Magic and Meaning with Metaphors | Master Snack Talk
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Transcript
00:00:00 Lindsey
All right well hi all! Today I want to talk to you a little bit about metaphors and why they are magical beyond just a fun convention and something that we can really use to leverage and imbue meaning in our work.
00:00:15 Lindsey
So, metaphors are something that we use so commonly that
00:00:21 Lindsey
we probably don't even realize how complex or layered many of them really are, but metaphors serve as a way to paint a picture or give a frame of reference or map out the sort of parameters of an engagement.
00:00:37 Lindsey
...uhm, if you will,
00:00:40 Lindsey
it is,
00:00:41 Lindsey
defining how [the parameters of]
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...this we are interacting with...
00:00:48 Lindsey
Something through the lens of something else -- so,
00:00:53 Lindsey
This is an example of how in design we are constantly facing this inverse...
00:01:01 Lindsey
Flow of the physical world and our products and how do we talk about them?
00:01:05 Lindsey
Because largely they are abstract, not real things, so I'm going to take it back a notch.
00:01:11 Lindsey
Just a metaphors all the time.
00:01:14 Lindsey
We see them one easy.
00:01:17 Lindsey
Quick way is visual metaphors or metonymy.
00:01:19 Lindsey
We see this in Icon design logo design.
00:01:23 Lindsey
Uhm, but we have.
00:01:26 Lindsey
A lot more potential to be able to.
00:01:30 Lindsey
Really brought in that concept out by.
00:01:36 Lindsey
Painting that picture a little bit more broadly, so science also uses metaphors constantly to describe really complex.
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Really complex ideas like DNA or the blueprint of life if you will.
00:01:55 Lindsey
Uhm, and they go beyond just establishing how one thing is like another, but they truly start to define or map.
00:02:04 Lindsey
One thing that we know, so in this case maybe DNA or our concept to an abstract thing, which is what we are producing, where my brain immediately went for this was perhaps the atomic design metaphor needs to be revisited because in design systems.
00:02:22 Lindsey
Especially in common spirit, for example.
00:02:24 Lindsey
Uhm, sort of having this pretty illustrative metaphor didn't really make a lot of sense for us.
00:02:31 Lindsey
Because it was going to be servicing lots of different manifestations of the brand, so I came across this.
00:02:41 Lindsey
Great alignment of science and design.
00:02:45 Lindsey
In the context of this, that sort of brought me.
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To OK.
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Design tokens, which was really the metaphor we were using in the common spirit.
00:02:55 Lindsey
Uh, design system work, which was basically this item, is this so this primary color this orange is.
00:03:05 Lindsey
This DNA element this GHTC.
00:03:11 Lindsey
Hey, uhm.
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Layer that.
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Can be the first instance or inkling into meaning in our system.
00:03:20 Lindsey
Uh, we tied these really core fundamental elements to the brand presentation.
00:03:27 Lindsey
So where we weren't really afforded a lot of other space to have any sort of visual earrings.
00:03:33 Lindsey
If you will so.
00:03:36 Lindsey
Moving forward, what is a metaphor?
00:03:38 Lindsey
It is the comparison of two things and I'm going to get into some details about actually mapping them.
00:03:44 Lindsey
So we have our source.
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And our target or our tenor and our vehicle.
00:03:51 Lindsey
Let's say for example we and and this is just sort.
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Of to get as a.
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Uh, generate ideas into how we actually compare things and really break that down so.
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Let's compare these two things.
00:04:07 Lindsey
We have a hot dog and then we have a dachshund.
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I didn't actually know this.
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But the hot dog is some sort of bastardization of dachshund sausage, so they have a lot of similarities or common ground between them, so they have similar shape.
00:04:25 Lindsey
And so on and so forth.
00:04:27 Lindsey
But they also have tension.
00:04:28 Lindsey
There's something very different about them.
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What is a food product and one is an animal
00:04:33 Lindsey
Uhm, so often this juxtaposition is that sweet spot in where we can really leverage and extend our metaphors out into be something more meaningful.
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Or carrying a concept through from a very small element out into something larger.
00:04:51 Lindsey
A quick visual.
00:04:53 Lindsey
Example of that one I have done early on in all kinds of design projects is visual juxtaposition.
00:04:59 Lindsey
So something like a brand principle and or images.
00:05:03 Lindsey
So maybe you have a moodboard.
00:05:04 Lindsey
Maybe there is imagery that comes from their logo.
00:05:09 Lindsey
Like leaves and growth.
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All were a client that really wanted to go with this strong visual metaphor, so, uhm.
00:05:19 Lindsey
We're starting with our reference point.
00:05:21 Lindsey
A great example of this sort of blowing out a metaphor from something small into something large is material design.
00:05:30 Lindsey
Using something physical, something we all have intimate knowledge of to explain, a really complex system that's actually meant to be used by people outside of Google, right?
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Like they have.
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People that depend on their product so that metaphor really has to be something that is broad and can be.
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Can define terms around you know what is possible and.
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What is not?
00:05:58 Lindsey
So here's some sort of starters for you know how to evaluate your concepts.
00:06:03 Lindsey
If you are struggling through a few and want to know which one has more legs, how deep, how much related imagery are they provocative or is it something straightforward?
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And uhm, the legs being specifically like how layered is this concept.
00:06:20 Lindsey
So continuing on with exploring material design, something I think many visual UI people who use the Internet might be familiar with.
