The Four-Tierred Class System of Feudal Japan - Visual Breakdown

The era in which I draw most cultural influence for this project is Japan. In particular, between the 12th and 19th century of feudal Japan, where the elaborate tier system divided the people both structurally and aesthetically.  I decided to study this region in particular based on the wide diversity of influence and visuals available. In addition to this, I believe this era of Japan has the strongest recognizable shape language, which makes for strong concepts.

On beginning this research, I realised just how vast the Japanese Feudal era really was.
The below pyramid represents the complex hierarchy in which this era adhered to.

This is a fairly extensive list of classes, so below I have collated each individual class into a more manageable 4 categories. For aesthetic reasons, the highest rank I am researching at the moment is samurai. The reason being that the character I am designing will not be an emperor, shogun or daimyo, as Jack is seen to be of average to poor in status, ranging from variations of the Giant Killer tale.

Samurai

Samurai and their Lords (Daimyo) wielded vast power and wealth, thus are the highest class in feudal japanese society. Each Daimyo would own an area of land, and an army of samurai to command. These samurai would answer only to their Daimyo, and this lord would only answer to their military leader, a Shogun.

Visual Aspect:

Samurai would traditionally wear wide-legged pants known as Hakama. First worn by samurai horseman in order to protect their legs. They are similar to the wide leather pants worn by cowboys, but made from thick fabric. Hakama were originally used as functional armour, but later were worn as a sign of status to distinguish those of power.
The samurai often wore a long jacket known as a Kataginu. These were long sleeveless jackets with padded shoulders, and this ensemble was often completed with a silk cord belt.

Famers/Peasants

Interestingly enough, below the Samurai in this tier system are the farmers and peasants. They were considered an honoured class, as they supplied every class with the necessary food and supplies to live. Despite this, farmers were taxed hugely by their lords for most of the era, often not being permitted to consume their own produce.

Visual Aspect:

Despite being a valued class, farmers and peasants predominantly wore rough wool or linen. These were often handmade, and served as their primary item of clothing every day. Men wore tunics and long stockings, usually red, brown or grey in colour. In colder months, they would wear cloaks made from leather and wool, or a large rice straw poncho known as a Mino.

Artisans

Artisans produced many necessary goods including clothing, cooking utensils, farm tools, and ship anchors. Even the prestigious swordmakers who were charged with forging powerful samurai blades were considered below farmers and peasants.

Visual Aspect:

The artisans wore similarly styled clothing to peasants, basic kimonos made from rough wool or linen. Like the farmers, artisans were valued for their work but not paid as so.

Merchants

Unlike our current society, merchants were considered the lowest of the tier system. Merchants were often hated for their self-beneficial traits, often profiting from the artesans and peasants above them. Merchants were forced to live in a separate area of the city, and were forbidden to interact with any of the other class tiers on subjects that did not contain business.

Visual Aspect:

Dark coloured kimono similar to peasants and artisans.

Character design studies were created from these findings. They combine the newly utilized visual culture knowledge and my own personal character style to create new and interesting designs. These concepts will then be taken forward for use in higher-polished concept work, or used to create character turnarounds.

Cultural Appropriation and the Arts - James Young

Whilst searching for materials in my field, I discovered an interesting journal by James Young.

What is a culture?
Young attempts to explain the essence, of culture, and leads with saying it is "a set of beliefs, achievements, customs and so on that is characteristic of a group of people".

Artists are constantly pulling from cultures outside of their own for inspiration and design elements.
Traditional painters such as Picasso have used motifs which originate in African carvings. Musicians are notorious for borrowing and appropriating jazz and blues styles originally developed from African-American culture. For years, the film industry has attempted to do the same. Dreamworks' Road to El Dorado and Disney's Pocahontas are prime examples for these.

These examples of cultural appropriation and others alike have sparked controversy throughout all media platforms. There are both ethical and aesthetic issues that occur when cultural appropriation occurs as an art form. It can be argued that to produce art through cultural appropriation is immoral, as stereotyping can occur, as well as misinterpretation of the original culture.

"The aesthetic failure of certain artworks may cause them to be wrongly harmful to members of a culture. (The work may, for example, misrepresent the originating culture in a harmful way.)" However, many acts of this can be seen as honoring culture, resulting in artworks of value.

This is relevant to my area of research, as through practical methodology I shall be taking influence from non-western cultures to inspire conceptual development pieces. It is important that the work produced is not ethically offensive, which could occur through visual stereotyping. In addition to this, it will also be important to consider the design from a researched and learned standpoint, as Young stresses the importance of accurate representation, and discusses the Cultural Experience Argument.

This argument is based on the premise that in order for an individual to successfully appropriate a cultural style, the artist must have experience as a member of this culture. Young explains this view as "living as a member of a given culture is the necessary condition of being able to create successful works of the types developed by the culture". A harsh argument from an artists point of view, as if true it would essentially limit their creative content to whatever local culture was available.  This point of view is often found in the music industry, with the argument that a musician cannot properly learn the blues unless they experienced the lifestyle of black men in America. Young quotes the blues musician LeRoi Jones; "the idea of a white blues singer seems an even more violent contradiction of terms than the idea of a middle-class blues singer. The materials of blues were not available to the white American".

