Visual codes are the arrangement of visual elements to communicate. Power and language are intimately connected. The arrangements of elements of communication as hierarchical oppositions are arrangements of power, it is these arrangements or codes that create meaning. We will now consider the place of metaphors, symbols and myth in creating meaning. To do this we will continue with our discussion of signs and their relationships to codes and conventions.
Signs create meanings by invoking comparisons with other signs.
Signs 'stand for' other signs. This comparison between and among signs is often referred to as metaphor . A metaphor stands in for something else. Often used to express, or create, an idea. Symbols are akin to metaphor.