I see this a lot, usually in articles or magazines, Instead of just using linguistic devices to explain things to the reader they'll include pictures, diagrams and things of that sort. I never really gave much thought to it, because that's always what i've seen. I assumed it was standard. But, as an writer, careful consideration must be used to discern the best possible way to convey and idea and so different modes are utilized for this purpose.

Though the most common and essential forms of text, linguistic modes of texts are the least common outside of book and newspapers. Think of how many forms of text we see in the world like advertisements. Advertisements certainly rely on language to direct your thinking but visual modes are much more common and much more important to their message.

Arguably the most used mode that one will encounter. For example, when one writes, one uses color and pictures and diagrams to best convey concepts. When one speaks, one uses gestures and dress accordingly. When one eats, One wants to eat things that look appetizing.

Affordances are essentially, the pros and cons of a mode. For example, a picture is more succinct in describing something than text, but less apt for explaining complex ideas, such as philosophy. The pros and cons are known as affordances because the picture will "afford" you a good description of something but not "afford" you with a good explanation of it. In John Cline's "What is a Machete Anyways?, John Cline uses pictures periodically to assist his narrative. For example, when explaining the different kinds of machetes, he uses a picture to better explain:

Gestural modes are arguably the most important mode of our day to day social interactions. 55% of communication comes from gestures and body language alone, most of the time (https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beyond-words/201109/is-nonverbal-communication-numbers-game). Certainly, something to consider when giving a speech or interviewing.

Spatial mode helps direct the reader to specific ideas and topics that the writer wants to you, similar to camera panning and focusing in film. Examples of this would include, paragraphs used to group single coherent ideas together, and the grouping of university building by departments. Spatial mode is the intuitive grouping of text into commonsensical arrangements that are easier to understand.

In terms of music and film and the arts that incorporate sound, I don't really see how the aural mode plays that much of an effect in our lives. Certainly, tone plays an effect in speech, and things of that nature but, alongside other forms, i don't see the great importance of aural mode in our day to day lives. I don't know why I thought of this but I was watching Chef's Table, and this chef, Dan Barber was talking about being fired from a bakery because he forgot to add salt to the dough. He said that the dough rose and rose, and in a final moment of cadence, all the balls of dough collapsed and flattened, like the end of a symphony. Though not directly an aural mode. He uses aural examples, as a metaphor to explain his story.

Multimodal is the use of multiple modes of text to better convey a writers point. For example: an advertisement might use linguistic devices like slogans or something ridiculing people with thinning hair, using spatial devices like big font around the mean words to draw attention to them. Beside this, there might be a picture of someone with a full head of hair being happy. After i wrote this, I searched online for an example of this and there were so many: In the photo, there is a split picture of a man. On the left, the man is bald, and the words "Before" are written above him. Surrounding the man, are unkind, humiliating descriptions of the bald man. On the right side, the man has hair. "After" is written above the man and there are all sorts of compliments for the man, like "handsome" and "youthful". The ad plays directly into the insecurities of many men suffering from hair loss, making them feel humiliated in an attempt to convince them to receive hair transplants.

Modes, are defined as a way of communicating. Multimodal, is the use of different media to communicate a purpose. "A text can be anything from a lolcat to a concert tee shirt to a dictionary to a performance." In John Cline's "What is a Machete, Anyways?", John Cline examines the historical and cultural significance of a machete. In the article, he uses primarily linguistic and visual text to communicate with his audience. Mainly using linguistic text, with visual, and aural text to support his linguistic devices.

First thing that comes to mind when thinking of "text". As writers, this is probably the most fundamental tool for writing or brainstorming. We as thinking things, think in language and even when looking at a picture, listening to a song, we think in linguistic thoughts.