language as a model for graphic design

language as a model for graphic design - metaphor

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A metaphor (met´-uh-for) also compares or points out resemblance, but does so by substitution. In language, it states that one thing is something else. It is a comparison, but it does not use "like" or "as" to make the comparison. A metaphor establishes a relationship at once; it leaves more to the imagination. It is a shortcut to the meaning; it sets two unlike things side by side and makes us see the likeness between them. "A ship moves through the ocean like a plow through the field" is a simile. "The ship plows the sea" is a metaphor. Here are some more:

The bar of soap was a slippery eel during the dog’s bath.
My pillow is a cloud when I put my head on it after a long day.
No one invites Harold to parties because he’s a wet blanket

In this book jacket for William Faulkner's Light in August, the shade pull becomes a metaphor for a noose and, by extension, death. This design works on two levels of understanding. The rain-splashed detail of a window in late afternoon creates a pervading resonance and mood, and the noose-like form signifies impending doom.

NEXT – personification & anthropomorphism