The visual is a central issue in many branches of translation. Visual elements range form typography and layout to illustrations, graphics, pictures, photographs and gestures. Yet visual elements and visual literacy tends to be neglected, both in research on translation and interpreting and in translator training. This special issue of Meta addresses issues relating to the role and function of the visual in translated and interpreted texts: how the integration of the visual influences our conception of translation, cultural aspects of the visual, its impact on the reception of translation, cultural aspects of the visual, its impact on the reception of translation, the interplay and tension between the visual and the verbal, functional aspect of the visual, communicative practices, as well as the impact of the 'iconic turn' on translator and interpreter training. In other words, the terms key to the contents of the volume are multimodality and intersemiotic translation.