Content uploaded by Douglas Menegazzi
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Douglas Menegazzi on Sep 30, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
Content uploaded by Gabriela Sá
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Gabriela Sá on Jul 04, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
348 CONFIA . International Conference on Ilustration & Animation
Viana do Castelo . Portugal . June 2019 . ISBN: 978-989-54489-1-3
Visual Development Processes
for a Multicultural Storytelling Tool
Gabriela Sá1, Douglas Menegazzi2,
Ana Paula Caruso3, and Cristina Sylla4
{gabrielasa, douglasmenegazzi, anapaulacaruso, cristinasylla}@mobeybou.com
[Drawing and Video Games / Desenho e Videojogos]
Abstract
This paper presents the evolution of the visual development process for
Mobeybou, a digital manipulative that aims at promoting multicultural
awareness through creative storytelling. It presents children with a variety
of characters, objects and landscapes from various cultures around the
world. Here, we reect on three dierent approaches of the visual devel-
opment, and on how to eectively create visual elements that represent a
given culture, which have the potential to foster the children’s imagination
and creativity. The rst approach was carried out by a single illustrator
and was mainly informed by research on the web. It was time ecient and
resulted in the creation of visual elements that may have been too obvious.
The second one took longer, had more input from other team members
and often resorted to pop culture as reference; the resulting visual elements
were easily identied by the children, probably because they depicted
somewhat stereotyped representations. The third approach was a collabo-
rative process from the start, that relied heavily on the opinions and insight
of people who were born and raised in the country being represented. It
resulted in a more complex relationship between the visuals and the culture
they portrayed, which was potentially enriching for the viewer but may
hamper the immediate identication of the culture.
1. Introduction
This paper presents the evolution of the visual development process for
Mobeybou, a digital manipulative, that targets pre and primary school
children and aims to foster the development of language and narrative
competences, while promoting multicultural awareness, through creative
storytelling. Digital manipulatives are objects with embedded computa-
tional properties that enable the manipulation of digital content (Resnick
1998). Mobeybou, uses physical blocks to interact with the digital content.
The tool presents children with a variety of characters, objects and land-
scapes from various cultures around the world. Consequently, it fosters
the creation of multicultural narratives and empowers children with
diverse cultural backgrounds to create and share their own stories [1].
1 & 4 University of Minho, Research Centre on Child Studies, Braga, Portugal.
2 Federal University of Santa Catarina, Department of Graphic Expression and Design, Florianópolis,
Santa Catarina, Brazil.
3 Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, School of Design, Barcelos, Portugal.
Keywords
Visual Development,
Multiculturalism,
Representation.
349
[Drawing and Video Games / Desenho e Videojogos] · VISUAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESSESFOR A MULTICULTURAL STORYTELLING TOOL
Gabriela Sá, Douglas Menegazzi,Ana Paula Caruso, and Cristina Sylla · {gabrielasa, douglasmenegazzi, anapaulacaruso, cristinasylla}@mobeybou.com
Mobeyb ou is compo sed of an electronic b oard that co nnects to a com-
puter via USB, and a set of physical blocks, which can be placed on the board
to trigger the respective visualization on the device’s screen. The narratives
unfold according to the combination of blocks that are placed on the board.
So far, we have developed three sets of blocks, representing the cultures of
India, China and Brazil. Each set is composed of seven elements: two pro-
tagonists (a boy and a girl), an animal, a mythical creature (who serves as the
antagonist in the narrative), a landscape, a musical instrument and a magical
object. These elements are representative of native components of the coun-
try or are inspired by the folklore, traditions and mythology of the culture.
There is also a separate group of blocks that represent atmospheric conditions
(night, snow, storm, rainbow, wind and rain), which aect the environment of
the story (e.g. the rain block triggers a rain eect on the device’s screen). The
children can mix and match the va rious elemen ts from the dierent cultures
to create unique stories of their own. The experience of intertwined cultural
elements potentially promotes multiculturalism, as children visualize how
rich – both visual an d content-wise – the intercultural experie nce can be.
At the same time, we are developing a complementary app about
each country and its culture, so that the children can learn more about
the elements present in the digital manipulative. The app presents a story
and small games for each country, that reference the meaning behind the
characters and the objects present in the storytelling tool; thus, adding
value to the whole of the multicultural experience.
