Multimodal meanings

Abstract

Visual compositions have been present in Western society since the beginning of civilization. They evolved due to technological advances and are nowadays more visual than ever with the use of images, colors, layout, and typography. The latter has gained the attention of theorists such as van Leeuwen (2006), Serafini and Clausen (2012) and Silva and Barbosa (2020). Its potential may be seen in picturebooks – a literary and multimodal material widely used in educational contexts (Serafini, 2014). Therefore, this research investigated the semiotic potential of typography in contemporary picturebooks in order to understand the possible meanings of its organization. Five picturebooks from the website Vooks were selected and three parts – the cover, pages of narration, and pages of mental and verbal processes – were analyzed. Then, their typography was described based on the categories proposed by van Leeuwen (2006) and Serafini and Clausen (2012). The results showed that typography has the potential of visually defining which participant is speaking as well as establishing relations with the meaning of the word. For example, the typography of “jumped” was organized as if the letters were jumping themselves. Thus, the emphasis on aspects such as weight, size, and framing may make readers aware that typography can express meanings that go beyond the verbal text.