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Knowledge and information are today exchanged ty increasingly visual means. This book enables you to see beyond the image, and to consider the 'stuff' of visual communication- From the texture of the paper on which a restaurant menu is printed to the shape chosen for a shampoo bottle, Doing Visual Analysis shows you how to think about and analyse v...
Citations
... The ultimate agenda of it is to identify and unveil buried ideologies and power relations (Machin, 2013;Abousnnouga and Machin, 2013;Machin, 2016;Tian and Pan, 2018) under the guise of seemingly natural, normal or neutral discourse choices like photographs, images, diagrams, graphics and other visual aids through a detailed description. Some attempts of application emerge, such as studies teasing apart basic theoretical concepts and scope of study Machin, 2013;Ledin and Machin, 2015;Machin, 2016;Ledin and Machin, 2018) and various targets explorations of media representations of crime , war monuments (Abousnnouga and Machin, 2013) and food commercials about moral eating (Chen and Eriksson, 2019;Eriksson and Machin, 2020), cultural contexts in the Asia Pacific nations (Montefrio and Wilk, 2020) and cosmopolitan locavorism in Hongkong (Ho, 2020). At this point, the majority of them understood that examining cultural phenomena requires consideration of both visual and textual elements. ...
Amidst global health concerns such as COVID-19 and rising obesity rates, the connection between food choices, societal well-being, and cultural shifts has gained attention. In China, the rise of “light food” consumption on platforms like Taobao reflects a growing trend towards health-conscious dietary preferences. With a dataset comprising 633 images and 45,817 words, condensed into 50 images for analysis, this research aims to understand how these advertisements influence perceptions of healthiness and desirability, and whether there is a discrepancy between advertised health benefits and actual nutritional content. This study delves into the advertising strategies employed for light food products on the Taobao platform in China, utilizing a Textual–Visual Thematic Analysis (TVTA) framework. Noteworthy findings include: (1) Internet-based light food advertising adopts a dual textual and visual approach. (2) Identification of prevalent multimodal devices, such as medium shots, varied camera angles, vibrant colors, and large size. (3) Uncovering inconsistencies in presentation that may pose potential consumer misperceptions. These discoveries underscore the nuanced landscape of light food advertising, offering valuable insights for both academia and industry.
... In this way, materiality in a multimodal text influences the creation of meaning, and considering the materiality of a literary app is crucial for understanding its potential for meaning making, just as it is when encountering other multimodal texts (Ledin & Machin, 2018;Mills & Unsworth, 2017). Materiality refers to the physical aspect of an object. ...
Introduction
Given the ubiquitous presence of digital media in contemporary society, it is
increasingly important for students to develop proficiency in navigating, evaluating and understanding digital texts. This chapter scrutinises narrative apps as
a form of literature and considers their potential role in English teaching, which
goes beyond the conventional literary canon. Narrative apps are digital texts
that offer an immersive and interactive experience, potentially creating unique
aesthetic encounters (Hagen, 2020). Additionally, narrative apps can bridge the
gap between home and school text practices (Aliagas & Margallo, 2015, p. 157), as
they are already a familiar component of students’ digital lives. The central claim
of this inquiry is that narrative apps have the potential to offer an innovative and
engaging approach to literature.
... Implementing inter-rater reliability measures (Bruchlos, 2022;Lange, 2011), such as having multiple researchers independently capture and evaluate visual data enhanced the reliability of the visual documentation process (Ledin & Machín, 2018). Additionally, it was essential to document and report on the validity and reliability measures employed throughout the research process, ensuring transparency and enabling critical evaluation by peers and stakeholders. ...
... The study employed visual analysis as a fundamental aspect of assessing signage art installations, encompassing the analysis of formal elements like shape, colour, texture, and design (Ledin & Machín, 2018). This process allowed the researchers to understand the artist's intentions and the artwork's intended message or aesthetic impact. ...