00:06:30 Lindsey
UHM, uses actual physical properties to define how elements in this UI system work together.
00:06:39 Lindsey
Uh, beyond that they go further into this metaphor.
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Uh, by defining attributes and things that you can and cannot do, elements who might see in like a style guide, or.
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Even atone.
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A document is taking these attributes and further extending that metaphor and putting parameters on it, so they specifically call out things like.
00:07:02 Lindsey
Solid objects, paper and ink physical services and that material does not behave like gas, so it it by giving us context, knowing that things can't flow through one another because we're dealing with solids gives the both builders and audience some sort of frame of reference for what should happen.
00:07:23 Lindsey
And does it actually work?
00:07:28 Lindsey
So, uhm.
00:07:30 Lindsey
This is just sort of a great summary quote about how metaphor can really help us identify, leverage and map all of these different elements of apply some meaning to them.
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Here's a quick exercise.
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Just sort of proved out how we had gone through.
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We had multiple concepts, had to provide a metaphor statement which gave us a lot of fodder too.
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Illustrate a broader depth of OK, So what elements of this dimension are going to be important?
00:08:05 Lindsey
Uhm, shadow elevation things overlapping and prominence on the page were all.
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Attributes defined by the dimensionality for how complex an idea was in order to help make design decisions throughout the process.
00:08:21 Lindsey
So, uhm, that's a whole lot of.
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Stuff, but really draw inspiration from what you have.
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You want to listen to your users, your customer, do a little bit of.
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Research into the brand guidelines why they have the colors and logos and Marks and things within their environment.
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Uh, before going into?
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You know two off the rails.
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Try to find elements that compliment one another and have a a great.
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Depth for you to a plane.
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Explore in.
00:09:01 Lindsey
Do I have any questions?
00:09:13 Lindsey
Are people typing things and I'm not seeing it.
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I don't have things in the chat.
00:09:17 Speaker 1
Had one question.
00:09:19 Speaker 1
Yeah I have got you.
00:09:23 Speaker 1
Uh, on your experience I I'm not this.
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Have happened to you, but.
00:09:29 Speaker 1
What are your thoughts on if you have assets or maybe like a brand guide for your client but you don't really relate it to that meaning that maybe the brand the brand book is not updated or maybe.
00:09:51 Speaker 1
Yeah, what I'm trying to say that if you find some things that are in need for improvement, what are your thoughts on that?
00:10:00 Speaker 1
What what should we do?
00:10:04 Lindsey
Uhm, and I'm gonna wager a guess that maybe one of those things that might need improvement or things that are, say, like accessibility standards and their colors don't meet it or something.
00:10:15 Lindsey
Which is a super common scenario we run into.
00:10:20 Lindsey
Or at least that I've run into.
00:10:22 Lindsey
Uhm, by being able to sort of point back to what the overarching goal of the metaphor that story line is, you can get a little bit more buy in and have a little bit more internal wayfinding.
00:10:36 Lindsey
Now, is this the right call?
00:10:38 Lindsey
Because generally there's something about wanting users to actually be able to use your product and engage with it in a positive way as part of the aspiration or the goal.
00:10:51 Lindsey
Uhm, so I would find ways to.
00:10:56 Lindsey
Utilize the new concept if you will too.
00:11:01 Lindsey
Work out some of those kinks if at all possible.
00:11:04 Lindsey
Do you have an example?
00:11:08 Speaker 1
Well, not, not not, not right now.
00:11:11 Lindsey
OK.
00:11:11 Speaker 1
Maybe this is.
00:11:11 Speaker 1
This is usually you find these type of things with the small companies like they didn't get enough research or uhm, it they didn't go through the entire process of the this of the sign but.
00:11:28 Speaker 1
Well, that's something to think about where we don't have the.
00:11:33 Speaker 1
Yeah, but I don't want to say the correct information, but the information that we are not interested in entirely, I agree with that.
00:11:45 Speaker 1
But yeah, thanks anything.
00:11:48
Thank you.
00:11:53 Lindsey
I had one other quick, sorry.
00:11:55 Lindsey
I have several other slides, but it's 'cause I put way too many things.
00:11:58 Lindsey
In here, whoops.
00:12:00 Lindsey
Where's my screen go?
00:12:03
We're seeing your document in a non presentation mode.
00:12:06 Lindsey
Other teams that like hid my everything from me.
00:12:11 Lindsey
But uh, really.
00:12:13 Lindsey
So here might be a way to sort of backtrack and work in metaphors into some decision making.
00:12:19 Lindsey
Uhm, if things aren't quite going awry, so paying some attention to whether their semantic messaging or concept or metaphor have broken down.
00:12:29 Lindsey
Uhm, so like the EpiPen is a great example of this.
00:12:33 Lindsey
It's something physical but I'm sure I'm not even sure what the digital implications for broken metaphors are.
00:12:39 Lindsey
If they've even been identified, but the EpiPen not like a typical pen, though it takes a lot of the qualities the visual qualities.
00:12:49 Lindsey
Penn UM and because of this there were like 15,000 unintentional injections over just over 10 years and that is just they did things like add labels and try to put bandaids and stopgaps to remedy this. But at some point.
00:13:09 Lindsey
You just have to just toss it out and maybe start with something that isn't built off of a broken metaphor to start with.
00:13:22
Cool example.
