Definition:
The representation of a person, place, thing, or idea by way of a visual image that suggests a particular association or point of similarity. See also:
Examples and Observations:
- "Studies of visual metaphors used for rhetorical purposes generally concentrate on advertising. A familiar example is the technique of juxtaposing a picture of a sports car . . . with the image of a panther, suggesting that the product has comparable qualities of speed, power, and endurance. A variation on this common technique is to merge elements of the car and the wild animal, creating a composite image. . . ."
"In an ad for Canadian Furs, a female model wearing a fur coat is posed and made up in a way that is slightly suggestive of a wild animal. To leave little doubt as to the intended meaning of the visual metaphor (or simply to reinforce the message), the advertiser has superimposed the phrase 'get wild' over her image."
(Stuart Kaplan, "Visual Metaphors in Print Advertising for Fashion Products," in Handbook of Visual Communication, ed. by K. L. Smith. Routledge, 2005) - "[W]e have noticed a decrease in the amount of anchoring copy used in visual metaphor ads . . .. We theorize that, over time, advertisers have perceived that consumers are growing more competent in understanding and interpreting visual metaphor in ads."
(Barbara J. Phillips, "Understanding Visual Metaphor in Advertising," in Persuasive Imagery, ed. by L. M. Scott and R. Batra. Erlbaum, 2003) - "A visual metaphor is a device for encouraging insights, a tool to think with. . . .
"That is, with visual metaphors, the image-maker proposes food for thought without stating any determinate proposition. It is the task of the viewer to use the image for insight."
(Noël Carroll, "Visual Metaphor," in Beyond Aesthetics. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001)
Also Known As: pictorial metaphor, analogical juxtaposition
