Visuals that come to mind?

July 27, 2015 11:00 PM

I am trying to create symbols and images that children can associate with certain words. Can you help me come up with all the visuals that come to mind for the words "advisor" and "luxury" (these are the two that I am stuck on because of how complex and non-accessible for children they can be)?
posted by omar.a to Writing & Language (19 answers total)

luxury - white fluffy slippers, piles of money, yachts, silk garments, jewels, mansions (ideally with pools)

advisor - a fairly serious looking person holding a notepad and looking at it thoughtfully, a teacher/mentor-like person sitting beside a student/younger person and directing the student's attention to something
posted by vegartanipla at 11:25 PM on July 27, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: for "advisor", I got magnifying glass, eyeglasses, pen and notebook, ...
It doesn't have to depict an advisor-like figure as much as show everything that is related to what an advisor does. I don't know if that makes sense...
posted by omar.a at 11:34 PM on July 27, 2015

A Noun Project search reveals...

advisor

luxury
posted by brappi at 11:37 PM on July 27, 2015 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Nice. But advisor is more geared towards the financial unfortunately..
posted by omar.a at 11:39 PM on July 27, 2015

Try playing with a few other related search terms on that site. Perhaps "advise" or "mentor", etc.
posted by brappi at 11:44 PM on July 27, 2015

Luxury: a castle
Adviser: a desk. Books. A filing cabinet. A group of people standing around an important-looking one. Literally whispering in their ear. Ooh what about the angel and devil on the shoulders trope from cartoons?
posted by lollusc at 12:35 AM on July 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

Luxury's hard to think about in a kid-focused way, because to get it, they need to be able to differentiate between needs and wants/desires (and not e.g. think it's completely valid to want a pony or batmobile or cake every day). I guess a pony or batmobile, though (but those aren't specific enough on their own), or maybe an amusement park in someone's backyard. Nothing to add for advisor.
posted by cotton dress sock at 1:52 AM on July 28, 2015

Luxury to a kid is winning the lottery so, a bottle of champagne.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:55 AM on July 28, 2015

For "Luxury" maybe a treasure chest? Most kids have seen that image and they don't think of it as a necessity like they might if you showed a $100 bill.

"Luxury" at least has a general meaning that is applicable to kids. "Advisor," to me, does not. What kind of advisor? If financial advisor doesn't make sense, what sort of advisor do you want?

Perhaps you could explain what "advisor" means to you locally, or to the children? Here in the US it's rarely used outside the phrase "financial advisor". Are you looking for something more like "counselor" or "teacher"?
posted by mmoncur at 3:40 AM on July 28, 2015

I don't think luxury has to mean opulence or riches. Kids can relate to tactile luxuriousness -- thick, soft towels, warm blankets, etc.
posted by jon1270 at 4:07 AM on July 28, 2015

Luxury: Scrooge McDuck swimming in his coin vault.

Advisor: Whispering in a king's (or queen's) ear, or maybe Jiminy Cricket.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:45 AM on July 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

If you can use non-free stuff, for "advisor" there's Psychiatric Advice 5¢ with Lucy from Peanuts.
posted by XMLicious at 5:20 AM on July 28, 2015

Here in the US it's rarely used outside the phrase "financial advisor".

It's also commonly used in higher education, as in "college advisor" (for consulting on which courses to take) and "resident advisor" (who lives in your dorm and acts as a general cheerleader/therapist/helpful person). So, depending on the age of the kids, you could work something related to teaching or college in there.

There's a type of picture I'm thinking of, where the perspective is from behind two people, one of whom has his/her hand on the other's shoulder, and the other arm is pointing toward something in front of them. Like a parent pointing out a star in the sky to their child, or a coach pointing out something to a player.

Coach Giving Young Baseball Player Instruction, from Getty Images
posted by SuperSquirrel at 5:50 AM on July 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

The first thing that comes to mind for luxury is an exaggeratedly big diamond ring.
posted by fiercecupcake at 6:03 AM on July 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

Perhaps I played too much Monopoly when I was a kid, but when I think of "Luxury" I think of the "Luxury Tax" space with its shiny diamond ring. Uncle Moneybags kickin' back in his desk with money flying everywhere might work, too.
posted by Elly Vortex at 6:49 AM on July 28, 2015 [4 favorites]

For "advisor", the first thing that comes to mind is Jafar from the Aladdin cartoons. He is the advisor to the king, and he is evil so he gives terrible advice which furthers his own agenda, not the king's. So only use it if you plan to have discussions about trustworthiness and behavior choices.

Jiminy Cricket is another good idea. The problem with your comment about the things (magnifying glass, notebook, etc) is that an advisor is not about the tools, it's about the person and their proximity to the central person.
posted by CathyG at 7:02 AM on July 28, 2015

Luxury = limousine.
posted by ethorson at 7:14 AM on July 28, 2015

Luxury is a kid kicking back in a reclining chair outside, feet up, wearing a nice robe and big sunglasses, maybe a gold necklace, sipping a smoothie. Maybe a waiter is bringing them this smoothie on a tray and the kid is grabbing it.

This is a very relatable kid image. It's how they do "child luxury" in every TV show and movie.
posted by phunniemee at 8:23 AM on July 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

You may already have an answer, because given the variety of results so far, it may be they are 'too complex and non-accessible' for adults as well as children.
posted by Homer42 at 6:05 PM on July 28, 2015