Objects of Design Metaphor

A design enthusiast highlighted the creative use of visual metaphors, such as a butterfly combined with a jumper, and called on AI researchers to develop evaluations for symbolic thinking in the visual domain. The post cited the old MacBook's sleeping indicator LED, which faded in and out at a human-like heart rate, as a beautiful example of a design metaphor that added emotional depth without driving sales.

Objects of Design Metaphor May 28, 2026 I love this sort of stuff. To me it’s a very creative thing, sort of like a design metaphor. You have two distinct objects - butterfly and jumper - and then some expression of one in terms of another, which just fits. Dear AI researchers - please make an eval for this. Why can’t an AI think symbolically in the visual domain? maybe using something like DreamCoder https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.08381 ? The one example I can think of why this is interesting - the old Macbook genuinely used to breathe . It had a sleeping indicator LED that faded in and out at a rate similar to the human heartrate. A beautiful design metaphor. Just a little detail that wouldn’t sell anything https://unsung.aresluna.org/just-a-little-detail-that-wouldnt-sell-anything/ . Back to blog /blog/