As consumers, we like to think we choose products based on what we can see, hear, feel, taste and touch about them. Is this a good hamburger? Let’s taste it. Is this a good car? Let’s drive it. In other words, we make our judgments via tangible distinctions. But the reality of the situation—and we know this as designers—is that there’s a lot more to the equation than just our five senses. There are the subconscious elements, the deeper meanings, the other intangible benefits that products offer, which factor into the formula and influence our decisions to buy or not to buy.
For instance, even though that car can be seen and felt and driven, there are other aspects that determine how we relate to the vehicle, such as feelings of power or freedom or security. Even though they aren’t part of the actual structure of the car, they’re still part of what draws us to the vehicle, so they ought to be part of how the automaker markets and sells it.
And that’s where metaphor comes into play. Whether you’re designing a brochure for an insurance company or you’re creating packaging for a new product, you can use a metaphor to give the product new life and meaning. As marketing professor Theodore Levitt notes, “Metaphors and similes become surrogates for the tangibility that cannot be provided or experienced in advance.”
- See more at: http://www.howdesign.com/articles/metaphor/#sthash.aAp68h69.dpuf