Metaphorical Thinking & Key-visual creativity in Pandemic Advertising

A picture is worth a thousand words, but the right metaphor is worthy of a thousand pictures. As pictures are the main design element in the advertising message, Whenever it comes to Advertising, “Creativity” is the most important aspect to be looked upon. That magical force is the foundation upon which the advertising business is built. Advertisers all over the world are continually working on eye-catching visual elements to implement to grab the attention and appeal to the largest audience possible.
In 2020, Covid19 pandemic has shocked the world, it led it to go through a phenomenal transmission, many countries in lockdown. Advertising messages across the world reoriented their messages, adapted their adverts to the concepts of staying home and keeping a social distance. The key-visual is the hero image among other design elements. Metaphorical thinking is a creative thinking technique using metaphors to create concepts & ideas . This paper attempts to explore& understand the skillful application of Metaphorical thinking techniques to create eye catching key visuals during the Covid 19 pandemic.
This paper discusses the concept of Key-visual & Metaphorical thinking and how could it be utilized as a creative approach in key-visual design. It looks closely at selected samples of the most inspiring creative adverts around the world, where key-visual designs were based on Metaphorical thinking creative techniques.
Finding that thinking with metaphors aid in solving design problems, crafting a successful visual metaphor is done through pinpointing two or more key traits behind an idea, then combine forms that symbolize these traits. Traits can be physical ,conceptual or through using just words.
Metaphors are not only literary strategies, but also strategies for thinking to solve design problems resourcefully. Thinking with metaphors creates unusual key visuals in the audience’s minds , they reshape and apprise common mental images of many issues. When we use well crafted key visuals using metaphorical thinking we can amplify the adverts impact on the target audience.

Keywords: Key- visual, Metaphorical Thinking, Pandemic Advertising, Covid-19