This study delves into the intersection of artistry and fabrication techniques within the realm of 3D signage. In recent years, 3D fabrication has emerged as a versatile medium for artists and graphic designers to express their creativity in signage projects. This research focuses on how various fabrication methods, such as CNC routing, laser cutting, and hand sculpting, have been employed to achieve unique artistic visions in signage design. Through qualitative case study design, interviews with artists, designers, fabricators, and visual analysis of contemporary artworks, this study examines the aesthetic possibilities, technical challenges, and conceptual considerations inherent in 3D fabrication signage art. Findings revealed that 3D signages serve as prominent visual elements in various settings, including commercial, public, and private spaces, demanding careful consideration of material selection and fabrication methods to ensure longevity, economic feasibility, and visual impact. The study concludes that 3D fabrication signage presents innovative examples and contributes to the understanding and appreciation of 3D fabrication signage art as a distinct form of contemporary artistic expression.
... The Leeuwen framework of typographic distinctive features [75] is used for this visual analysis; the framework consists of eight parameters to describe the visual characteristics of typography: weight, expansion, slope, curvature, connectivity, orientation, regularity, and non-distinctive features. While proposed through the lens of a multimodal theorist, the framework proves effective in describing and examining letterform characteristics within typefaces [76]. It helps in describing the visual elements in typographic designs including typefaces within defined parameters, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of letterform features. ...
Dyslexia-friendly typefaces for the Latin script have been proliferating during the past decade. The typefaces are designed to tackle the challenges faced in a dyslexic reading experience by manipulating their letter forms and typographic attributes; several studies reported a positive effect on the reading experience. To this date, no working dyslexia-friendly Arabic typefaces are available for the public. The present study is part of a larger practice-based research, where a novel dyslexia-friendly Arabic typeface is designed using a user-centred design approach. The current visual analysis marks the developmental phase, identifying the letterform features of dyslexia-friendly Latin typefaces that can be mapped to the Arabic script. This article explores the typographic features of dyslexia-friendly Latin typefaces by conducting a qualitative visual analysis; a proposed modified version of Leeuwen’s Typographic Distinctive Features Framework is employed. The results are discussed considering the Arabic script’s visual implications in a dyslexic reading experience. The findings of this study are used to create a list of design considerations for a dyslexia-friendly Arabic typeface.
... Important steps have been taken towards advancing MCDA in light of the current computational achievements and increased demands of complex digital scenarios, for example by identifying the materiality of communicative situations as a generic overarching methodological principle (Bateman, 2022) or by designing strategies to produce annotation frameworks and methods for large-scale analyses (Bateman et al., 2017;O'Halloran et al., 2021) that go beyond the smallscale or case-based studies (Jewitt, 2014). However, in this paper, we adopt a case-based study approach to compare memes as family of germane multimodal artifacts and related memetic constructs by theoretically drawing on sociosemiotics (van Leeuwen, 2005;van Leeuwen, 2001, 2020) and critical multimodal studies (Machin, 2013;Ledin and Machin, 2018) aimed at understanding how the text and the image produce ideologically invested discourse/s within the unified methodological principle ingrained in the materiality of communicative situations, as invoked by Bateman (2022). ...
... Our point here is that no aprioristic value can be assigned to language or images in memes' meaning making, as the interpretation lies in the interplay and therefore may suffer from 'losses' if one resource or mode is considered hierarchically. Multimodal studies within the field of social semiotics and critical discourse analysis have long emphasized the need to attend to all semiotic resources being used to make multimodal ensembles (Jewitt, 2014), to consider the semiotic landscape in which multimodal artifacts are produced and shared (Kress and van Leeuwen, 2020), and to look for the overt and covert meanings that shape an ideologically-invested discourse (Ledin and Machin, 2018;Machin, 2013). ...
... Individuals often interpret images based on what they know (Machin & Ledin, 2018). As such, images can serve as a way to amplify the lived experiences of marginalized populations in agriculture by providing a glimpse into the ways their voices, sociocultural complexities, and indigenous ways of knowing have been muted (Rose, 2022). ...
