Visual texts are part of everyday life in America and are used to convey many messages. There are many creative and not so creative ones. Certain elements are huge when deciding if a visual text can be successful. The authors of these texts have many hidden meanings and use many elements to really show what they are trying to get across. The commercial "Illusions" for Honda features a car and is shown near many optical illusions throughout the commercial. Honda's goal is to convince someone that their new SUV is better than the rest and should be bought because it has better gas mileage. It also wants you to look deeper at its car and not judge it by its cover. This is a good representation of a visual text because of its use of realism and abstraction, perspective, symbols, shadow and colors.

Realism and abstraction are a very strong part of this video and its goal. Realism is a form of art that involves everyday objects or people. All throughout the video, the car is either part of or driving past illusions. The idea is to really emphasize the car as well as the illusion. Realism is showed in this commercial because of the paintings and other forms of art. They are pictures and drawings of real objects in life. Abstraction is showed through the illusions themselves. The abstraction is what allows the illusions to work. It represents the idea of how SUVs are thought of as low gas mileage vehicles. That is because SUV's are bigger and heavier then most cars and so uses more gas. The optical illusions are also like that because they are thought of as real. In reality, both ideas are false. Perspective is also involved with this. The use of perspective is shown when the car drives past the illusion. Each illusion seems crazy and when the car starts moving and the camera gets closer you start to see how it was not real. This ties into the commercial and what it means because Honda does not want a person to assume anything about it. It does not want someone to think they know what is happening when in reality they do not. It wants you to look closer at its car, and underneath everything and find out what it really is and why it is so good. The use of realism, abstraction, and perspective really emphasize that and help to make it an effective commercial. They are related to a visual text because each of them is very important to most forms of art. Without each the visual text could be misguided or mistaken for something else. Although those elements are very good, symbols are another key part.

This commercial uses major symbols throughout it. Those symbols are the car and the illusions. The car represents Honda and its product while the illusions represent all the assumed knowledge associated with SUVs. The car in the video is always the same and is exactly the same throughout. It shows how the car is a constant even with the many illusions. This makes the viewer realize that Honda is dependable and so are its cars. That in turn would make a person want to by that car. The illusions represent all the misconceptions with the car and SUVs. A big part of the ad is about how it has good gas mileage. Many SUV's do not have an efficient mileage system. What Honda is trying to show with this ad is that, that thought is not related to this car. What one may seem like on the outside is very different once one changes their perspective. What makes symbols important to a visual text is how they are always shown to the viewer so they do not lose interest. Without symbols one would not be able to realize what the message is. These symbols helped to convey the ad's message, but shadows and colors bring out the commercial itself.

Shadows and colors are two other important elements. These are the reasons why the illusions are so good and effective. Each of the paintings used many light colors for the design. They were similar to the surrounding landscape, which helped to blend them in better and made it seem as if it was real. For example, the first painting and second painting both seemed as if they were actually three-dimensional but in reality both were just flat. This was all due to the fact that the colors were blended well. The commercial itself was also really bright and this helped to show that it is a commercial about progress and then next big thing. Shadows were used on the paintings to give it that three-dimensional shape and give the desired effect. Also, throughout the commercial there were not many dark scenes, which would have given the ad a sense of dullness. Shadows and colors are important to a visual text because of how they can change a mood. The goal of any visual text is to get one to feel a certain way and using light or dark shades and colors are very good at that. This relates to the meaning of the commercial because without these small details, the point it is trying to make would not be as effective. 

In conclusion Honda's commercial was arguing for its SUV to have better gas mileage and a better car overall. It conveyed its message through the use of illusions.  The commercial showed its message through realism and abstraction, perspective, symbols, shadow and colors. There were other elements in this commercial, but these were the most important. Overall, the Honda commercial showed how its car was superior through many means.

