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 | A cold, washed-out grey photo feels bleak and lonely |
| Composition | How the frame is arranged — centred, foreground, empty space | A lone figure left small in a wide empty frame looks isolated |
| Layout | How the space is organised — what goes where | A big image on top with words underneath: you feel first, then read |
| Typography | What the font style and size say | A word in bold block CAPITALS feels like a shout or a warning |
| Visual hierarchy | What your eye sees first, second, third | The biggest, boldest thing on the page is read first |
| Camera angle | Where the camera looks from | A low angle looking up at a person makes them 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 | A subject looking straight at you feels personal; looking away lets you just 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: an ocean-plastic poster shows a single small turtle, drawn in faded blue-grey, tangled in a bright orange net that fills most of the frame while the turtle is pushed into one corner.
Step by step:
Colour: the harsh, artificial orange of the net clashes with the faded, washed-out turtle, so the man-made thing feels like an invader.
Composition: the net dominates the frame while the turtle is small and shoved into a corner — the arrangement shows the animal being overwhelmed and trapped.
So what: the clashing colour and crowding net make the turtle feel helpless, so the poster warns about ocean plastic without any words.
The bright artificial orange clashes with the faded turtle so the net feels like an invader, and filling the frame with the net while the turtle is pushed into a corner makes the animal look trapped and overwhelmed — together the colour and composition make the harm of ocean plastic feel real without a single word.
IB-style question — layout, typography and hierarchy
Analyse: a fire-safety poster has one huge word — ‘GONE’ — in bold red capitals across the top, a small photo of a burnt child's toy in the middle, and a thin line of grey text at the bottom: ‘A kitchen fire spreads in under three minutes.’
Step by step:
Layout: the big word on top, small photo in the middle and thin fact at the bottom lead your eye down in that order, like steps.
Typography: the bold red capitals make ‘GONE’ feel like an alarm you can't ignore, far louder than the small grey text.
Hierarchy: the size gap means you hit the shocking word first and the calm fact last — you feel the loss, then read the reason.
The layout leads your eye down the poster, the bold red capitals make ‘GONE’ sound like an alarm, and the size gap builds a hierarchy — so you feel the loss first and read the three-minute fact last, which makes the warning hit home.
IB-style question — angle, framing and gaze
Analyse: a mental-health advert shows a teenager sitting on the floor of a huge empty gym, shot from high above so we look down on her, tiny in all that space — and she looks up straight into the camera, right at us.
Step by step:
Camera angle: the high angle looks down on her, making her seem small and powerless.
Framing: the wide shot leaves her alone in a huge empty gym, so the space makes her look isolated.
Gaze: she looks straight up into the camera, and that direct look feels personal — as if she's quietly asking us to notice her.
The high angle makes the teenager look small and powerless, the wide framing isolates her in all that empty space, and her direct gaze makes it personal — together they make it hard to look away or pretend we didn't see her.
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.