TYPOCUTESY

There are peculiarities in the Asian visual landscape. A very specific ocular discourse, but within this there is a particularly strong fondness for a certain kind of expression - the Cult of Cute. This cult of cute has been widely discussed over the past decade, most often focused on Japan, but this is a global phenomenon, just much more keenly observed across East Asia. With a kaleidoscope of manga, cosplay, lolitta, gamer culture, pachinko and porn, Japan is easily identified as the high temple of imaginations running wild; kitsch, bizarre, a little wrong sometimes, but fundamentally very often 'cute'. In Japan this is known as Kawaii.

China is equally drawn to this form of expression. From the bubble font used on the ubiquitous video portal Youku.com, to the anime avatars created by the Public Security Bureau, JingJing and ChaCha*. These two represent a rather unsettling image of protectors of the people as bug-eyed, adolescents; an internet-monitoring, crime-busting, avatar duo. Trust, obey.

“Authority figures often put on displays of cuteness to reach out to the masses.”

(Garger, I. 2007, Global Psyche: One Nation Under Cute)

What is this fascination with cute? Well there are a couple of signifiers that lead to it. First of all, in societies where there is a certain degree of emotional repression, as is unquestionably the case in East Asian countries like China and Japan; socialisation relies on deference to your seniors and authority figures. Carrying a demeanour of childlike innocence, an emotional dependence on others is often seen to be triggering sympathy as a form of respect. This is particularly true of Japan, but still very present in Chinese society. The social ceremonial traditions are much less rigid in China, but these same hierarchies do exist. Where the adult world presents certain social and emotional restrictions there will be a certain amount of introversion. This circumstance allows for the obsessions with gaming, cosplay and other ‘behind closed doors’ ways of letting your inner being loose.

An aspect of this cutesy state of mind has been termed pedamorphosis - a retention of child-like characteristics. Moving around Asian city streets and riding the subway, you are surrounded by ads that play on a fixation with youth and the inferred sense of fun and abandon this represents. There are obsessions with animated worlds - see the Chinese box office takings for Transformers the movie, or indeed the door panels of middle-aged LGV drivers festooned with Optimus Prime decals; anthropomorphic baubles hanging from cellphones, querky thumb drives, if not in fact whole backpacks in the form of turtle shells or lego blocks, and furry hats with ears, there are many many signs that cuteness is en vogue in East Asia, and not just for the kids. 

A second factor is the sight of a baby, which causes an involuntary feeling of great joy in most of us (unless you are of the psychopathic persuasion). A chemical reaction takes place and our brains light up when we are confronted with said infant because we are ALL actually hard-wired to nurture and protect our offspring, therefore it provokes a softening and compliance in us that is actually hard to fight for most, even when the offspring are not of our own bloodline. This translates into the world of visual communication where, if in fact a baby is not literally present, then form, texture and colour palettes that allow us to draw connections with that emotional response toward babies is often employed. Examples of this are over-sized heads and eyes (in figurative human representations) and overall plumpness of form, amongst other things all reminiscent of a baby. 

To illustrate this, by far the most ubiquitous ornamental deity you will see around China is that of the ‘laughing Buddha’. Whats not to like? He’s grinning from ear to ear, has comically oversized features, a big round belly, usually rendered reclining and at ease, the classic representation of health, wealth and happiness. This is quite a celebrated and still prized physical form that many parents actually encourage in their kids - one fifth of Chinese kids are clinically obese according to recent reports. Maybe this is some conscious, strange attempt to maintain these cherished baby-like proportions as the child grows, maybe not, but at least I am confident it is the above stated associations that make him easy on the eyes of those doting, spoon-weilding Asian parents and grandparents. 

