Using Images as Metaphors for Creative Thinking

Metaphors are one of the most useful tools in creative thinking. Figures of speech, they are useful to compare different things. However, metaphors can also be used as a visual thinking tool as well.

Consider the words of Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind, who said:

While a picture might be worth a thousand words, a metaphor is worth a thousand pictures.

In other words, don’t restrict yourself to words when creating metaphors. Some of the most interesting examples I’ve created used pictures, diagrams, cartoons, icons and crude stick drawings to make a problem comprehensible. You can make visual imagery even more powerful by combining it with words through storytelling.

Visual Metaphors for Creative Thinking

Start with the first two steps of brainstorming with metaphors. The original post is here: .

1.  State the problem facing you right now.

Simplify your problem into one simple, single sentence using plain English.

2.  Paraphrase the problem statement by re-stating it as a metaphor.

The easiest way to do this is to complete this sentence. This problem is like (fill in the blank).

3.  Gather many random images to create visual metaphors.

• Gather a big stack of random pictures from old magazines, catalogues and newspapers. I’m also a big fan of postcards I pick up in coffee shops.
• Add visuals from Google Images, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr or similar. (Use up to ten different search terms to find a wide variety of images.)
• I’ve ent people out with their mobile/cell phones to snap their own images, printing pictures on an office printer to bring to the brainstorm.
• Check out this article on more ideas using visual images:  .

4.  Bring the visuals together.

• Arrange the images on a big wall or table to organise them into groups or categories.
• Move the images around to find patterns or associations.
• Create , story boards, collages or mosaics.
• Look for similarities: how can a solution to an unrelated situation be adapted to solve your problem?
• If you really want ‘out-of-box’ thinking, look to completely different industries or categories to ‘steal’ potential ideas.

You may need to use force fitting to create ideas. For additional help, look to .

5.  Stand back from the images and reflect on the original challenge or problem.

• How has the problem or challenge changed?
• What solutions are similar to my problem?
• What do these images remind me of?
• What new aspects or elements are revealed?
• Is there a new consistent theme or attribute from the visuals?
• What’s the learning? How can we apply it to our original problem or challenge?

How have you used visual thinking such as metaphors to stimulate creative thinking?  Please add your thoughts and comments below.