Designing Culturally Relevant Content: Keys to Effective Communication.
By Mar Daraviña & Pamela Erin Mason Ramos
¡Lee este blog en español!
Humans are visual creatures. We are a diverse mix of backgrounds that vary in our sociocultural contexts, including beliefs and practices. These differences influence how we perceive and interpret shapes, colors, visual stimuli, and all kinds of symbols.
In a world shaped by exchange, graphic design goes beyond visuals to become a communication tool that helps define identity for both the messenger and the audience. It creates connection, builds understanding, and captures attention through visual representation. For that communication to be effective, the message must reflect the values, symbols, and identity of the cultural group it’s meant to reach.
Humans are visual creatures. We are a diverse mix of backgrounds that vary in our sociocultural contexts, including beliefs and practices. These differences influence how we perceive and interpret shapes, colors, visual stimuli, and all kinds of symbols. Let’s look at how this shows up in mission-driven work with diverse communities. Imagine an organization providing education and social services to Spanish-speaking immigrants, but led by people who don’t share their language, culture, or lived experience. Now, the organization is creating outreach materials to promote its programs to Spanish speakers in the area.
What resonates with one group—say, non-Latinx white audiences—might fall flat, feel irrelevant, or even come off as offensive to the Latinx community.
That’s where things can get complicated. What resonates with one group—say, non-Latinx white audiences—might fall flat, feel irrelevant, or even come off as offensive to the Latinx community. Additionally, it often happens that informative materials, such as brochures or pamphlets promoting the organization's activities, are originally developed in English and then translated into Spanish without cultural adaptation of the design or message. Such translations often fail to convey the intended message and connect with the target audience.
In this example, graphic design must do two things at once: stay aligned with the organization’s overall identity—its values, tone, and messaging—while also connecting with the target audience through culturally relevant language, visuals, and idioms that resonate with their identities and lived experiences.
When we design or redesign a brand, logo, simple graphic, or craft messaging, it is essential to acknowledge our perspective and be aware of the cultural and belief systems that drive or influence our taste, thereby shaping our decisions and the project's outcome.
From the perspective of the sociology of culture, Pierre Bourdieu (1984) highlights the existence of a social sense of taste, which is shaped by social class. In other words, an individual's or a particular social group's aesthetic experience, or what they like, is influenced by factors such as economic and cultural backgrounds, including upbringing and education, among other things. According to Bourdieu, taste socially classifies and enables the identification and recognition of individuals within a society. Creative processes within graphic design aim to solve communication problems, emphasizing the importance of understanding the specificities of the audience and creating visual resources that resonate with them and align with their cultural affiliations.
One common mistake among organizations led by individuals who do not share the cultural practices of the communities they serve — and who do not consciously reflect on it — is to generate content based on their own considerations of aesthetics and social acceptability without questioning whether the intended population recognizes those elements in the same way. Simple issues, such as the selection of color palettes, fonts, or symbols used, can be crucial for engaging with that content.
When we design or redesign a brand, logo, simple graphic, or craft messaging, it is essential to acknowledge our perspective and be aware of the cultural and belief systems that drive or influence our taste, thereby shaping our decisions and the project's outcome. This is crucial because it enables us to ask the right questions to better understand the needs and preferences of our target audience, and seek culturally competent advice when necessary. This, in turn, allows us to create messaging that’s both effective and culturally relevant.
Creating culturally appropriate content requires an ethical approach—one that’s mindful of cultural diversity and the impact of our choices.
Graphic communication carries social and cultural responsibility. Visual elements can shape messages that people connect with, adopt, and carry forward as part of their collective identity. That’s why creating culturally appropriate content requires an ethical approach—one that’s mindful of cultural diversity and the impact of our choices. It also means being aware of who is doing the communicating, and how our own perspectives or biases might influence the message. Without that awareness, we risk sending the wrong signals—leading to confusion or even harm in the communities we’re trying to support.
Ultimately, designing involves considering the cultural, aesthetic, historical, and symbolic particularities of the social group being targeted and/or represented to ensure that the message we want to convey is appropriate. This is especially important from an empowering standpoint for organizations, institutions, or individuals providing services with the purpose of positively transforming the realities of marginalized communities.