Whether this argument holds true is based solely on opinion, at least in the concern of musical taste. Whilst it is true that blues originated in African-American culture, does this limit the success of blues musicians beyond this culture? The Cultural Experience argument appears to agree with this. It is true to say that blues music originated from the slavery and eventual freedom of black slaves. These songs and this style of music was created as a response to the experiences of this men.

The Cultural Experience argument concludes that artists (at least in the music realm) who do not have the experience or previous knowledge of a culture are almost certain to produce works of poor quality. Jesse Steinberg in his book "Blues - Thinking Deep About Feeling Low", states that "blues as a whole has become "diluted" under the influence of it's white consumers and performers", which further backs up the Cultural Experience Argument as far as blues is concerned. It seems that the cultural appropriation of blues music is less about the finished product (whether the song is harmonious or dissonant), and more about the origin and experience of the artist. It is hard to apply this argument to further subjects, as it condemns the vast majority of artists who draw inspiration from foreign culture. Simply because an artist is not from a particular culture, this does not necessarily have any condemning factors in their ability to create beautiful work.

Young goes on to discuss two methods of cultural appropriation, innovative and non-innovative appropriation. In simple terms, innovative cultural appropriation draws inspiration from a style without obvious replication. It is to draw influence and knowledge from a culture, and use aspects to improve the work being created. Bluntly replicating a culture that is not familiar or known to the artist can result in non-innovative appropriation, and can be received negatively. "We would have an example of such appropriation if an American performer were to attempt to enter into the tradition of Japanese epic ballad recitation by chanting (in Japanese) the Tale of the Heike while accompanying himself on a biwa" This ties in with my previous post on stereotypes.



Visual Culture Studies Journal: http://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/28934_Smith___Introduction.pdf

Cultural Appropriation and The Arts - James Young file:///D:/Cultural_Appropriation_and_the_Arts.pdf

Thinking Deep About Feeling Low: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZT0dUgzmtL4C&pg=PA162&lpg=PA162&dq=white+people+can%27t+play+blues&source=bl&ots=1yq7RkxRDd&sig=Wm6RpPM8N1HHdSVaHJTqm9KuFmw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAjgKahUKEwiwrdq3honJAhXB0h4KHRmsAn4#v=onepage&q=white%20people%20can't%20play%20blues&f=false

Semiotics in Design

Semiotics in any form is the study of sign and symbols. It is commonly associated with language, and the study of how words and symbols create meaning. In literal terms, a Sign within semiotics is essentially anything that does not represent it's own self, but something else. This week i've been reading the dissertation of Faye Williams (2015), "Semiotics in Video Games: The impact of player choice on character design". In particular, I was interested in the subjects of semiotics in character design, and how I can use the same knowledge to apply symbolism and iconography to my entire concept design work.

A physical representation of semiotics is this art piece, "One and Three Chairs" by Joseph Kosuth.
It features a physical chair, an image of the same chair, and a mounted dictionary definition of the word "chair". This piece is a little "out there" for me, but it does a decent job showing what i'm talking about,

Within this, Kosuth has physically represented the stages of a Sign;

The Signifier - This is the object, item or thing that we "read" = FORM
The Signified - This is the concept or idea that it represents  = CONCEPT

An example of this would be

• a signifier: the word open;
• a signified concept: that the shop is open for business (Chandler, 1995)

Visual Semiotics

Visual semiotics can be found in almost every form of art and media. In particular, i'm interested in how these signs can be used in the design stage of concept art, in order to further increase realism, depth and storytelling. "Almost every culture, religion and demographic maintains signifiers that denote the bearer as a member of that group" (Christopher, 2013). Constantly we are surrounded by humans who bear their clothing and appearance in order to further confirm their own belief.
In character design specifically, it is important to integrate the narrative visually on the character.
In video games, the role of the main character is to connect with the player, enhance the narrative and create a believable experience. So naturally, it is important to ensure that the character(s) are visually infused with every aspect of their own story.

As my own character designs for this project are asian-inspired currently, in the follow up to this post I plan to study and research particular time periods of feudal Japan and other areas that interest me visually, in order to further understand the signs and symbols I should be incorporating, as well as the existing semiotics surrounding traditional asian attire.

Archetypes and Stereotypes  

When applying visual semiotics in character design, is it important to understand the difference between what we see as an archetype, and a stereotype.
An archetype (particularly in game/film), is a recurring character, symbol or theme that the audience can recognise, An an example, these can be Hero, Villain, Victim, Healer, often based on their appearance and interactions. Often, these designs can slip into the uncomfortable realm of stereotypes. "In considering archetypes, it is therefore important that we acknowledge that they are a means of framing characters in terms of their narrative roles and behaviors, and that we should be cautious in attempting to use them as blunt instruments" (Sloan, pg 119).

An archetype can be applied with subtlety, allowing the audience to recognise the characters purpose without the use of limited visual tropes. When these tropes become immediately recogniseable, the type can become a stereotype. "The problem with this level of expectation, is predictability" (Parker, pg.88, 1999). Visually, if a character is immediately recogniseable in both Archetype and Stereotype sense (as characters often have aspects of both elements), they become boring. It is much more interesting to try and mix this up a little.

How I can use this:

Using the materials I have found (and continue to find), I can utilize visual semiotics when considering character design, and use the idea of object semiotics to further improve my design process. This will in turn allow my concepts to be more believable, in-depth and readable.

Presentation!

Presentation Link