A Study of the Relationship Between Image Schema and Visual Identity Design

Abstract

In today’s digital age, consumers are inundated with an overwhelming amount of brand information. Effective visual identity design that can convey a brand’s value and information to its audience and promote interaction between consumers and the brand is crucial. Image schema in cognitive psychology are a type of analogical or metaphorical thinking pattern that can help people understand complex concepts and information, making them valuable for design research. This article aims to explore the relationship between image schema and visual identity design, with the goal of opening up new directions for research in the field. The paper argues that by understanding the image schema that support people’s perceptions of the world and incorporating them into visual identity design, designers can create visual metaphors that resonate with people’s underlying cognitive frameworks, resulting in more attractive and memorable brand identities. To verify this viewpoint, test experiments were conducted in this study. The test results have shown that, compared with designs that do not conform to the image schema theory, designs that conform to this theory are more effective in conveying information to consumers. This proves that using image schema in visual identity design can convey certain abstract information and have a positive effect on attracting audiences. © 2024, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.