Persuasion is omnipresent in our daily lives. We are exposed to hundreds or even thousands of persuasive visual messages each day. These messages attempt to influence our beliefs, values, actions, purchases and behaviors. They reach us at all times and in all kinds of private and public settings, offline and online. Fortunately, we lack the ability to process all of these messages in a conscious way. However, some of these carefully constructed visual messages succeed in affecting our attitudes and behaviors more than others, most of the time unconsciously.

What’s their hidden persuasive force? Why are we influenced to choose one product over the other? How are we stimulated to act and live a certain way? How are we persuaded to adopt the lifestyle we have? How do we resist the persuasion clutter?

This thesis is a reflection of these inquiries—together with the force of design and the system by which it drives persuasion. Under the Influence—Enter the Void, attempts to examine the psychological techniques and concepts hidden behind the visual and aesthetic dimension of design in everyday communication. Its message is for designers, for those who buy design, and for those who consume design.