The term “framing” is used in many areas, including communication, psychology, and photography or art. Still, at its most basic, framing is about perspective—whose it is and how it’s being used. When we talk about framing in communication, we are talking about an act that has, at its core, an attempt to influence people to interpret information in a certain way. You are probably familiar with the common adage: “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.” A punchier way of saying this same idea is: “The first part of winning a war is to win the peace of communication.” Both sayings are about the same basic concept: When you communicate (and even when you don’t!), you are influencing people to perceive things in a certain light. These basic ideas are what make framing such a powerful tool in the experience of life.
How can we define framing?
What Is Framing?
Framing is a concept that has different meanings in different contexts. It is not just an idea that exists in a single context. You might think of framing as being like an atom that has multiple electrons orbiting around a nucleus. Those electrons represent the different areas in which the concept of framing exists, and they are not mutually exclusive. They can interact with each other in all kinds of ways, and they do. The first area is communication. Framing in communication refers to the process of creating boundaries—figurative and literal—that define how a message functions. Messages can be “good” or “bad,” but the same message can function in both ways, depending on how it is framed. Framing takes on literally and cognitively biased forms. In psychology, we learn that humans are highly suggestible. We tend to see what we are told to see. Vision is one area where we cognize. Hearing is another. These are the big two for human cognition. But what about the smaller senses: taste, touch, and smell? They also figure into it. Still, framing happens between neurons.
Why Framing Matters in Different Spheres of Life
Framing holds tremendous sway over how people act in different spheres of life. When it comes to approaching something, a problem, or a decision, people naturally follow the invisible path that framing creates. From the standpoint of psychology and human behavior, we are talking about the not-so-simple art of getting a person to perceive something in the light you want it to be seen in without flat-out telling them what to see. It is an art because it is accomplished through a series of carefully crafted moves that hit certain receptors or triggers in a person’s psyche. Meanwhile, framing isn’t just about human psychology; it’s also fundamentally about precision in communication. Framing leads the path of least resistance, and if a message is clear and strong enough, it can pull a person along as if they are willingly going with the flow.
Communication Framing
How framing affects perception and understanding
In the practice of communication, framing refers to how you structure information to influence understanding. This might mean emphasizing certain parts of a topic while omitting or softening others, creating a vignette for your audience within which to interpret your message. Think, for instance, about how contentious issues are reported in the media. The choice of certain emotionally charged words or the inclusion of particular statistics might lead you to certain interpretations. Or consider the persuasive power of presentations when directors or business leaders talk to their shareholders. Framing can make benefits seem bright and shiny, while simultaneously making drawbacks seem dark and shadowy. Some might call this power play. Others might call it “controlled narrative.” In any case, it’s an important concept to know, especially for those of us who want to wield the “light saber” of communication power effectively.
Decision Making is Influenced by Positive or Negative Framing
One way that framing can be applied in communication is to influence decision-making, and this is often done with the simple tool of positive or negative framing. When we positively frame a decision, we present it in a way that it really can make a person feel good about the choice. For example, if I were to say a life-saving drug “works” 95% of the time, that’s a very positive sentence. It’s framing the sentence around a potential benefit and a huge success. If we negatively frame the same type of decision, we could say, “Well, it fails 5% of the time.” And in some ways, a person could take that as saying, “Well, if it doesn’t do its job, what kind of job is it doing?”
Instances of Framing and Their Impact on Consumer Choices
In the domains of marketing and advertising, organizations exert considerable effort to utilize framing in such a way that it nudges or outright changes how people behave—particularly when it comes to their purchasing decisions. Consider this classic example: Companies often frame a discount as “saving 30%!” rather than as “paying 70%!” In this instance, the employ of a positive has the effect of making the act not just palatable but even virtuous.
How public speakers use “framing” to evoking responses, engaging, or submerging their audience in a particular point of view is the overarching theme of this section. We might also say that “framing” is a basic tool in the speaker’s rhetorical toolbox. When we talk about “framing,” we mean more than just painting a pretty picture. To be sure, a good frame does that. However, a good frame also sets up the context for what we are to understand within the painting, such as the why and even the what-next of the issue at hand.
