Images

Images and graphics are very useful but can be misinterpreted easily.

For example, emphasizing gender, age, color, economic wealth or religion in graphics can distract certain viewers and ultimately upset them. Body parts can arouse negative feelings. For example, an eye can be used to describe search functionalities; but some cultures can interpret it as evil. Ears can sometimes symbolize gossip.

Animals can symbolize different things. For example, an owl is wise in most of the cultures but in Southeast Asia it symbolizes stupidity and brutality.

Colors

Colors are not only used to make documents more attractive but also as a signal. Colors are often related to emotions, feelings and effects. Red is a color used to warn people, but there is not such a thing as a general interpretation of a color. In some cultures black clothes are worn at funerals to represent mourning, yet in other cultures white clothes are worn to represent mourning.