Abstract art uses shapes and colors to represent a message. The painting, shown left, resembles a face, however, we cannot determine whether the face is of a man or a woman.
Messages can also sometimes be abstract. Chapter three of Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath, explains how concrete language is important to creating a sticky message. A message must be clear and easy to understand for people to remember it. Being able to glance over a message and quickly understand the point ables the concept of “stickiness.”
As I was going over some fashion Web sites I stumbled upon a message that uses abstract language. It’s hard to be creative with language when communicating a message and this is why “concrete” language is important. Fashion.net uses abstract language that connects to a link:
“You’ve found where the industry insider holds court over the who’s who in fashion. Get clued in with all the news that’s fit to hint.”
After reading this, could you have guessed it was talking about a link to a fashion magazine? The phrase “fit to hint” is not easily understood and is definitely not some
This whole message was a hyper link that took you to Hint Fashion Magazine. Now, I understand that Fashion.net was trying to be clever and creative but I had no idea what I was getting myself into once I clicked my mouse.
I propose to improve this message: “Hint Fashion Magazine. Looking for the latest fashion news and trends? Get the Hint.” This would be concrete and still clever.
Consuming PR 