When learners first open an eLearning module, what’s the very first thing they notice? It’s not the content or the learning objectives – it’s the look and feel.
Visual design is often underestimated in eLearning development, but it plays a huge role in shaping how learners engage with content, how professional a course feels, and how well the organisation’s brand comes through. At B Online Learning, we see visual design as one of the three essential elements alongside instructional and functional design that make eLearning intuitive, scalable, and adaptable. Take a look at these examples.
This article explores how to get visual design right in your eLearning projects, particularly when using Articulate Rise and Storyline. We’ll also cover practical tips on using branding, colour and graphics to create engaging experiences that resonate with your learners.
Why Visual Design Matters in eLearning
A well-designed course doesn’t just “look nice.” Visual design impacts learning in three important ways:
- First impressions: A polished, consistent design builds trust and credibility from the start.
- Cognitive ease: Good design helps learners focus on the message, not the mechanics of navigating or interpreting cluttered screens.
- Brand reinforcement: Courses become a subtle but powerful way to showcase an organisation’s identity and values.
Put simply: when visual design is done well, learners feel at ease, guided, and connected to both the material and the organisation behind it.
Using Branding Guidelines in eLearning
Most organisations already have a brand identity — logos, fonts, colour palettes, and tone of voice. These assets aren’t just for marketing; they should carry through into your training as well.
How Branding Shapes Learning
- Consistency across touchpoints: When your eLearning looks like your website, presentations, and other collateral, it reinforces the organisation’s identity.
- Familiarity builds trust: Learners instantly recognise the course as “ours” rather than something generic.
- Professional polish: Branded design helps courses feel more like part of a larger ecosystem, rather than an afterthought.
Applying Branding in Articulate 360
- Rise 360: Rise makes it easy to apply logos, set theme colours, and use your organisation’s fonts throughout the course. This creates a professional, on-brand experience without extensive design work.
- Storyline 360: Storyline offers complete creative freedom. You can build branded templates from scratch, ensuring every slide aligns with guidelines — from backgrounds and buttons to character styles.
The Power of Colour in eLearning
Colour is one of the most subtle yet powerful aspects of visual design. Used strategically, it can set the tone, guide attention, and even influence learner emotion.
Best Practices for Colour Use
- Use your brand palette as a foundation: Stick to primary and secondary colours for consistency.
- Create contrast for readability: Make sure text and key elements stand out.
- Use colour to signal meaning: For example, green for success, red for errors, blue for neutrality.
Avoid overload: Too many colours can distract learners. A simple palette of 2–3 main colours with neutrals usually works best.
Colour in Articulate 360
- Rise 360 allows you to set theme colours for headings, text, and buttons, keeping things simple and consistent.
- Storyline 360 lets you build custom colour themes across the course, giving you the flexibility to use colour coding for activities, feedback, or branching paths.
Graphic Design Tips for eLearning
Beyond branding and colour, graphic design decisions shape how learners interact with content. Here are some key tips:
- Keep it clean and uncluttered: Less is more. Leave white space so learners can focus on the content.
- Use imagery with purpose: Avoid generic stock photos that don’t add meaning. Choose images or icons that support learning points.
- Think about hierarchy: Headings, subheadings, and body text should clearly signal importance.
- Use subtle visual cues: Arrows, highlights, or background shapes can gently guide the learner’s eye to where it needs to go.
- Stay consistent: Once you set a design style (icon style, illustration type, button design), stick with it throughout the course.
Animation and Motion in Visual Design
Animation can bring content to life, but it should be used sparingly. The best animations are those that support the message rather than distract from it.
Subtle Animation Ideas
- Micro-interactions: A button that gently highlights when hovered over.
- Slide transitions: Simple fades or slides to maintain flow.
- Reveals: Animating elements in sequence to guide attention.
When to Go Bigger
For concepts that need storytelling, an animated explainer video can be a powerful option. This might be a short Storyline sequence with animated characters, or a standalone video created in Vyond or After Effects and embedded in Rise.
Visual Design in Action: A Practical Example
Let’s imagine an onboarding course for a retail organisation.
- Branding: The course uses the company’s teal and grey palette, with its bold typography for headings.
- Colour: Teal is used for positive interactions, grey for neutral content, and red only for error messages.
- Graphics: Custom icons represent customer service, sales, and safety — instead of relying on stock photos.
- Animation: Key points slide in gently, while scenario characters have subtle motion paths to show interaction.
The result? Learners instantly feel connected to the brand, know where to focus their attention, and enjoy a course that feels designed — not cobbled together.
Choosing the Right Tool for Visual Design
- Rise 360: Perfect if you want a polished, mobile-friendly design with minimal effort. It ensures brand consistency and sleek layouts.
- Storyline 360: Best when you want full creative control — building custom graphics, templates, and animations.
Many of our clients find the sweet spot is a combination: Rise for structure and accessibility, Storyline for more dynamic, visually rich interactions.
Final Thoughts: Visual Design as a Competitive Edge
Visual design in eLearning is not about making things “pretty.” It’s about creating intuitive, engaging, and brand-aligned experiences that make learners want to complete a course and organisations proud to share it.
When you leverage branding guidelines, use colour strategically, and design graphics with intent, you elevate your eLearning from basic compliance content to a meaningful extension of your organisation’s culture and identity.
At B Online Learning, we help organisations apply these principles every day, using Articulate Rise and Storyline to design courses that are not only functional and instructional but visually compelling.
If you’re ready to transform your training with visual design that speaks to your learners, connect with us today.
