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Connotations and Context

Connotations are the mental connections between the abstract and the tangible. Every message can have at least two meaningsa literal one and a suggestive one. The ability to make associations on both a conscious and unconscious level is a remarkable phenomenon in the human imagination. We have both emotional and environmental thoughts about what we see. We don't just "think" about things; we feel and remember them as well.

Psychologist and philosopher William James once said, "Whilst part of what we perceive comes through our senses from the object before us, another part (and it may be the larger part) always comes from our own mind."

Words and images with similar meanings can evoke responses that are quite different. For example, consider the words fat and plump. Words like plump feel jolly when applied to people, or juicy and ripe when applied to food. Fat, on the other hand, can feel much more negative, even though its definition is quite similar to that of plump.

Just like words, visual images have different connotations. Generally speaking, when something is left to the imagination it has more impact than when all the details are made evident. This also makes your audience feel more intelligent and flattered. So rather than spell things out entirely, we rely on connotation. Things seem more "fun," "healthy," "masculine," "feminine," "young," or "old" not because of what they intrinsically are but because of how they are presented.

Because the human mind is an association machinethat is, we link new information with familiar knowledgecertain concepts can be represented or suggested by other elements. This effect is often more subconscious than consciousit's known as associative recall, which is closely tied into the working of memory. Thinking one thing gets a person thinking related thoughts. If those related thoughts are positive, that's good news for your product.