This visual (from Brown Aviation Lease Company) falls into the decorative visual category, as the accompanying text provides the necessary information for the consumer. The image itself ultimately is redundant, but it improves the overall effectiveness of the message. If a consumer of this website finds themselves interested in the particular links, the graphics were not absolutely called for to allow for successful navigation of the page (presumably an interested customer/contributor to this site wouldn’t need child-like graphics to steer them in the right direction), but the images do convey a light-heartedness that Brown Aviation most likely is striving for their customers to grasp.
Lohr partially defines visual literacy as “make decisions regarding the integrity of the information displayed.” (pg. 14) The image this company chose certainly allows for the customer to decide (determine?) what this company will provide for their potential needs. As far as the image “creating meaning” for the consumer, it seems a non-factor due to the fact that an individual that may find themselves in the position of clicking these icons would undoubtedly be cognizant of what they are attempting to look at with just the text provided.
Lohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance: Lessons in visual literacy(Second ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Merrill.
