What is a visual metaphor and examples

A visual metaphor allows you to express feelings, emotions, moods, concepts or passions without the need to use words. For example, it is very likely that you have ever come across a doll with a light bulb on its head and you have not had any doubt about what it meant.

In this lesson from a PROFESSOR we want to explain in more detail what is a visual metaphor and how they can be used to express ideas to readers. In addition, we are going to give you some clear examples that will allow you to better understand this concept.

To correctly understand what a visual metaphor is, you first have to understand what is a metaphor of language. A metaphor is a Figure of speech that transfers the meaning of one word to another, establishing a relationship of semblance between both terms. This concept is used a lot in poetry and consists of replace one word with another, since their meaning is related.

• For example: "The time is gold". In this example we can see how time is compared to gold because they share the characteristic that both are very valuable. The literal sentence in this example would be "time is precious."
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So what is a visual metaphor? This is another type of substitution that allows us to display a message through an image. These images are usually stereotypes, that is, if the visual metaphor is a light bulb, continuing with the previous example, this it will not be realistic, but rather it will be a single line drawing that makes us understand what the image refers to.

• For example: If you want to indicate that there is a restaurant at the next exit off the road, you can draw the outline of a fork, spoon and knife. These drawings will not look like reality, but will be stereotyped and simple images that refer to a concept, so that everyone can understand it.

In conclusion, a visual metaphor is a creative representation of a concept, idea, person, place or thing through a simple imageso that it is easy to understand.

To learn more about metaphors, we recommend you read these other lessons about metaphors. Metaphor - Meaning and Examples and the types of metaphors.

If you stop to think a little, surely hundreds of examples of visual metaphors come to mind, since they are very common in society and are used on a daily basis. We are going to give you some clear examples, so that you can understand how these visual metaphors are formed and realize that we are surrounded by them wherever we go:

• When on the sign of an establishment we see the drawing of an ice cream, means that we are facing an ice cream shop.
• When we are reading a comic and the character's speech bubble only shows symbols ofexclamation mark and small explosions means that it is So angry.
• If we see the shape of a shoe down the street is that we are close to a shoe store.
• When, in cartoons, a character turns on a light bulb above her head, is that she has had an idea.
• When a friend sends us an emoji on WhatsApp from a smiling doll, we know that is happy.
• when we see a red or green cross illuminated by the street, we know how close it is the pharmacy or the health center.
• If someone sends you a note with a heart drawn, you will know that person appreciates you or loves you.

It's time to put into practice the theory you've learned so far about visual metaphors. we'll put some on you everyday symbols that you can meet daily and you will have to identify the meaning that they can have.

1. When you are driving and you come across a red octagonal sign with the word STOP written in the center in white.
2. When you are in a restaurant and you see two closed doors and in the center of each one there is a small sign with drawings of a man and a woman.
3. When you are in a shopping center and you find a drawing with 4 people inside a box.
4. When you are on the subway and you see the symbol of a person going up an escalator, with an arrow pointing to the right.

In this section you will find the solutions to the previous exercise, but refer to them only after you have tried to find the answers yourself.

1. You must stop the vehicle.
2. They are the restrooms of the restaurant.
3. It's the direction where the elevators are.
4. The escalators are on the right.

We hope this lesson has helped you understand what is a visual metaphor and how you can use it to communicate with your readers. If you are interested in continuing to learn more about this topic or something similar, do not hesitate to consult our section on literary concepts.

You may also be interested in learning more about What are rhetorical figures with this other lesson.