The Role of Everyday Visuals in 'Knowing Humans' During COVID-19

The human condition during COVID-19 has been communicated via visual images - data visualizations, stock photographs, and other image types. In this chapter, we discuss three visuals which have become iconic of the pandemic - images of the virus itself, the flatten the curve line graph, and the face mask. These visual representations of the pandemic have become iconic, demanding attention and inviting recollection. And yet, arguably, these visuals are not only iconic. Through their widespread circulation and re-use, they have become what we describe as 'generic visuals': images which have standardized formats and appearances, which perform particular design functions and which circulate with increasing frequency in the news media. Generic visuals increasingly populate journalism and other information sources, online and off, on mobile apps and other digital platforms. Therefore, unlike other writers who prioritize iconic images, we propose that it is also important to attend to the more generic everyday visuals of COVID-19 that circulate.