... Therefore, images can evoke understanding that may be lost in textual-based communication. Images can also be used to allow individuals to reframe their experiences in ways that can challenge, disrupt, and create change (Machin & Ledin, 2018). Or, as Weber (2008) explained, "images provoke action for social justice" (p. ...
... This phase can require considerable time and follow-through (Mannay, 2015). When researchers have completed the appropriate work in this phase to build relationships, the participants will often be more open and honest about their experiences and perspectives (Machin & Ledin, 2018). These strong relationships can set the tone for the remainder of the research project (Rose, 2012). ...
Ensuring that marginalized populations become empowered in agriculture is vital to the success of global agricultural development goals. However, these populations have reported lacking access, power, and voice. Perhaps one strategy researchers can use to address this issue is through visual Q methodology. In this methodological paper, I argue that by combining the tenets of Q and visual methodologies, researchers can offer empirically grounded findings that evoke powerful, rich insight into the perspectives of marginalized populations in agriculture who may lack the communication skills to articulate their perspectives through words. To this point, however, the approach has lacked clear guidance, which has led to diminished quality in the published literature on visual Q methodology. In response, I offer six principles to guide visual Q methodological studies moving forward: (a) relationship-building with participants, (b) participant training, (c) concourse development, (d) Q set sampling, (e) data collection, and (f) data analysis and interpretation.
... First, although we have analyzed Elisa Loncón's positive self-representation as a Mapuche female political leader as an intersectional subject (Magliano 2015), we have purposefully foregrounded some intersectional features that are best represented in the examples selected in the analysis. Second, we carried out a simultaneous analysis of the semiotic modes in each Instagram post but purposefully foregrounded some of them to exemplify the intersectional features mentioned previously (Ledin and Machin 2018). Finally, we categorized these findings thematically (Dörnyei 2007; Saldaña 2020) to identify patterns in the constructions of Elisa Loncón in line with the intersectional features mentioned earlier. ...
This study analyzed the multimodal discursive strategies Elisa Loncón, a Mapuche linguist and renowned academic, used on Instagram to position herself as a sociopolitical leader during her tenure as president of the Chilean Constitutional Convention. 811 Instagram posts from her account were downloaded from 15 January 2021 until 15 January 2022. From this, 81 of the most interacted posts were selected and used to examine her multimodal discursive strategies while drawing on the Discourse-Historical Approach ( Reisigl and Wodak 2001 , 2016 ). The results revealed three main themes: (1) the construction of an alternative leadership, (2) visibilization of female leadership decision-making, and (3) a vindication of linguistic rights. Referential and intensification strategies were particularly salient, and they were used to legitimize her role and foreground her Mapuche ancestry. These findings highlight how female political leaders (and their intersecting identities) strategically deploy their communication practices to resist sexism and racism.
... A document study was carried out in Study 1. Fifteen 1 planning and policy documents were selected from a medium-sized Swedish city and were analysed using a content analysis of texts and images/illustrations (Bergström & Boréus, 2005;Hellspong & Ledin, 1997;Ledin & Machin, 2018). The strategic selection of documents covered large parts of the process, including documents such as a comprehensive plan, detailed development plans, design programmes, entries in architectural competitions, and local policies on mobility planning. ...
This thesis explores how more equal and inclusive living environments can be achieved by using Universal Design (UD) to incorporate human diversity in all stages of planning and construction.
The ongoing exclusion of persons with disabilities from the built environment does not result from a lack of knowledge on how to remedy existing obstacles nor of how to avoid creating new ones. Other reasons must be found.
The aim of the thesis is to provide new knowledge and solutions regarding how UD can be implemented in urban development and the built environment, including the whole process from vision to outcome. The thesis is based on three studies, which resulted in five papers. The theoretical framework involves conditions that affect the planning and construction processes of today: forms of governance, the view of the users of the built environment and how they are categorised, choices and priorities in the planning process, and theories of UD.