The present work is a reection on three dierent approaches to the
process of visual development, i.e. the creation of all visual elements that
constitute the digital component of the tool. Here, we reect upon the
development process in order to understand how can we represent and
honor a country and its culture, with such a limited number of elements,
on a limited time frame, considering animation restrictions, without
resorting to stereotypes and clichés.
2. Different Approaches to the Visual Development Process
2.1. The Development of the Indian Visual Elements
The Indian set was the rst to be created (see Fig. 1), its development
process represents the rst design approach, which was carried out in a
short period of time by a single illustrator. The creation of the set began
with an online research of the Indian country, which included the search
for traditional tales, customs and food, main religions, geographical infor-
mation and common cultural practices that were unique to India; all ac-
companied by abundant visual references5. A selection process took place
to decide which information could be used to compose the nal group of
seven elements. There were very few initial sketches and the nal design
was achieved quickly. The nal versions were then presented to the team;
5 This is common practice for the visual development phase, as is described, for example in The Art of
Brave [2] -– the artists carried out research trips to Scotland to gather information and visual references
for their story – and in The Art of Tangled [3] – the artists gathered information and visual references of
medieval Europe and were inspired by other artworks that referred to their theme.
350 CONFIA . International Conference on Ilustration & Animation
Viana do Castelo . Portugal . June 2019 . ISBN: 978-989-54489-1-3
up until this moment, the illustrator worked virtually alone. The team
decided on a few small alterations and all the elements were optimized
for the animation process. The Indian set helped to establish a look that
would guide the creation of the next sets.
This rst approach was quick and eective, relying solely on the
research made by an individual, whose choices were inevitably inuenced
by biases and predetermined ideas about the country and its culture. This
resulted in visuals that have a strong connection to the traditional – and
perhaps stereotyped – aspects of India.
The Indian animal, whom we named Hati, is an elephant whose
design was inspired by the decorated animals of the Elephant Festival in
Jaipur [4]. Elephants have long been revered in India; Ganesha, the Hindu
god with an elephant head, is one of the most known and worshiped dei-
ties across Asia; kings appeared mounted on adorned elephants to dazzle
their subjects and arm their power [4]. However, painting and parad-
ing elephants has also been associated with ethical questions about the
mistreatment of these animals [4, 5].
The Indian antagonist Nagi (meaning the female naga) was based
on the legend of nagas – semi divine beings of Indian mythology that can
shapeshift between human and serpent form [6]. These mythical creatures
are potentially dangerous, but often benecial to humans, and appear fre-
quently as door guardians of temples. Nagi’s design depicts a colorful cobra,
who does not transform itself, that looks both, menacing and fun.
The rst idea for t he Indian musical instrument was a sitar6, but due to
animation constraints, it was decided that we would use a pungi instead, since
it is smaller and easier to equip on the characters. A pungi is an Indian ute
made from a gourd that is mainly associated with snake charmers. This is
considered an ancient practice that involved housing a snake in a basket and
playing the pungi, making it look like the snake was transxed on the instru-
ment. However, as it is done today, snake charming may involve animal cru-
elty and has been targeted by laws prohibiting the p ossession of snakes [7].
6 A sitar is a long-plucked string instrument that is played sitting on the oor.
Fig. 1. India’s group
of elements and the
pattern that we have
created and associated
with it.
351
[Drawing and Video Games / Desenho e Videojogos] · VISUAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESSESFOR A MULTICULTURAL STORYTELLING TOOL
Gabriela Sá, Douglas Menegazzi,Ana Paula Caruso, and Cristina Sylla · {gabrielasa, douglasmenegazzi, anapaulacaruso, cristinasylla}@mobeybou.com
The Indian object is a pair of jutti – shoes crafted in leather with
extensive embroidery work, made with gold and silver thread [8]. When
equipped on a character, the juttis make him/her oat. This eect is not
directly related to the history of the object; in fact, the idea came from
preliminary studies that were done with a group of 3rd graders [1], who
suggested this particular interaction.
Meera, the Indian female protagonist, has a long black braid, wears a
red bindi on her forehead and a shalwar kameez – a garment consisting of
a tunic and loose trousers that narrow at the ankle. Traditionally, women
would also wear a dupatta – a light fabric scarf; however, it was not in-
cluded in the design. Rajesh, the male protagonist, also has black hair and
wears the same shalwar (loose trousers) with a kurta (a collarless shirt).
