Teaching materials and aids constitute an important element of the students’ educational environment as they naturally affect their learning processes. Still, teachers and designers might not be aware how certain visual solutions applied to the presented content influence its acquisition. What needs to be factored in is not only the aesthetic, but also cognitive dimension of information processing. This article attempts to prove that the use of visually attractive content itself does not necessarily facilitate the learning process, and postulates that designers of educational materials should take into consideration several principles, formulated on the basis of theories of cognitive psychology. What all these theories share is consideration of the abilities and limitations of human brain which could be applied while designing educational materials. The author refers to the concepts proposed by Allan Paivio, John Sweller, Richard Mayer, and George Miller. Although it is not a complete list of recommendations for designers of teaching aids, it could serve as a foundation for creating concepts of visual solutions, which provide a real support to learning.
Keywords: learning, visual educational materials, cognitive load, working memory, graphic design