Visual Language
Metaphor
1. Family
tree literally means our family history.
2. A
political cartoon from an 1894 Puck magazine by illustrator S.D. Ehrhart, shows
a farm woman labeled "Democratic Party" sheltering from a tornado of
political change.
3. World
Wide Web literally means "myriad dimensional net".
4. Iconic
Metaphor where icons visually represent a subject.
Symbol
1. The
apple on the cover of Twilight represents “forbidden fruit.” Isn’t this exactly
what Bella ends up with?
1. Black
is used to represent death or evil.
2. Roses
stand for romance.
3. Venus
is a symbol of love, affection, art, beauty, esthetics, and pleasure.
Sign
1. General
danger.
2. Emergency
exit/ Escape route.
3. Fire
extinguisher.
4. This
shape is used exclusively for railroad advance warnings and civil defense
evacuation route markers. The most common use in California is for railroad
advance warning. A driver should be able to immediately recognize that a sign
in the shape of a circle is means there is a railroad crossing ahead.
Icon
1. Charlie
Chaplin was a cultural icon in the early 20th Century. Chaplin was very
accomplished. He starred in 80 films, was awarded an Oscar in 1973 and knighted
in 1975 two years before his death. He was known for silent films, wearing a
bowler hat, trademark moustache, and out-turned feet.
2. Leonardo
di ser Piero da Vinci pronunciation was an Italian Renaissance polymath:
painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer,
inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer. He is
widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps
the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.
3. I
Love New York is both a logo and a song that are the basis of an advertising
campaign and have been used since the mid-1970s to promote tourism in New York
City, and later to promote New York State as well. This campaign brings that icon
to life in order to highlight all of the things people love about New York.
4. The
Eiffel Tower is an 1889 iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in
Paris that has become both a global icon of France and one of the most
recognizable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest
building in Paris, is the single most visited paid monument in the world;
millions of people ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer
Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's
Fair.
Simile
1. This
car is compared to a frog, car like a frog.
2. There
is a comparison between a dog and other things.
3. Not
only does the round shape of the golf ball reflect that of the moon, the little
dips look like craters! A great visual simile.
4. The
car’s headlights make it look like a big nerd with glasses. Yet another example
of the use of subtlety in wit.
Motif
1. Different
elements of the pattern repeat many times which actually is a motif of the
design.
2. Crescent
is a motif in many Islamic designs.
3. Aureole is a motif in Christian
iconography.
4. Scrollwork
is a motif in Baroque Architecture.
Irony
1. A
"No smoking" sign surrounded by images of a smoking Sherlock Holmes
at Baker Street tube station.
2. A
school of safe driving as we can see is not as safe as it states on its
signboard.
3. It
is not possible birds not to be allowed.
4. The
irony here is the no smoking sign upon the ashtray which actually encourages
people to smoke.
Satire
Polish illustrator Pawel Kuczynski
cleverly uses satire to portray today’s social, political and cultural reality.
At first sight, his illustrations might seem funny, but when you look closer,
they actually show some serious problems of today’s world.
1. Pawel
Kuczynski illustrates the problem of economic inequality, also known as the gap
between rich and poor.
2. Due
to global warming the live of penguins is threatened.
3. All
we have a particular time to live.
4. Here
politicians’ words are illustrated as a dirt metaphor of politician lies and promises.
Juxtaposition
1. Two
people, similar poses, different lives.
2. Old
and new. Light and dark. Straight lines and curves.
3. Juxtaposition
of the old (the holder) with the new (the light bulb)…taken at an historic
building in Mahoning County in northeast Ohio.
4. Good
city and bad suburbs.
Anthropomorphism
1. Anthropomorphic
character design in animation. The symbolic use of the animal to portray
personality.
2. Michelangelo's
painting of God in the Sistine Chapel is a well-known example of
anthropomorphism in religion.
3. In
this illustration by Milo Winter of the Aesop's fable, The North Wind and the
Sun, an anthropomorphic North Wind tries to strip a traveler of his cloak.
4. Anthropomorphic
car (human characteristics are transferred to the car).
Kitsch
1. Kitsch
interior design essence is that it is based on the traditions of antiquity. Screaming
vulgarities, the rejection of the rules – all kitsch interior design.
2. "The
Widow", kitsch example of late 19th century popular lithograph of a
humorous painting by Frederick Dielman. Deliberate use of cheap mass-produced
objects that are unoriginal.
3. Deliberate
use of cheap mass-produced objects that are unoriginal.
4. Retro
Kitsch-kitchen wall-hanging canvas.
Cliché
1. Movie
poster cliché-big heads in the sky over tiny people on a beach.
2. Movie
poster cliché-back to back.
3. Logo
cliché-reflection.
4. Logo
cliché-pixel Blanket that is often used by businesses involved in the
Information Technology sector, web designers or developers.
Parody
4. This
ironic imitation of logo wants to bold how unhealthy McDonald’s food.
Pastiche
1. Example
from the Simpsons which openly imitates a scene from the film Silence of the
Lambs.
2. The
Star Wars series of films by George Lucas is often considered to be a pastiche
of traditional science fiction television serials (or radio shows).
3. Another
example is a 1979 recording by Ray Stevens titled "I Need Your Help, Barry
Manilow" where the song's intro is reminiscent of Manilow's hit, "I
Write the Songs" and the vocal performance, melody, and name-dropping of
Manilow song titles is a pastiche of Barry Manilow.
4. This
gig poster uses retro typography to promote a contemporary band, and displays
just how up to date and clean vintage typography can be when applied to a
modern concept. Far from making the band appear to be a throwback or pastiche,
the simple and iconic design technique is the last word in 21st century cool.
Literal
1. The
immense Andromeda galaxy, also known as Messier 31 or simply M31, is captured
in full in this new image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or
WISE.
2. Amazon
river.
3. Egypt
pyramids.
4. Falling
star.
Abstract
1. This
digital abstract work can be thought of as the metaphysical representation of
the Big Bang. It does not attempt to represent reality.
3. Abstract
painting Composition VII by Wassily Kandinsky. It does not attempt to represent
reality.
4. This
interior design is appealing in the same way abstract art is.
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