Key Idea: Paper 1 often gives you an image-led text — an advert, poster or photo — and you analyse it just like writing. Three things to read: colour & composition (the mood the colours set, and how the frame is arranged to steer your eye), layout, typography & hierarchy (how the space is organised, what the font style says, and what you see first), and camera angle, framing & gaze (the angle a photo is shot from, how close or wide it is, and where the subject looks). Every point links a visual choice to the feeling it builds.
🗝️ The techniques to know
| Technique | What it means | Quick example |
|---|---|---|
| Colour | The mood the colours build | Cold, washed-out grey feels bleak and lonely |
| Composition | How the frame is arranged — centred, foreground, empty space | A lone figure small in a wide empty frame looks isolated |
| Layout | How the space is organised — what goes where | Big image on top, words underneath: feel first, then read |
| Typography | What the font style and size say | Bold block CAPITALS feel like a shout or a warning |
| Visual hierarchy | What your eye sees first, second, third | The biggest, boldest thing is read first |
| Camera angle | Where the camera looks from | A low angle looking up makes a figure loom and seem powerful |
| Framing | How close or wide the shot is | A tight close-up on a face fills the frame with emotion |
| Gaze | Where the subject looks | Straight at you feels personal; looking away lets you observe |
🔍 The one move that scores
Every point uses the same move: point to a visual choice (a colour, an empty frame, a font, an angle, a look), say the feeling it builds, then why the image-maker wanted that here. Don't just say ‘it uses grey’ or ‘high angle’ — the mark is in the feeling it creates and what it makes you look at.
✍️ IB-style worked examples
IB-style question — colour and composition
Analyse: a road-safety poster shows a child's small bicycle lying on its side on a wide, empty grey road, pushed to the bottom corner, the rest of the frame left blank.
Step by step:
Colour: the flat, cold grey has no warmth, so the poster feels bleak and lifeless.
Composition: the bike is small and pushed into the bottom corner, with the rest of the frame blank — all that empty space makes it look abandoned.
So what: the cold colour and empty frame make the missing child feel real and frightening, warning us to slow down without any words.
The cold grey builds a bleak mood and the tiny bike lost in empty space looks abandoned — together the colour and composition make the missing child feel frightening, so the poster warns drivers to slow down without a single word.
IB-style question — layout, typography and hierarchy
Analyse: a charity poster has one huge word — ‘HUNGRY’ — in bold black capitals across the top, a small photo of an empty plate in the middle, and a thin line of grey text at the bottom: ‘1 in 5 children here go to bed like this tonight.’
Step by step:
Layout: big word on top, small photo in the middle, thin fact at the bottom — your eye moves down in that order, like steps.
Typography: the bold black capitals make ‘HUNGRY’ feel like a shout you can't ignore, much louder than the small grey text.
Hierarchy: the difference in size means you hit the big word first and the small fact last — you feel the shock, then read the reason.
The layout marches your eye down the poster, the bold capitals make ‘HUNGRY’ shout, and the size gap builds a hierarchy — so you feel the shock first and read the fact last, which makes the message hit home.
IB-style question — angle, framing and gaze
Analyse: a homelessness advert shows a man in a doorway, shot from high above so we look down on him, small in a wide empty street — and he stares straight up into the camera, right at us.
Step by step:
Camera angle: the high angle looks down on him, making him seem small and powerless.
Framing: the wide shot puts him alone in a big empty street, so the space makes him look isolated.
Gaze: he stares straight up into the camera, and that direct look feels personal — as if he's asking us not to walk past.
The high angle makes the man look small and powerless, the wide framing isolates him, and his direct gaze makes it personal — together they make it hard to look away or ignore him.
Important: Don't just say ‘it uses grey’, ‘big font’, ‘the bike is small’ or ‘high angle’. Every visual point needs the feeling — what the colour, layout, font, angle, framing or gaze makes you feel or look at. Treat the image exactly like a piece of writing: name the choice, then its effect on the reader.
Tap each card to check yourself.
How do you analyse colour? Name a colour and the mood it builds — cold grey feels bleak, red can shout danger or urgency.
What is empty space doing in a frame? It's composition — a lone figure in lots of empty space looks isolated and alone.
What is visual hierarchy? The order your eye reads things — biggest and boldest first, small print last; the ranking is a choice.
Low angle vs high angle? Low looking up makes a figure loom and seem powerful; high looking down makes them small and vulnerable.
What does a direct gaze do? Looking straight at you (direct address) feels personal, as if the subject is speaking to you.
Exam Tips
- Read the mood first — what do the colours make you feel? Name a colour + that feeling.
- Ask what your eye lands on first — that's the layout and hierarchy working.
- Name a font style (hand-drawn, bold caps) and the feeling it gives.
- Check the angle (up, down, level), the framing (close or wide) and where the subject looks.
- Every visual point needs the feeling and the ‘so what’ — never just name the choice.