Preview: Visual ASMR

04 : 04 : 2016 The-Emotional Economy : Advertising : Digital

Global – This week’s microtrend profiles a new type of visual fetishism emerging in creative communications.

  • Digital creatives are drawing on sensory phenomena such as ASMR
  • Visual stimuli are used to evoke a pleasurable sensation
Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström
Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström
Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström
Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström
Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström Physlab by Anny Wang and Tim Söderström

ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) is characterised by pleasurable tingling in response to certain sounds such as whispering. Now, new creatives are experimenting with using moving images to imitate tactility and give viewers similar sensory satisfaction.

‘The goal is for the the viewer to be able to imagine the tactile sensation from knowing the real-life experience,’ Tim Söderström, one half of the duo behind the Physlab series of animations, tells LS:N Global. Working with designer and illustrator Anny Wang, Söderström created short vignettes that depict inflated objects squeezing through tight openings, and ceramic vases being shattered in slow motion. The videos elicit a palpable, sensory satisfaction.

The Big Picture

In The E-motional Economy brands are increasingly using visual and tactile cues to create more emotive and sensory communications. To find out more about this new visual language, read our Visual ASMR microtrend.

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