Every year or so, I get so sick of a visual image, I cannot even see it anymore.

Recognizing Visual Clichés. I think it started the year a company I worked with "went global". Leadership insisted on sticking a globe on everything -- brochures, annual reports, PowerPoint slides, employee orientation videos, coffee cups -- everything.

For about 2 years, I could not face a map. I would not look at a magazine with a globe on it -- and there seemed to be dozens. Web sites? It was the late 90's, and the term "World Wide Web" became all the rage, so -- globes became visually omnipresent.

I had to avert my eyes to prevent myself from rolling them.

Today, I can look at representations of planet Earth. I remembered that I like globes, maps, and geography -- long before I was visually assaulted with them.

But I frequently develop and dismiss new visual peeves. Here is a current list of my top 9 visual clichés:

Light Bulb = Bright Idea
Handshakes = Partnerships
Chess Pieces = Strategy
Gears = Thinking
Handprint = Handmade
Fingerprint = Unique
Jigsaw Puzzles = Completion
iPod Silhouette = Trendy
Wooden Blocks = Simplicity

What are your pet visual peeves in 2007?

And which image metaphors are you banishing from your PowerPoint slides this year?

And which should go away permanently?

Labels: images

¶ 5/02/2007 03:15:00 PM