Visual Art and Photography: Their Means of Expression
The composition in visual arts and photography is critically determined by their framing. At the most basic level, framing in visual arts and photography involves the use of surrounding elements, balance, and contrast to highlight a focal point. And while that might sound simple, it can become complex when one visualizes or plans a shot because it also involves making decisions about what to include in the frame and what to exclude—what to crop in or out and how to direct the viewer’s eyes to the details that matter. For instance, if a photographer wants to capture the essence of a beautiful sunset, he or she might frame the emerging sun with a doorway or window, using the framing to direct the viewer’s eyes into the critical detail of the scene while also serving the functions of natural balance and depth.
Techniques for Creative Framing in Photography
Photographers can elevate the visual impact of their images by using effective framing techniques. Visual leading lines naturally guide the viewer’s eyes to the main subject of an image. Photographers can create these lines using elements in the environment, such as roads, paths, or the edges of buildings. When photographing, compositional lines may not be obvious. Therefore, photographers must consider different angles and perspectives to take advantage of apparent lines in the environment. And while leading lines might be the most rudimentary framing device, they are also one of the most effective. Indeed, they are used year after year, generation after generation, with good reason: they simply work.
Using Framing to Evoke Emotion
Framing affects more than the look of a photograph or piece of art; it profoundly influences the emotional tone and narrative. For instance, a close-frame can give a picture a tight, tense, intimate feeling, while a wide-frame can make it feel grand, free, or lonely. The emotional story can follow from the kind of picture being made, and it’s certainly the case that pictures with beautiful symmetry feel nice, harmonious, and orderly. But what really makes symmetry emotionally powerful is the fact that we tend to see it as kind of beautiful. Pictures with a good balance of visual elements feel good to look at. But ask what else is going on, and pictures with bad balance can make us feel a little uneasy or edgy, and that’s a good thing.
Framing within the Building Trades
The structural design of a building begins with framing, the critical assembly of a structure’s skeleton. The frame is the most basic part of a building that establishes not only form but also the fundamental support necessary for the walls, floors, and roofs and other kinds of structural elements that make up any building. And in constructing a building, as in any endeavor where it is necessary to design not just for the present but with future endurance in mind, there are certain useful principles to follow. Materials and techniques vary, of course, but proper framing has withstood the test of time. And it must: It is, after all, a part of the edifice’s haute couture, ensuring that its executive and pedagogical imperatives are upheld.
Framing in Construction: An Overview of the Most Common Methods
Framing methods serve different construction objectives, and each has its own set of advantages. One of the most common, wood framing, or stick framing, is used for most of today’s low-rise construction, especially residential projects. Its main advantages are low cost, speed of assembly, and a high degree of adjustability and finish options. The only main disadvantage is vulnerability to fire. The next most common method is steel framing, which has a much higher strength-to-weight ratio than wood, making it suitable not only for low-rise construction but also for taller, more complex forms. Steel is much less adaptable, however, unless one works within a structural engineer’s design. What about all those niche projects using alternate framing methods? They involve some type of framing, too, but mostly serve as models for what can be done in construction and in sustainable design.
How WoopSocial Can Help Optimize Your Social Media Strategy
In the digital space, where visual communication has become so predominant, it is not only individuals who must master the art of “framing”—mastering how to present themselves in both appearance and content online. For businesses and corporations, it is equally vital that the right communications strategies are in place for all to see, especially when competing for consumer attention. By employing tools like WoopSocial, businesses can realize significant effects from mastering the strategy of “framing” in not just a consistent manner but also in an efficient manner. With WoopSocial, businesses can achieve two immediate outcomes that are within the Dang’s of “framing” and “strategy execution.” First, as aforementioned, is to consolidate all of your platforms into one. The second is the automatic posting of your platform-specific content and doing so in a not-very-obvious way. WoopSocial will put your “framing” strategy not only on the path to effectiveness but also in the path of least resistance.
