Do you remember the shapes you loved as a kid? I do.

When I was 6, my mom used to make me PB&J sandwiches. She’d cut them diagonally into triangles, and I remember secretly wishing for those soft, rounded rectangles instead.

Turns out, my love for those smooth shapes never faded. Today, I’m still cutting my sandwiches with rounded edges.

This memory got me thinking about the shapes we love and how they impact how we share our ideas.

What’s your favorite shape?

We all have favorite shapes — circles, rectangles, or triangles — that influence how we communicate.

Each shape sends signals to a viewer — messages you may not have considered.

Think about your preference, and let’s explore its meaning and symbolism.

Circles

⭕️ Eternity
Circles symbolize eternity and infinite possibilities due to their lack of beginning or end.

⭕️ Inclusion
They create a sense of inclusiveness, often perceived as welcoming.

⭕️ Cycles
They represent continuity, such as the cycle of life, seasons, or repetitive patterns.

⭕️ Harmony
The shape is associated with balance and harmony, suggesting a natural order and peacefulness.

⭕️ Movement
Circles convey motion and flow, indicating dynamism and progress.

In visual frameworks, circles are used in Venn diagrams, pie charts, bubble graphs, targets, and mind maps.

Rectangles

🔲 Efficiency
Rectangles are linked with practicality and efficiency, often used in design to maximize space and functionality.

🔲 Stability
They suggest stability, strength, and reliability.

🔲 Order​
The shape reflects order and structure, commonly used in grids, layouts, and architectural designs.

🔲 Formality
They’re seen as formal and professional, suitable for business documents and presentations.

🔲 Containment
Rectangles frame content and provide a clear boundary, enhancing readability and organization.

Rectangles are excellent visual framework choices for 2x2 matrixes, grids, scorecards, fun options like bingo cards, and sharing high quantity and detailed information.

Triangles

🔺 Direction​
Triangles convey a sense of direction, movement, and progress.

🔺 Hierarchy​
They depict hierarchy, with the top representing the most important or prominent element.

🔺 Dynamism​
They can symbolize power, energy, and dynamic action, often representing change.

🔺 Strength​
This shape, especially when oriented with the base down, symbolizes stability and strength, as seen in architectural structures like pyramids.

🔺 Caution​
Triangles are used in warning signs to indicate caution, alertness, and potential hazards.

Triangles are a versatile visual framework shape, often used as a pyramid or, when inverted, a funnel.

Your shape strategy

As these lists show, shapes are more than just visual elements. They are powerful tools for communicating and connecting with our audience.

Whether you’re drawn to the smoothness of circles, the practicality of rectangles, or the dynamism of triangles, each shape carries its own unique symbolism and meaning.

As solopreneurs, understanding these nuances can help us design more effectively and connect more deeply with our audience.

So, the next time you create a presentation, design a social media graphic, or even cut a sandwich, consider the shapes you choose. They might be the key to unlocking a more engaging and impactful message.

❤️ My favorite visual delights

Here are this week’s gems from around the Web to help you build visibility, credibility, and authority:

🧠 Daniel Kahneman: 7 theories that can help you understand how you think​
Earlier this year, we lost one of the great thinkers about thinking. Daniel Kahneman’s pioneering research on the psychology of decision-making led to his Nobel Prize in Economics. He is perhaps best known for his book, Thinking Fast and Slow. If you don’t have time to dig into his 500-page book, here’s a great summary of 7 of Kahneman’s essential theories.

✅ Priority Matrix: How to identify what matters and get more done​
A Priority Matrix is a 4-quadrant framework that can be adapted for many uses. One way is to get clear on your priorities by charting the quadrants into investigate, proceed, avoid, and consider. This article presents different types of priority matrixes and lines it all up so you can make quicker progress.

🤖 AI Slogan Generator​
This free slogan generator from FounderPal uses AI to generate 30 slogans for free. Type in a brief description of your business and your audience, and voilà. Like with many AI tools, results are mixed. But it’s fun to explore and good for brainstorming.

Other SOLO articles

Did you miss some of these recent popular issues of SOLO?
​
✅ My 7 Heroes of Visual Communication​

✅ 3 Ways to Sketch the 80/20 Framework​

✅ 4 Pillars of a Stand-Out Solopreneur Brand​

Want to check out other past issues? Visit the SOLO newsletter archive.

Thanks again for being a SOLO reader and coming along on this journey of visual exploration.
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See you next week,