Lecture Nibbles: Western Characters vs. Japanese Characters

One of the things I will be discussing at my lecture "Kawaii Culture: Cuteness in Japan" is the difference in design between the majority of Western cartoon characters and the majority of Japanese cartoon characters.

As the chart above shows, while both sets of mascots are cute, Japanese characters tend to have more infantile characteristics (bigger heads, rounder bodies), as well as characteristics that make them appear more helpless (lack of mouths, stubby limbs, lack of fingers). Even Western characters geared towards young children tend to be more "adolescent" in their designs: articulated limbs, lots of movement, loud/verbose.

As noted above, this affects how the character interacts with its audience- Japanese characters tend to more about the viewer projecting their emotions and desires onto the character; it's the opposite with Western characters. The creators of Hello Kitty have said [similar comments] when asked about Hello Kitty's lack of a mouth: "Hello Kitty speaks from her heart."

Ada Lovelace Day 2009: Susan Kare

[Ada Lovelace Day] is a worldwide blogging event to celebrate the contributions women have made to technology.

Talking about women and technology on a blog devoted to cute things, it's only natural that my post be about computer interface graphic designer Susan Kare.

Remember MS-DOS, a black screen on which you had to input white lines of text to run programs? That was in the days before graphic computer interfaces. Then the Apple Macintosh's classic Mac OS came along and changed all of that, making computers easier to use by replacing command lines with cute, clickable icons.

Those early examples of pixel art were designed by Susan Kare: the "Happy Mac" icon, the Chicago screen typeface, the command symbol, and many of the tool icons still seen in graphics programs such as Photoshop. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College and New York University, Kare worked at Apple as a Creative Director from 1982 to 1985. She went on to do work for other computer companies such as NeXT, IBM and Microsoft (where she designed the graphics for Window 3.0's solitaire game). Currently she is helping to develop the Chumby computer, and has done some icon work for Facebook.

Apple's reputation for cute, nonthreatening computers owes a lot to her pioneering graphic work, and that's why she's my pick for Ada Lovelace Day.

[Susan Kare's Portfolio Site]
[Wiki entry]
[Interview with Susan Kare]

Lecture Nibbles: Japan's Cute Ambassadors

Up to the time of AnimeBoston, I will be posting little details and links of topics I will be discussing at my lecture "Kawaii Culture: Cuteness in Japan."

While they already have Hello Kitty as a tourism ambassador to China and Taiwan, [Japan has picked a new trio of cute young woman] to act as its cultural ambassadors at Paris' Japan Expo in July.

Touchy-Feely 2.0

The Twitter bird and the Fail Whale. The cheery blue Livejournal pencil. Even the Blogger "B" icon is kinda cute. These friendly logos are like a beacon of light in the vast, tangled jungle of the Internet, signaling where users can sit down and relax in their little online homes.

A quick survey on social networking and blogging site logos reveals several popular themes: rounded corners, simplified human forms, and blue. Lots and lots of calming blue. Air-y and cute, they're a perfect compliment to posts about your pet cat and recent trip to the sushi restaurant.

The names of many of these sites are cute, too. "Twitter" pulls up images of a sparrow chirping merrily. Others like Facebook and Myspace emphasis the personal nature of profile pages, literally transporting your real life into html and CSS code.

But as social networking sites move from the personal to the professional and political, will these cute icons and names suffice? Or will their novel nature be dropped as twittering and uploading photos to Flickr become a common fact of life?