A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of the Online Brand Identity Construction of National Museums
Table 3.
Multimodal realizations of the compositionalmeaning on the museums’ websites
|
| Compositional Meaning |
BM Homepage |
NMC Homepage |
|
|
| Information value |
Center/margin |
prominent relics placed in the central core area, photos of exhibits or posters of special exhibitions placed at the center (indicating “real”) to convey the core content (“what can be seen now”) |
main images (cultural relics & the latest special exhibitions) placed in the middle (the realm of “real”), conveying the core message “cultural experiences not to be missed at this moment” |
|
|
| Left/right |
search bar placed in the upper right corner (“end point” of Western reading habits), conforming to user habits |
the button linked to the English webpage placed in the upper right corner to facilitate English viewers’ search |
|
|
| Top/bottom |
the logo & navigation bar put on the top (the leading area, indicating “ideal”) to symbolize brand authority; practical content (opening hours, contact information, etc.) put at the bottom (indicating “new”), as supplementary information |
the name, logo & navigation bar occupy the top section (“ideal”), symbolizing national authority and cultural sovereignty; “new” information put at the bottom, including copyright information, contact information & other practical content |
|
|
| Salience |
Foreground/background |
photos set against black or white color, with the picture of the museum as background |
photos & posters in rich colors, titles highlighted by red color against white background, with margin in dark red color |
|
|
| Relative size |
pictures > titles > texts |
pictures > titles > secondary information |
|
|
| Tonal contrast |
the positions of images with a clear contrast in color |
the use of red color to highlight important content in line with Chinese users’ perception |
|
|
| Framing |
sections separated by dividing lines orleft blank, reflecting the functional classification |
sections separated by alternating white or grey blocks as the background for clear classification |
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|
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