Triangulation was used in the studies as a research strategy, to test the validity and increase the reliability of the findings. The studies included a document study, a multiple case study, semi-structured interviews, workshops and go-along interviews in three cities.
The findings show numerous factors that influence the conditions for how human diversity is included or not in urban development processes. These factors include the norms and categorisations of the users, current urban building trends and planning practices. Examples show how Universal Design can be implemented in the entire process – from idea to finished construction. The findings show the need
for several changes. All studies demonstrate the importance of protecting significant societal goals throughout planning and construction processes. This indicates that public actors must take greater responsibility to lead planning processes and follow up on the results.
The municipalities are at the forefront of defending social goals and operationalising conventions that Sweden as a nation has undertaken to follow, an example being the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Being able to access and use the built environment is a fundamental human right.
... By focusing upon how texts are materialized semiotic resources derived from the integration of multiple semiotic modes, we can identify how the authors of such texts develop covert ideological meanings (Ledin and Machin 2018;. Machin and Mayr's (2012) approach to cda combines textual approaches with analysis of images into a holistic multimodal framework. ...
A multimodal critical discourse analysis of The New York Times and China Daily ’s news reports of Covid-19 was conducted to identify the ideologies in Covid-19 news reports. The Covid-19 pandemic was divided into three phases: China’s anti-pandemic phase, first global outbreak, and second global outbreak. The nyt and cd ’s Covid-19 news reports not only conveyed facts but also served different ideologies which shifted over each phase. Both the nyt and cd news media employed lexical devices, images, and metaphors to convey different ideologies, shaping people’s perceptions of the pandemic and government measures to control it. The nyt ’s Covid-19 reporting implied that China’s pandemic measures were irrational and extreme, and that the Trump administration’s policies during the outbreak were ineffective, while feminism and racism also appeared. cd ’s news reports of the pandemic portrayed efficiency by the Chinese government’s in controlling Covid-19 and a positive attitude toward government officials.
... This study focuses on understanding the urban arts through Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA). It involves critical investigation of employing various semiotic resources within the study of CDA (Ledin & Machin, 2018;Machin, 2013;Machin & Mayr, 2012) combined with Halliday & Matthiessen's transitivity theory of systemic functional linguistics (2014) to examine more accurately the verbal mode. The nature of urban arts usually consists of verbal and visual resources as a unified whole-they are not merely juxtaposed as separate modes and distinct meanings. ...
... Furthermore, this study is grounded in theoretical and methodological frameworks between the multimodal lens of social semiotics (Kress & van Leeweun, 2006;van Leeweun, 2005) and the critical perspective of analysing discourse (Critical Discourse Analysis) in the field of Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) (Ledin & Machin, 2018;Machin & Mayr, 2012). The underpinning theory of MCDA is social semiotics, which was inspired by "language as social semiotic" and the systemic functional approach of Halliday (Machin & Mayr, 2012). ...
The present study examines the practice of urban arts as critical commentary acts of pandemic issues in Indonesia’s public spaces based on the viral news on July–August 2021. There are 11 viral arts as examples which are evaluated by three approaches, i.e. Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) approach, Systemic Functional Linguistic and Ideological square. This study aims to critically examine the meaning-making process of different semiotic resources, reveal the ideas and values, and how the in-group and out-group representation in the underlying discourse. The findings reveal that the urban arts are powerful mediums of voicing and criticism publicly about social, political, and humanity issues during pandemic. Since the urban artists may position themselves as the representative of the public, they are depicted in the miserable states as the victims of the unresponsiveness and incapability of the government in handling the pandemic. The choices of verbal and visual modes purposely signal the public’s despair state and emphasize the government’s shortcomings. However, the presence of urban arts is not entirely accepted as social form of communication. Lack of appreciation and official public spaces always put the urban arts on the edge of vandalism. Power and political elements even come into play to restrain the freedom of speech.
