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Figure 4. Pretenders: (a) A candle pretending to be a cactus in a pot; (b) a dog and a cat, salt-and-
pepper shakers; (c) a candle pretending to be a garlic; (d) a scaled down glass flower pretender (©
2012, photographed by A. Ursyn. Used with permission)
to understand, rather than metaphorical likeness
of a product to something else. In other cases
designers accentuate metaphorical side of the
product, for example, a colander like a sea sponge
designed by Anna Rabinowicz. In fact, there are a
lot of gift products with the appearance of another
well-known object and it is difficult to guess what
it is for or how to use it. The deceptive design
of such objects seems to lessen their iconcity.
Pretending can be also seen in typography, when
by applying fonts as metaphors it is possible to
make one believe that the publication comes from
another time; readers make connotations related
to past times and events. One may say about Las
Vegas, Nevada that a whole Las Vegas Strip is
a big pretender, with Paris, Venice, and ancient
Egypt recreated inside of it.
See Figure 4 for examples of pretenders.
whether pretenders as visual metaphors may
help us convey meaning efficiently. To design
an effective product, we have to send a message
with clarity, and precision, without embellish-
ment, ambiguity, unnecessary details, and other
non-functional characteristics. Visual metaphors
may help the designers to convey the essence of
a product. However, a series of questions comes
next:
Can pretenders support information visualiza-
tion aesthetics, usability, and efficiency?
Can pretenders ease our learning and reduce
the heavy cognitive load on working memory
by helping to break information into individual
blocks? Visual presentation of data with the use
of pretenders may possibly help to shift a part of
explaining from the abstract to the meaningful
parts that may be easier to learn and remember.
Thus, we may make a mental comparison of
something that is not easily understood to some-
thing visible. Understanding of abstract ideas can
be easier when difficult concepts are presented
through visual metaphors.
How can we use strong points of pretenders
when we create avatars and design their body
language and face expressions? Also, how can
we assess the aesthetics of such avatars and visual
Pretenders as a Cognitive Tool
We can see pretenders as a kind of metaphors,
which may support visual communication through
product design. Understanding of products and
processes can be easier when they are presented
through visual metaphors - a basic structure for
communicating a message. One may ponder
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