Metonymy, Conceptual Metaphors, and Blending: Cohn Reading

For these three principles in the Cohn reading, I found that they are all based around the idea of human thought taking information and making inferences. Of the three principles, metonymy felt the most effective. Metonymy enlists representative objects to convey meaning in a visual way. It was interesting to see how Cohn breaks down each of the Chicago Tribune examples to show what type of inferences we can make just based on looking at the object. Conceptual metaphor and blending both felt like they needed deeper context in order to understand the visual representation that was being conveyed. I found that without reading Cohn’s explanations, I would have misunderstood some of the Tribune strips that used conceptual metaphor or blending.

This advertisement use the symbols of a shower and road to convey the general idea of a favorite listening spot for music. It also intertwines Spotify’s symbol into the icon. The series of advertisements take from various “spots” to show the breadth of activities where you can listen to Spotify music. It conveys the message that music is available anywhere.