Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
TWO IMAGES OF
the same person, juxtaposed with two different headlines, create a double iden-
tity for the man as teacher and companion.
Cobra
Norway
Ever Metaphor?
In writing and speech, a metaphor is an expression—a word or
phrase—that refers to an unrelated idea, creating additional meaning. Images can be
used in much the same way: a designer may present an image that means something
else entirely, refers to a much broader concept, or combines concepts to evoke a third
concept that is not explicit in either of the combinants. A symbol is a simple example
(see page 171), but such “visual metaphors” may be very complex in their associations.
One option for creating a visual metaphor is to use an object to define the form of
something else—for example, laying out an invitation to a travel-themed fundraising
event to look like an airline ticket, using the type styles, colors, and other visual details
of such tickets as a source. Another option is to depict one thing behaving, pictorially,
like another—presenting products in an urban cosmetics brochure, for instance, con-
