Animal Symbolism of the Trademarks and Trade Characters - Cultural influences of the animal symbols

  • Kim Hyun-Jee (Seoul National University, Department of Visual Communication Design)
  • Published : 2006.05.01

Abstract

People have their own cultural backgrounds and experiences in terms of visual perceptional thinking so that they could misunderstand the cultural symbols, trademarks, Brand Identities, and trade characters, especially, animal trademarks. Sometimes Easterners and Westerners seem to not comprehend the different meanings of the cultural symbols. The signs of twelve Chinese zodiac animals are the typical symbol of the Asian mythology. What I wanted to focus on emphasizing the different views and perspective of an animal trademark is according to the Chinese Zodiac between Eastern and Western cultures. Generally, multiple symbolisms are difficult to comprehend, because they are created by individual ideas and incorporate several mythologies and histories. How do Westerners interpret the implied meaning of Eastern animals in general? How are they going to understand the Eastern animal logos or marks accurately? How can we solve the problem to make people understand their different meanings? There were some confusing pictorial images in the area of the design field when a designer creates an animal mark for globalization and localization. Creating of hybrid symbol is the best way to break the communication barriers with people all around the world.

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