An investigation into the reading direction preferences of Generation Z: a study on the design of Asian Winter Olympics posters / Zhou Yaru and Azahar Harun

Visual design is a crucial tool for communicating ideas through images rather than words or printed text. It enables readers to visually interpret and understand information, potentially solving problems across various life aspects. Traditional reading patterns usually flow from left to right and from top to bottom, while some Asian scripts are written in horizontal rows from left to right or in vertical columns from top to bottom. Lines guide the eye between sections and visual elements, while white space allows the eye to rest and focus on targeted areas. The purpose of arranging the five elements of layout design text, images, lines, shapes, and white space is to capture the reader's attention and effectively convey information. In this study, researchers conducted a visual content analysis of a poster with 40 Generation Z respondents to investigate their reading direction. This generation is known for its frequent use of various gadgets and preference for short, simple text to comprehend content. The researchers intentionally designed a vertical banner-sized poster representing the Asian Winter Olympics as a sample. The events included Sapporo 1972 and Nagano 1998 in Japan, PyeongChang 2018 in South Korea, and Beijing 2022 in China. The poster is segmented into four sections from top to bottom, each depicting one of the Winter Olympics events from 1972 to 2022. Coding categories were developed to analyse text layout, lines, and white space. However, the colours and images of these emblems and symbols of the Winter Olympic Games were predetermined, so colours and images were not examined in this study. This exploratory study of Generation Z offers an analytical approach to understanding the reading orientation of Generation Z and serves as a basis for future research. Additionally, several informants tended to scan the poster for information, even though it was not indicated that the poster could be interacted with via an app on their mobile phones.