In order to optimize the animation process, the two characters’ garments
have the exact same silhouette. Although the top garments should realisti-
cally have dierent lengths, their current design allowed the animator to
create a single animation that was applied to both.
The Indian landscape was inspired by photographs of Indian palaces,
with ornamented columns and tiled oors. Some of the landscape ele-
ments are decorated with a pattern that are depicted on Rajesh’s tunic,
similar to the decorations on the pungi and on Hati’s back.
2.2. The Development of the Chinese Visual Elements
The second set we created was the Chinese (see Fig. 2), which took
longer and had more input from the other team members. The initial
research was done, as explained before, resorting to children’s
books and movies as inspiration. Although most final designs were
achieved quickly, there was a more extensive exploration of visual
options than before.
The design of the Chinese animal – Gugu, a giant panda – was the
element that took the longest to be completed. We tried out several
initial sketches, representing dierent possibilities of shape and size,
and the nal design emerged out of a collaborative process. The giant
panda is a Chinese native animal, whose conservation status is currently
vulnerable; meaning pandas remain scattered and low-numbered in
the wild [9]. Gugu’s presence in the story world will potentially create
an even stronger empathy towards this world-wide loved animal and
allow children to learn more about the species, through the interactive
app. The only embellishments on Gugu’s body are discreet yellow lines
around its paws. However, next to the other characters’ in the group it
did not stand out, so we added a red conical hat, with yellow details.
This type of hat is present all over Asia, being a useful tool to keep
laboring people in rice paddies protected from the sun and rain [10]. The
conical hat has been used in lm and other media to imply an ethnic
type, connoting a vague representation of people of Asian origins, but
often associated with Vietnam and the laboring peasant class. It is an
element present in animation movies like the Kung Fu Panda trilogy [11,
12, 13] (Po, Crane and half the panda village use them); but also, in live-
action movies, like Big Trouble in Little China [14].
352 CONFIA . International Conference on Ilustration & Animation
Viana do Castelo . Portugal . June 2019 . ISBN: 978-989-54489-1-3
It was decided that all the protagonists would have the same general
design, as a way to make production more ecient and to allow the chil-
dren who use the tool to immediately identify them. This accelerated and
facilitated the process of designing Xiao Li (the Chinese female character)
and Ju Long (the Chinese male character), who besides having a similar
design to their Indian counterparts, have the exact same silhouette as
one another. They both have black straight hair and pale white skin. Xiao
Li has her hair in two buns, a hairstyle commonly called ox horns. This
hairstyle was widely popularized by pop culture characters like Chun Li
(from Street Fighter [16]).
The characters’ attire was inspired by traditional clothing items like
the cheongsam – a tting dress worn by women – and the changshan – a
dress or tunic worn by men. The combination of a straight-cut loosed-
sleeve tunic with dark pants and shoes was inspired by the garments of
famous Bruce Lee movie characters [17, 18]. We chose shades of red for
the protagonists’ clothing since it was a color that appeared frequently in
our research; often connected to Chinese New Year’s traditions.
The Chinese antagonist is Nian, a re-spitting red creature, that
resembles the at-faced lion statues guarding Chinese Buddhist temples,
as well as the papier-mâché costumes of the traditional lion dance, usually
performed by a pair of acrobatic Kung Fu students [19:114]. The legend
that inspired the creation of our character tells the story of a creature who
would come down from the mountains, every year, to devour people from
the village and damage their crops. There are dierent accounts of the
legend: some say the monster was lion-like and was scared away with loud
noises, re and the color red [20, 21]; others say the villagers created a lion
costume with paper and bamboo that was used to scare the creature away
[19:114]. These legends explain the beginning of Chinese New Year’s
traditions, like the reworks and the use of red garments – referenced in
our character through its ery nature and look.
The Chinese musical instrument we chose is a pipa, a short-necked
Chinese lute. The pipa’s size and shape make it a good option to overcome
animation restrictions. Its design was kept simple; the only addition being
the scale pattern on its wooden body. This pattern is repeated in Xiao Li’s
Fig. 2. China’s group
of elements and some
of Xiao Li’s outt itera-
tions.
353
[Drawing and Video Games / Desenho e Videojogos] · VISUAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESSESFOR A MULTICULTURAL STORYTELLING TOOL
Gabriela Sá, Douglas Menegazzi,Ana Paula Caruso, and Cristina Sylla · {gabrielasa, douglasmenegazzi, anapaulacaruso, cristinasylla}@mobeybou.com
tunic, in Nian’s body, in Gugu’s hat and in some elements of the land-
scape. The pattern repetition creates a visual cue that helps to identify
which elements are from the same culture.
