Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5. A misleader - a wooden toy designed
according to old depictions of a Trojan horse
(© 2012, photographed by A. Ursyn. Used with
permission)
metaphors they carry in terms of communication
efficiency and usability.
Misleaders
With respect to all these deceptions, apart from
pretenders we may think about some products as
misleaders - objects designed to look like one thing
while they are serving quite another purpose, and
giving the appearance different from the true one.
Misleaders are things that look like something else,
for example, you may think it's a topic but it is a
CD cover. Some souvenir products lack the product
semantics, as they have an appearance of another
well-known object as a disguise; it prevents the
viewer from understanding what it is for or how
to use it. For example, candles that are made in a
shape of fruits or toys, and therefore do not look
like candles, are misleaders.
The most dramatic example of a misleader
comes from the Bronze Age, when a huge figure
of a wooden horse, with a force of men hidden
inside, allowed the Greeks to enter the city of
Troy (Figure 5). After the Greeks pretended to
sail away, the Trojans pulled the wooden horse
into their city as a gift and a victory trophy. Then
the hidden troop opened the gates of the city for
the Greek army.
Many times one material pretends to be an-
other, for example, traditionally designed laces
threaded in a web-like pattern are actually made
of a synthetic material, not even knitted with
thread but polymerized as a whole. A 'crystal'
vase is often made of plexiglas. A countertop in
a kitchen may be made of another plastic mate-
rial that pretends to look like marble. It's often a
diversion of the case when the same object has
been made of different materials to improve its
functionality, such as a bucket made of wood,
metal, and then plastic.
See Figures 6 through 8 for more examples
of misleaders.
Figure 6. Misleaders: (a) this character pretends to be someone else and hides that he is just a tool: a
bottle opener; (b) this box misleads us, as it pretends to be a Wii controller. In fact, it contains a chewing
gum. (© 2012, photographed by A. Ursyn. Used with permission)
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