One of the ways I use images in learning experiences is with visual metaphors. When I develop training on abstract concepts, concrete images often don’t make sense. Symbolic images can be more effective than literal images in those situations. However, stock images tend to reuse the same symbols and visual metaphors over and over until they become tired and less effective. You know the ones: images of hands in different colors joined in a circle for diversity, someone climbing a mountain for overcoming adversity, a light bulb over a person with one finger raised to show an idea, etc.
One way I’m using AI to improve the quality of what I produce is by generating unique visual metaphors to represent abstract concepts. These images can support the concepts and perhaps even make people make different mental connections with the content.
Replacing a stock image with an AI-generated visual metaphor
One visual metaphor I used on my blog related to the concept of character challenges and overcoming adversity.
In my previous blog header, I used a stock image of someone climbing a tall staircase. At least it wasn’t an image of climbing a mountain or jumping over a gap between two big rocks! It’s still pretty boring though. It looks very obviously like a stock photo.
When I recently updated that blog post on character challenges, I updated the header image too. This time, I generated an image in Midjourney with a flower growing out of a desert landscape. This is still a recognizable metaphor, but it’s not quite as common. Plus, this is a unique image, generated just for that blog post. It doesn’t look the same as every other stock image.
Showing a process with visual metaphors
For one of my projects last year, I created a short activity related to a problem-solving process. The activity was aimed at elementary school students, so I wanted colorful images that would resonate with a younger audience.
The process has 4 steps (paraphrased and adapted from my client’s actual content):
Identify the problem.Think about your options and what you could do.Pick one of the options.Reflect and think about what happened.
I had an idea of doing something new with that overdone visual metaphor of jumping over a cliff between two mountains. What if it was a tiny figure or doll jumping between a gap between two tall towers of blocks?
What I ended up didn’t quite match my mental image, but I still liked the output. In this case, the image for “identify the problem” is a tiny figure on the ground between a gap of two towers of blocks.
Then, I generated an image of several objects that could be used to close that gap: more blocks, twine, a chain, etc. These are my metaphor for brainstorming possible solutions.
In my metaphor for picking a solution, I showed a child’s hand holding a red wooden block. (This image met my need at the time, and it worked fine at a smaller scale in the context of the learning activity. But in the full-scale image, you can see the flaws in the physics where the block sits on the hand. Given the improvements in AI image generation in the past year, I could probably create something better now.)
Finally, I showed the tiny wooden figure on top of a bridge between the two towers of blocks as a visual metaphor for reflecting on the solution.
While the images have flaws, I was able to use Midjourney to generate this series of images for a unique visual metaphor. These images have a similar look and feel with the rainbow-hued wooden cubes and shallow depth of field.
I could have spent hours searching stock image libraries for a series of images to depict this very specific process. And frankly, I’m not sure I would have been able to find four images in a similar style for these specific ideas, no matter how long I searched. I probably would have had to settle for maybe one or two photos showing part of the process.
This is one example of why I use AI image generation: it lets me do things that weren’t possible previously. This isn’t just about saving time. (Honestly, sometimes I spend quite a bit of time and multiple attempts to generate images.) AI image generation also lets me improve the quality of what I create with better quality, specific images.
Generating ideas for visual metaphors
I sometimes try simply prompting for a visual metaphor without specifying what I want. For example, this is some results for a “visual metaphor for problem solving.” Typically, I find that I can’t use any of those images as-is, but sometimes they help spark an idea that I can refine with further prompts.
I use LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude to help me brainstorm ideas for those visuals.
What are some creative visual metaphors for overcoming challenges? I don’t want to do the same stereotypical mountain climbing. Give me a minimum of 5 different options.
Here’s the list of metaphor ideas Claude generated.
Untangling HeadphonesA Seed Breaking Through ConcreteRestoring an Old PaintingPaper Boat Navigating Rain GuttersSolving a Rubik’s CubeGlass Kintsugi (Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold)
For brainstorming with AI, I often use it to generate ideas like this, even if I don’t use any of those ideas exactly. It helps me spark other ideas or make connections I hadn’t considered.
I use similar prompts to brainstorm ideas for icons and other symbolic illustrations. Sometimes it’s so tricky to come up with a way to visually depict a concept in a simple way, and AI helps with that.
I also find that generating these symbolic images takes more time and iteration than generating more straightforward, concrete images. It often takes me multiple attempts to refine my prompt. Sometimes, I end up switching to a different concept entirely because I can’t quite generate what I want (or I can’t figure out how to describe it so the tool can understand it).
What challenges do you face in AI image generation?
If you’ve tried generating AI images, what challenges have you run into? What questions would you like me to answer in future blog posts?
The idea for this post came from a question someone asked me about depicting abstract concepts. I’d love to hear your about your questions and challenges too! Let me know in the comments.