LET'S GET TO IT THEN

These points basically led me to observe that in typographic and isologotype selections, as with many other arenas in the Chinese visual landscape, there is a real trend toward injecting said cuteness. Precisely because the Gestalt of softer, rounder, chubbier strokes, and in some cases overall proportions of characters, combined with either candy colouring or other vibrant palettes, stimulate associations with childhood. I wanted to test this theory. This phenomenon, as stated, is witnessed throughout the streets of East Asia, but let me share a very simple and controlled research observation: I spent a day combing the length of one of Beijing’s busy kilometre-long city centre shopping streets. The aim was to catalogue how many instances of ‘cute’ were to be found in the shop front signage, logo design and typographic choices in their branding. Results show that in at least sixty percent of the businesses along this stretch, there were definite ‘cuteness markers’ on display.

THE EVIDENCE 

The demands of Chinese characters to be rendered legibly - both simplified and especially traditional forms, usually dictates a careful stroke and clean, often fine, or in modern simplified renderings,  squared off line. The other typical presentation is that of more cursive esoteric script, especially for businesses seeking to portray a ‘traditional’ or heritage slant, restaurants often run this. Further still there is some play with the various historical incarnations of the written form, ‘large seal script’, ‘clerical script’ to name just two, but what I was able to confirm is that no matter what the business type; from musical instruments, to pets, to convenience stores, apparel, DIY, the signage presented a friendly, cutesy type selection. By friendly I mean the opposite of commercial or corporate, either presented in an uber-heavy line, bubblegum colour palette, bubble-letter form (bloated, no sharp corners), drop-shadowed comic book header and indeed iso-logotypes with out-and-out cutesy graphic elements - cartoon mascots or other iconography. I collected photos of over 60 instances in a street that contains a little over one hundred shop fronts. 

IN CONCLUSION 

This missive should accomplish two things. First it is to illustrate that Gestalt on a basic level is how we make sense of the world, beyond joining the dots in the literal visual sense, it is also how we draw intellectual conclusions about stimuli based on social and cultural learned norms. Second, by looking at this case study of ‘cute’ branding in Chinese small businesses, we can recognise the Gestalt principles at work; whereby the pedamorphic socialisation many Asian citizens grow up within, prepares a well defined visual hook for branding professionals to hang identities and broad visual comms on, tying together the cognitive processes of form recognition and intellectual inference. 

I believe this observation very clearly represents a link between our ability to perceive visual elements and form emotional responses. Knowing what we know about how our perception of things works, and how we apply the Gestalt principles in our reading of form, it is also easy to acknowledge how connections are made, memories and associations triggered on the intellectual level where these recognition principles equally apply. 

While the observations cited in this - let's be honest, rather whimsical and rigorless case study - are referencing mainly small-scale independent enterprises, it does also exist in the national and internationally prolific brands as well. In some of these cases, the physical forms did not all betray similarity, but in those cases there were other contributing factors that tapped into the Cult of Cute. The desired response from the businesses presenting their moniker in this manner is simply to catch the eye and draw in custom and this is happening regardless of whether their product has any relation to youth culture, let alone actual infant or child-related merchandise. I believe that despite the obvious appeals to a certain generational demographic, cuteness does have much wider appeal. Also, though this is a widely documented Asian phenomenon, it is not exclusively so. Western audiences are equally pleased by imagery and iconography that is playful, youthful and pedamorphic. Western audiences are equally prone to getting wobbly-kneed and goo-goo-ga-ga over imagery that stimulates the nurturing instinct. 

Austere and overtly formal type use in brand marks and related graphics present a certain image that will imply class, sophistication, sincerity and so on, but I do wonder if, presented with two equivalent products or services, one branded thus and the other presented in candy-colored bubble-type, there will be a very different appeal and arguably a more powerful inherent leaning toward the latter. On many levels, I would hazard, this cult of cute definitely extends internationally as well. Just how far can this basic pedamorphic instinct be put to work? What manner of distinctly adult-oriented message might we apply it? A further exploration would be interesting to tag just how many other products, branding and message was being carried on the back of cartoon avatars, pudgy type or candy colour palettes? Something for the future, when I have a slow minute perhaps.