Use stunning visuals, symbols, and clever displays to create a presence.

Just like the old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words," visuals can create impressions where words fall short. Below are some examples of how people have used powerful images and symbols in our society.

The "Hope" Poster -

When Barack Obama ran for the presidency in 2008, the street artist, Sheperd Fairey created a stylized portrait of him with the words "Hope", as a form of activism support. It became the official image of the campaign. The image circulated on t-shirts, posters, or everywhere online at the time. It no doubt increased the success of the campaign.

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince -

The artist, Prince famously associated himself with the "Love Symbol", which was a combination of gender symbols for man and woman. He felt taken advantage of by the record company, which prevented him from releasing his music as he intended. For ten years, he used this symbol instead of his name, as a way of operating outside the contract and rebelling against the record company. After the contract expired, Prince was able to use his name again to produce music under his own label. But the symbol has stuck ever since.

Emojis -

92% of the world's internet users communicate with emojis and 77% even use them at work. They have become a powerful form of expression; adding excitement and emotions to everyday content that may be banal otherwise. There is a regulatory council called the Unicode Consortium that determines emoji standards and approves each emoji.

"How about that guy?," I said, as I pointed out a tanned dark-haired guy around our age across the parade.

He shook his head and said, "but he's wearing a red bandana in his right back pocket."

Me, not registering, "huh?"

While we were in college, one of my best childhood friends opened up to me about being gay. I was honored to be one of the first people to know. He was trying to discover the community and asked if I would attend the Folsom Street Fair with him. I jumped at the opportunity to support him, not knowing what I was getting myself into.

When we first arrived, we shopped for a souvenir in the leather shop, famous for its selection of handmade fetish items. My friend ended up buying (get this) a leather wallet. One of the many reasons why I love him. Believe me when I say that it was a festival of sights and sounds. I was so distracted that a stranger managed to slip a body part into my hand before I knew what happened. But that's another story.

My friend explained there were symbols in the LGBTQ+ community that people could wear to identify themselves and show what they were into, including the Handkerchief Code. It was a fascinating system, ever-evolving, and spread by word of mouth.

I later learned about the importance of other symbols used in LGBTQ+ history. From the green carnations that men wore on lapels in Victorian Britain, to violets worn in 1920s France to represent lesbian love. Upside-down pink triangles were used to identify gay men in concentration camps, but then later reclaimed as a positive symbol of memorial and identity. And of course, there is the rainbow flag, created in 1978, the colors of which represent the diverse people included in the sexual minority, along with a sense of pride. Symbols were created to communicate secretly, to show support, and to build a community. A symbol made to ostracize can later be used to empower.