MEANINGFUL GRAPHICS ARE A POWERFUL TOOL that aid in the understanding and memory of key concepts and ideas. Visual analogies that the reader can quickly identify with may not always be easy to fabricate, but when on-target, can be a lighting-strike for instant comprehension and meaning.

A visual simile is a comparison between two unlike things, that share some attribute or feature. A classic example of a verbal simile is "Like ancient trees, we die from the top". (Gore Vidal). Perhaps the most well known contemporary visual simile is that of the computer "mouse" so-named because of its a "mouse like" shape. 

A metonymy is when something that represents a particular characteristic of an object is used to stand for the whole object. Parallel wavy lines are often used to depict water. The Eiffel Tower is often used to stand for Paris. 

The antithesis visual is "opposite" and emphasizes the contrast between the two things. The happy mask that represents a comedy as opposed to the handgun that is used to represent a murder mystery. 

Hyperbole is a literary exaggeration or overstatement. The use of a symbol of an ignited bomb by Apple to indicate a unplanned computer shutdown is a contemporary example. The racing snails also

This is essentially a visual depicting a softened form of a potentially shocking or disturbing content. A skull and crossbones is a visual euphemism for a poison potion. 

A visual personification gives human characteristics to non-human or inanimate objects. Television commercials sometimes personify sponsors products, such as a talking, singing or dancing cereal or washing powder box. Perhaps the most recognized image on earth is that of the personified mouse shown below. 

Visual analogies are powerful communication aids that when used appropriately can convey a message in one instant, that could take paragraphs of prose, or more, to approximate a equally stimulating thought or feeling. Use them judicially, but consider their use where a picture (graphic) literally is "worth a thousand words"!

Rakes, G.C.(1999). Teaching visual literacy in a multimedia age. TechTrends, September, Vol.43, No.4,pp.14-18. 

Metaphoric Thinking. http://www.design.iastate.edu/ART/NAB/MTeach.html

Visual Anal. http://www.soe.purdue.edu/~lehman/edci591z/technique/tsld002.htm

Contributor: Wayne J Sander