ABSTRACT: Mixed media has become an increasingly prominent mode of visual expression in contemporary communication, where photographs, illustrations, typography, digital graphics, and other visual forms are frequently combined to construct layered narratives. Despite the growing prevalence of such hybrid practices, relatively limited theoretical attention has been given to how mixed media contributes to the formation of narrative meaning in visual storytelling. This article addresses that gap by proposing a conceptual framework for understanding mixed media visual storytelling through the interaction of three interrelated layers: the material, semiotic, and narrative. Using a qualitative, conceptual-analytical methodology, this research relies on theoretical perspectives from visual communication, semiotics and narrative studies to construct and apply this conceptual framework. The study’s original contribution lies in bringing these dimensions together within an integrated interpretive structure, enabling mixed media works to be understood not simply as formal combinations of diverse visual elements, but as complex meaning-making systems. To demonstrate the analytical value of this framework, the article draws on selected works by Uğur Gallenkuş, whose digital collages provide a focused case for examining how material contrasts, symbolic tensions, and implied narratives interact within hybrid visual compositions. By articulating the relationship between form, signification, and narrative organization, the article offers a more structured theoretical basis for interpreting mixed media storytelling in contemporary visual culture.
Keywords: Mixed Media, Narrative Structure, Uğur Gallenkuş, Visual Storytelling, Visual Communication.
Nafiseh Tahari, Faculty of Communication, Master Student at Communication Studies. ARUCAD, Kyrenia, Cyprus, Nafiseh.tr95@gmail.com
Asst. Prof. Dr. Çağdaş Öğüç, Faculty of Communication, Department of New Media and Communications. ARUCAD, Kyrenia, Cyprus, cagdas.oguc@arucad.edu.tr
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