How Many Humanity Elements Are Needed for Design of Character?
Year: 2015
Editor: Amaresh Chakrabarti, Toshiharu Taura and Yukari Nagai
Author: Sakamoto, K.; Hamasaki, F.
Institution: 1Kyoto Instisute ofTechnology, Kyoto, Japan
Section: Models and Frameworks for Design Creativity
Page(s): 104-111
ISBN: 978-1-904670-60-5
Abstract
In the unique culture of Japanese characterization, personification is a prominent technique. This technique has become increasingly popular in Japan over the past few decades. It involves attributing human-like characteristics to inanimate objects. There are two categories to this technique – personification via verbal language, and personification via modeled characters. In this research, the two categories of personification are defined as linguistic personification and model personification respectively. In Japan, model personification has seen extensive development due to influences from pop culture, namely from Japanese comics and animation. Model personification can further be subdivided into two categories: models created by adding human characteristics such as limbs and mouths to inanimate objects, and models created to fully resemble a human being. The objective of this research is to study, “the levels of personification” in Japanese advertising. Specifically, I aim to explore the effects of this, both positive and negative, on consumers. The paper focuses on the basic element of model personification, i.e., personification of illustrated figures but not modeled characters used in animations.
Keywords: levels of personification, character culture, advertising effectiveness