn more about how the State of Hawaii is empowering employees to become effective visual communicators with Adobe Creative Cloud.

Effective visual communications anytime, anywhere

By incorporating richer visuals into both public and internal communications, employees at the State of Hawaii create messages that are far more memorable and easier to understand. When the Department of Transportation started a new traffic safety campaign, the team avoided words entirely. Instead, they used Adobe Photoshop to develop compelling graphics that clearly illustrated each safety point visually.

The Department of Health also got creative for its Fight the Bite campaign, which aims to keep Hawaii safe from mosquito-borne disease. Instead of just posting text messages to its social media accounts, the Department created shareable image posts. An image of a family on a beach can be paired with text reminding people to use both sunscreen and insect repellent. Communications staff use Adobe Stock to quickly search through millions of photographs and graphics to find just the right image to illustrate their message.

State of Hawaii employees quickly create infographics for social media with Adobe Spark.

Reaching citizens across platforms

In addition to clarity, the speed of creating and delivering communications is important for government agencies. Constituents expect updates through websites, email, and social media about the latest road closures, weekend events, or passage of new regulations. Adobe Creative Cloud apps such as Adobe Stock and Adobe Premiere Rush are designed to help content creators develop memorable content quickly. Staff save time creating signs, web pages, social media posts, and video and can devote more time to focus on their core work of serving constituents.