#visual literacy

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"Grand Cathay is largely based on Chinese culture from the late Middle Ages. The visual design of its units very clearly evokes that inspiration.

What features specifically are creating that impression?

Well, you might say to yourself: I have eyes. And I can tell that it is Chinese-inspired from... the way that it is.

But today I want to enumerate the symbols that we have come to associate with Eastern material culture. Which of these tropes are invented? And which are rooted in reality?

As ever, my goal is not to measure fantasy against historical accuracy as some sort of purity test, but rather to challenge us to interrogate the meaning behind design.

In a setting so clearly based on real history, how do invented elements enhance or detract from the richness of these fictional cultures? When does a fantastical departure add visual impact or depth of meaning? On the other hand, when is it just sort of meaninglessly wrong?

Let's start with looking at the Jade Warriors, which are the core unit of this faction. They successfully give the impression of East Asian soldiers. But there are a few different cultural influences and time periods at play here. So let's unpack it piece by piece."

yes, visual literacy/media literacy! Let’s Recognize that royal crest and realize what it means to find it in print across all these texts! Let’s think critically about media narratives, who is producing them, and WHY. What a brilliant lesson to kids (and adults, ahem) about how we read, and WHO we read.

The emotional intelligence of accepting contradiction. The incredible emotional strength of this child to honor the heroism of her parents WHILE questioning their actions. Holding seeming contradictory emotions, rather than let one subsume the other (“they can’t be wrong because I loved them” or “I can’t love them because they were wrong”) is a hard thing for many of us…and this film modeled that brilliantly.

This film is Anti-Imperialist as hell 🤍. They stop! The empire ceases to expand! It’s just one line, but my god. Can you imagine telling an American audience—The direct inheritors of Manifest Destiny—“they stayed home, the unknown stayed unknown, and this was good!?” No, “I , the special one get to go.” No, “befriending the hostile other allowed me safe passage into the treasure trove of the unknown.” No, “returning transformed and wealthy from our ‘discovery.’” No, “I decided the other was spiritually/morally superior so I stayed, ‘went native’ and rose to power/authority as a leader/hero in this new context” None of that! Absolutely amazing.

Not too long ago, I got recommended a series of artworks through TikTok. Every single one of their pieces I saw looks so good I have to talk about them using this essay. This great artist goes by the name of Rinotuna. Rinotuna is a Korean illustrator. They are currently teaching Human body drawing and illustration classes at Arteum Academy, but they also freelance on the side, producing many of their creative character design arts (“Illustrator, Rinotuna | Coloso”). 

For all their character design pieces, it is safe to say that their art is metaphorical because the “people” in it are supposed to represent something else. Rinotuna has created many amazing designs but the one that I chose to talk about is one of their more recent pieces.

(The title and the reference will give away too fast on what the girl is supposed to represent so I will put it later.)

From the moment I laid my eyes on this piece, I could not take my eyes off it, no exaggeration. Because the color palette is similar to one another, it gives a sense of unity. At the same time, because of that, not much pops off to the eye right away, so I had to pay extra attention for each element to piece it together. Looking at it quickly, my brain was trying to process as to why the character is in an odd position. The girl is upside down and is supporting herself on a stick, just like a pole dancer. Then I understood why I couldn’t take my eyes off the girl. The skintight black leather, the semitransparent fishnet laced top, the pose that shows her curves and that captivating gaze- all that makes her look very sensual but dangerous. Anyway, what else comes to mind when it comes to alluring movements? For me, it’s snakes; like how they coil around things. 

There’s multiple evidence as to how the girl points to a snake character design, some obvious, some less. As I have mentioned earlier, she is hanging onto a stick. Though, not from just any stick but one with leaves and flowers, so it must be a tree or its branch. On the bottom (or tip of the branch), you see a black apple. A snake on the tree offering apple just like what happened in the bible with the snake and Eve. If that link wasn’t convincing enough, there are two more obvious and literal snake signs. First is the snake motif and pattern on her shoulder sleeves. If you zoom in and rotate upside down, you can see clearly on her left shoulder side that a snake is coiling around an apple with “SIN” engraved on it. The second and final clue that undoubtedly points toward the bible is the “Genesis 3:1”. That bible verse says, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God has made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?’” (Gen. 3.1). There is a definite mention of the animal serpent so that seals the deal with the girl being a personification of a snake. The girl being a snake, the forbidden apple, the grim background all gives the vibe of "danger"

To close, the girl is an obvious embodiment of a snake from every aspect of the composition but, specifically, what snake species is it? Well, it is a black mamba.

Now that you know the reference, I hope that you can agree that this character design is very well done in the sense that it gets the message across to the viewers. Even if the snake and the girl are completely different beings, people can see how much the girl feels like the dangerous black mamba. Honestly, I admire Rinotuna and find them a very creative and skillful illustrator. That goes to say that I will be looking forward to seeing their future creations. 

Citations: 

blackmamba. 2022, www.artstation.com/artwork/X165Xl. 

“Illustrator, Rinotuna | Coloso” Coloso https://coloso.us/illust_webtoon/illustrator-rinotuna-us. 

New International Version. Biblica, 1973, https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%203&version=NIV.  

We’re in an awesome time for manga reading in the West. Physical manga volumes are flying off the shelves in a time when digital reading is becoming more prevalent. TikTok videos featuring manga collections have become a thing.  Anime’s now-uber mainstream popularity in geek culture has helped usher in this new golden age. Yet at the same time, a lot of mainstream manga attention is usually on shonen titles with hit anime adaptations - i.e. My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, Spy x Family, Jujutsu Kaisen, etc. There are outliners like Junji Ito material, but it can sometimes feel like the manga getting recognized by the Western media and comics critics are being highlighted a bit too much over titles full of wonderful stories that aren’t exactly “popular” in the public geek eye.

The manga world’s more than just action series that gets hearts pumping and horror gone viral. There’s many manga titles that not only provide escapism, but provide various perspectives that will make you feel you all kinds of emotions in ways that can make someone a better person. Plus, over time, your tastes and interests may expand and you might look for other manga titles that aren’t mainstream.

I recently read a guide on Psyche called “How to find great films to watch” and in the spirit of that guide (which was really good), I want to do something similar right here.

Imperfect History: Curating the Graphic Arts Collection at Benjamin Franklin’s Public Library, a two-year project funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Graphic Arts Department, explores the development of the Library’s graphics art collection as it relates to historical and cultural biases within American history.

Imperfect History frankly examines the prints, photographs, original works of art on paper, and other graphics that epitomize the evolution of a pivotal public library.