Color purple can be understood differently in cultures. As I went over religions, marketing and literature before I want to see how do different cultures approach this color and what does it mean. It is important for me to see how can the meaning of different colors in cultures inform my project.
In Thailand color purple is associated with mourning widows and all the other people wear black (Why Is Black Traditionally Worn at Funerals?, n.d.). From this information I decided that there will be a grandma, not a grandpa. The grandma will be a widow, of course that will not be said directly, but if the grandpa is no longer there, it can be understood that he has passed away. I think it is an interesting way to incorporate color purple, because it in not said directly but can be read.
In the United States Army there is a medal called the Purple Heart Medal, which is given to decorate ones who had taken some praiseworthy actions or got wounded or died in combat (USO, 2020). Here the color purple and the medal symbolize something worth mentioning, something to be proud of.
Also, in American 4-H clubs, purple ribbon stands for superior, and is given to projects that exceeded average standards. On 4-H fairs the kids' projects are judged and they get different ribbon colors. Purple is for the grand champion. I know all that because I am a former 4-Her and when I lived in the United States, I took part in 4-H fairs.
From those two awards I can see that purple can be seen as a color of champions and people who did something memorable, here I get an idea, that I could have one of my characters be a champion in something. Could be a sports champion or a mathlete or a spelling bee champion. Any sort of winner that is superior in something specific. I think this is an interesting way to understand an approach the color because normally the only color that makes people think of a winner is gold. This is a different method of seeing the meaning and I think it could be great to incorporate that in my character design.
Since I looked at ribbons, I thought it would be a great idea to also look at Awareness Ribbons and see what purple ribbon stands for. I went on a website that lists all the awareness ribbon colors and looked at the list for purple.
Click here to access the website.
There are many things that purple memorial ribbon represents, but it is mostly recognized for domestic violence, animal abuse and religious tolerance. I think that domestic abuse and religious tolerance may be very difficult topics for children, however, animal abuse is something children can recognize and I think since I am planning on designing a pet, I could give this pet the memorial ribbon to show their support, I think it would be an interesting idea because the pet I am planning on designing is going to be a dinosaur, which is often seen as a predator would here stand up for the animals that go through animal abuse. It is a little bit ironic, but it does carry a message. It could be also understood, as if this animal went through abuse and once again, seeing a 'dangerous' animal that went through some bullying can carry a message how the fact that a person looks for example strong, does not mean that this person has never been bullied or has never shown any weaknesses. It is showing the 'don't judge a book by its cover' message. It would be a great way to show children that you never know someone else's story therefore you cannot judge them. It would be presented in a very subtle way, therefore I think it is a good idea.
Now, when thinking more about the idea of a dinosaur wearing this particular ribbon, I am thinking, that maybe it should be specified that the dinosaur is from a shelter and has dark past where they were abused. Of course in a cartoon from children it would not be directly said that the dinosaur was being abused, but for example in a first episode there could be a scene of the dinosaur being adopted from a shelter and their new family (my royal family) would give them the ribbon honoring their braveness. Like the Purple Heart Medal is given to someone wounded during the war, the ribbon would be given to the dino to stress their past and how it scarred them. I think this is a great idea I can develop visually.
Reference list:
USO (2020) 8 Things You Need to Know About the Purple Heart Medal. Available at: https://www.uso.org/stories/2276-8-purple-heart-facts (Accessed: 11/02/2021)
Bravery in a cartoon character aimed at children is a good personality trait for them to see - it makes your animation potentially move to another level in terms of teaching or instructing children about personality qualities that are important to transmit. Have you thought about how the colour purple could enhance other character qualities in your character designs?
ReplyDelete