Also called Tip of the Iceberg · Above and Below the Surface · Iceberg Comparison
A small peak rises above the water while a much larger mass stays submerged. Label the visible part with what people notice and the underwater part with everything they miss.
The waterline separates the obvious result from the hidden work, detail, or context behind it. The lower caption usually represents much more than the upper one.
This blank version works as a simple two-part comparison. More elaborate iceberg charts divide the lower area into levels of increasingly obscure knowledge.
Photographer Ralph Clevenger explained to Nautilus that the familiar iceberg image combines four photographs. The visible peak was photographed in Antarctica; the apparent submerged section was photographed above water in Alaska, then flipped and placed below the surface. [1]
Iceberg memes reuse the visible-versus-hidden metaphor. Know Your Meme records a web-themed chart uploaded to Imgur on May 31, 2011, and wider parody-chart circulation in 2015. These are examples of the format’s online history, not the creation date of Clevenger’s artwork. [2]
Put the short, visible part above the waterline. Place the larger hidden explanation in the submerged ice below it.
Choose two parts of the same subject: a finished drawing and its discarded drafts, or a short demo and the testing behind it. Keep the labels brief enough to read on the tall image.
Original captions to try with this template.
Original artwork by Ralph Clevenger
The visible result hides the attempts that made it possible.
Original artwork by Ralph Clevenger
A short demonstration gives little hint of the preparation underneath.
Original artwork by Ralph Clevenger
The public view is a small part of the work that happened before departure.
References for this template. Example captions are original.
An interview with the photographer explains the four-image composite.
Documents early online charts and later parody formats.
