A picture says a thousand words

I have been doing graphic design for about a year now (8 if you include my hobby years). I wanted to share some thoughts.

A picture says a thousand words. Every design needs some picture that gives an emotion. Lets think of this...if you see a real estate agent with their picture on a flyer what emotional connection do you get?

None unless you are attracted to them. Now lets put a picture of the agent next to a happy couple in front of a sold sign. Your emotion becomes one of "I could be happy in a new home and that agent can help!".

You can have a line of text with no picture and it will do a great job if it is worded right. Lets say you have a line of text saying "Each day a child is killed by their parent...call 555-555-5555 to help it stop". It gives you an emotion and call to action. It is great. Now lets add a picture of a hurt child in fear. See how strong adding an image can be?