Text-as-Image Fashion Curator Communication from a Design and Museum Studies Perspective

Abstract

This paper aims to examine engagement for a specific Instagram practice of fashion curators: the use of text-as-image. It builds upon previous research, which indicates that fashion curators frequently post images of text (Sand et al. (2022)). The study examines the multimodal digital communication by fashion curators from a design perspective, with a focus on engagement. Its mixed-methods approach combines qualitative eye-tracking, surveys, semi-structured interviews, participative netnography, thematic content analysis, and data analytics. It draws on communication and museum studies to gain a better understanding of how the visual elements of language are used and received in the Instagram environment. Findings indicate that while engagement with text-as-image is higher with certain typographies and sizes, engagement is also dependent on certain caption characteristics. Furthermore, they indicate that a cross-pollination of digital fashion communication and museum studies research, particularly museum label guidelines and visitor engagement studies, may benefit both domains.