The Chinese object is the hand fan; it is still used today in dance,
martial art performances and as a decorative item. Through time, hand
fans evolved from simple accessory to artwork, and were used as canvases
for poems, calligraphy, painting and embroidery [22]. They have also been
popularized as martial arts accessories and weapons, by characters such
as Kitana (from Mortal Kombat [15]). In the story world, the fan is used to
protect the protagonists, similarly to a weapon, by creating a hurricane
that knocks out the antagonists. The idea for this eect also came from
the preliminary studies with children. The design of the fan is simple: red
with a yellow dragon; in the same color palette as the other Chinese ele-
ments. We chose to depict a dragon because it is an inseparable symbol of
the Chinese culture: from the zodiac sign to the dragon dance, it is a sym-
bol of auspiciousness and prosperity present in Chinese legends, festivals
and art throughout the world [23, 24].
This group’s landscape was inspired by Chinese paintings, as the
ones done by landscape artists such as Zhan Ziqian, Fan Kuan and Qi
Baishi, whose works often depict top-rounded tall mountains near lakes
or rivers – much like the landscapes one would nd at Yangshuo County,
another one of our visual references. We decorated the landscape with
houses, red paper lanterns and common Chinese plants, like bamboo and
pilea peperomioides – also known as Chinese money plant.
2.3. The Development of the Brazilian Visual Elements
The third and most recent set we have worked on was the Brazilian (see
Fig.3). The approach to the development of the Brazilian elements was
dierent from the two previously mentioned, as two members of the team
were born and lived in Brazil, which made this approach to the visual
development a collaborative process from the start. There was a period of
individual research, but the design choices relied heavily on the Brazilian
members’ opinions and insight. Most elements of the set went through
dozens of iterations and the team gathered every day to discuss them.
This made the process much slower than the previous approaches and led
the illustrator to create a much greater volume of work.
When creating the design of this group’s protagonists, we considered
the fact that, despite the great ethnic and racial variety in Brazil, the major-
ity of the population (54.9% out of approximately 205 million people [25])
identify themselves as being pardo7 or “black”. This prompted us to use a
darker skin color for the human characters. However, to further highlight
Brazil’s ethnic diversity, we chose a dierent skin tone for each protagonist,
and so Kauê (the Brazilian male protagonist) is darker-skinned than Iara
(his female counterpart); both their names derive from indigenous tradi-
tions. They both have curly hair, since this is a common phenotype in Brazil.
7 Pardo is an adjective used to describe something of undened color, between yellow and brown shades,
often used as a synonym of mulato – someone with brown skin, descent of parents of dierent ethnicities,
e.g. Caucasian mother and black father, or vice-versa.
354 CONFIA . International Conference on Ilustration & Animation
Viana do Castelo . Portugal . June 2019 . ISBN: 978-989-54489-1-3
We did no t d esi gn th e B raz ili an pro ta gon ist s w ear ing tr adi ti ona l f olk -
loric costumes because the Brazilian members of our team thought it would
be unrepresentative of their culture, since traditions vary widely across the
country (this argument could be applied to the other two countries, India
and China, with the latter being even bigger than Brazil, but we did not have
the knowledge or insight to pursue this question further when we designed
the elements for the previous groups). We also rejected the idea of dressing
them as natives from the Amazonian forest; either option would narrow
the rich multicultural diversity of Brazil, according to the members of our
team, who were forceful in defending a less segregated or stereotyped
view of Brazilian culture. They then suggested that we should dress the
protagonists in contemporary summer clothes, like t-shirt, shorts, dress and
ip-op sandals, in bright colorful patterns. The patterns we created depict
some of the country’s most well-known tropical fruits, like guaraná, pineap-
ple, banana and papaya. These design choices are aligned with the motto
of one of the country’s most famous brand, Havaianas, for it embodies
“Brazil’s fun, vibrant & spontaneous way of life” [26].
Following the line of thought that led us to create summer wear for
the protagonists, we created a beach landscape, an inevitable association
made with Brazil. However, after some team discussions and by sugges-
tion of the Brazilian team members, we developed a second option that
represented a Northern Brazilian scenario, near the Amazon forest. It
depicts the rain forest, a river, a boat and palatas. These are “oating
houses” made of wood-suspended frames, that stand on ooded soils or
rivers; therefore, common in the regions of the Amazon basin [27].
