Juxtaposition is a word we use frequently in design.  It is a noun that means:

“the act or instance of placing two or more things side by side,” as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Basically, juxtaposition creates a comparison, story, quality, effect, or relationship between the items that are juxtaposed.  Juxtaposition is not solely a visual term but can also be applied to sounds, words, concepts, etc.  An oxymoron is an example of juxtaposing two contradictory words.

Here is a silly example of juxtaposing an elephant and a mouse in one image.  We’ll try to add better examples to this post as we find them.  Do you have any good juxtaposition examples to share?