Zoella website

 Conventions of a website

Multimodal - defined by Theo Van Leeuwen (2005) as the combination of different semiotics modes. Websites are multimodal as they use a combination of images, sounds and writing

Hyperlinks - specific to online media. Navigates you to somewhere else with a click (who decides where and why). Lemake (2002) uses the term hypermodality to describe the design multiple interconnections

Above the fold - immediately visible without scrolling. Can vary between screen sizes 

Logo - important part of visual branding and creates continuities of iconography between pages or across platforms

Main navigation - menu bar (indication of what is important to the website)

Carousel or slider - presented sequentially but user can navigate between slides

Footer - contact details 'About Us', copyright notice

Search box - at the top, allows users to look for particular topics

Social media icons - links to facebook, twitter or Youtube

Banner ads - advertising that are embedded and link to advertisers website. Animated or static


Barthes semiotic theory

Put forward the idea that all texts communicate their meaning through a sieres of signs, the meaning of which are decoded by the audience

He argued signs function at the level of denotation and connotation

Signs can communicate the ideology of a society and as much become accepted because they appear natural through repetition of time

Audiences will not decode signs in the same way, their response will be affected by a range of other factors


The sign: something that represents something 

The signifier: physical form/denotation 

The signified: meaning interpretated by the audience


Social construct: a concept that is created, developed, and accepted by society. Reinforced by repetition and practice 

Semiotics (as part of a structualist thinking) helps you to understand how paradigmatic choices regarding images, typography, colour scheme and lexis convey meaning. Semiotics can be used to explore to establish a sense of brand identity


Blue vs Brown eyes

Energetic vs boring

Male vs Female

Bigger vs Smaller


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