Modes are raw materials of composition. They are the resources, that can be textual or visual, used to communicate messages. Television programs use many types of modes to convey messages to certain audiences. Movies are multimodal in that they use more than one mode to compose a film. Scenery, animation, and costumes are just three modes that aid in the production of a film. However, in an essay the more important modes that are used tend to be the texts and words, spacing and indentation, paragraphs, images, bolding and underlinings, etc.
The audience becomes extremely important when deciding which modes would convey your message the best and which modes relate to the people you are trying to connect with. For example, if you were writing a story for children, using small fonts and uniform text without pictures would lose their attention and eventually the message you are trying to get across. Instead it would be the most effective to use big fonts and bright colors to attract the attention of young kids and hone them into the subject at hand. Pictures are one of the most effective modes for an audience of children since the message is displayed in a quick and relatable image.
Kress argues that modes are ineffective when they are used alone. Take a website for instance. When building a webpage, one must consider who will be using it when choosing the design and layout. Facebook is a site used worldwide by people of all ages. The uniform blue and white color makes the page easy to look at and does not become a distraction. The layout of the page is simple to maneuver and allows people, young and old, to enjoy what the site has to offer. This shows how modes are used together to create a medium for people's enjoyment and usage.
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