Visualizing identity: multimodal and multilingual practices in international student organizations’ on-campus artifacts

Abstract Contributing to previous research on schoolscape, this study explores artifacts crafted by international student organizations (i.e., flyers and roll-up banners) across a U.S. university campus. Specifically, drawing on elements from geosemiotics (i.e., visual semiotics, place semiotics, and interaction order), the authors examined (1) how the producers convey their identities through both multilingual and multimodal practices, and (2) how the artifacts interact with the surrounding space. Considering the ephemeral nature of the artifacts under scrutiny, pictures of the actual artifacts were collected over a two-month period in 2024. The findings show that the sign makers constructed their identities through varied semiotic resources, including text, images (e.g., national flags, natural elements, historical landmarks), typography (e.g., typographic mimicry), colors indexing ethnocultural and/or national identities or university affiliation, code preferences, and linguistic choices creating multiple interaction orders. Regarding the emplacement of the artifacts, different patterns emerged, including a preference for authorized spaces over those associated with transgressive semiotics, and, more generally, a shift towards digital spaces for organizational promotion.