The antagonist of this group is a boi-de-mamão, a character from oral
Brazilia n traditions, that is kno wn across th e country by dierent names,
like bumba-meu-boi or boi-bumbá. This creature, who resembles an ox, gives
the name to a Brazilian folkloric dance, inuenced by African, Indigenous
and European traditions [28]. The dance is associated with several religious
festivals that take place in June, where people build a colorful boi-de-mamão
costume with papier-mâché and pieces of fabric, which is used by a dancer
in theatrical and dance representations of this folkloric tradition. There
are dierent legends about this character that vary from region to region;
Fig. 3. Brazil’s group
of elements and initial
iterations of Tatá.
355
[Drawing and Video Games / Desenho e Videojogos] · VISUAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESSESFOR A MULTICULTURAL STORYTELLING TOOL
Gabriela Sá, Douglas Menegazzi,Ana Paula Caruso, and Cristina Sylla · {gabrielasa, douglasmenegazzi, anapaulacaruso, cristinasylla}@mobeybou.com
nonetheless, the ox is often depicted as a gure who dies and is later reborn.
Our design of the boi-de-mamão is very colorful, with an air of madness, to
make it fun. There are no legs visible under the cloth that constitutes the
body of the character, so it looks like it oats. However, when it is hit by a
lightning strike in the interactive platform8, it shows the skeletons of people
underneath the costume; referencing the origin of the character.
The Brazilian musical instrument is a berimbau, a “musical bow”
consisting of a long piece of wood, a single string of steel and a small
gourd; it is played with an additional small rock or coin and a thin wooden
stick [29]. Despite its African origin, the berimbau is typically associated
with the state of Bahia and the practice of capoeira, a Brazilian cultural
expression as ancient as slavery, that is simultaneously a dance, a ght
and a game, involving music [30].
Bambolê – a hula hoop - is the object chosen for the Brazilian group.
Variations of the hula hoop have been around for centuries – going back to
Ancient Greece and Roman Empire; however, the hula hoop, as we know
it today, was trademarked and popularized by Wham-O, an American
toy company, in the late 1950’s [31]. Because this is not an object typically
associated with Brazil or of any traditional value to the Brazilian culture,
other options were suggested by the team, like a peteca9 or a Carnival
mask, which were more obvious associations. However, the Brazilian
members of the team were adamant in including the bambolê. They
argued it was still a very popular toy in their country and it expressed play-
fulness, as well as the importance of dance in Brazilian culture. When the
bambolê is used in the tool, a protagonist twirls it around their waist and it
releases confetti; a reference to the celebrations of Carnival in Brazil.
Tatá is the name of the animal of this group – a giant anteater10 – native
to Central and South America and one of the species living in the protected
area of Pantanal, a wetland region that extends from Brazil to Bolivia and
Paraguay. This choice was made based on its uncommon look and exotic-
ness. Tatá’s design had the biggest number of iterations. It was a challenge
to work with its original dark browns and grays, because the other elements
had such vibrant colors. We nally decided to create a colorful mane and
tail; adding an anklet – a summery accessory, often sold near beaches.
2.4. Arguments for and Against each Design Approach
The process of developing the Indian visual elements was fast; but because
it didn’t originate from a collaborative work and the illustrator based the
designs on information gathered online, the designs reect a somewhat
stereotyped representation of India. The choice of elements was perhaps
too obvious, fruit of a shallow and distant research: due to the ignorance
on our side, we could only rely on accounts found online and our own in-
terpretation of them. Designing these elements posed a challenge because
8 The storm block of the tool triggers a lightning storm on the screen. Characters present on the screen
will be randomly hit by lightning strikes, which shows their skeletons for brief seconds.
9 The name of the shuttlecock used in a traditional indigenous Brazilian sport, of the same name.
10 In Portuguese, it is called tamanduá-de-bandeira; we shortened it to Tatá.
356 CONFIA . International Conference on Ilustration & Animation
Viana do Castelo . Portugal . June 2019 . ISBN: 978-989-54489-1-3
of the moral issues some of them provoked, related to ancient practices
that are now being abolished and rethought by the Indian government, in a
pursuit for contemporaneity and development. Despite this overall negative
self-assessment, the children who experimented with the tool (and whose
knowledge of geography is almost inexistent) enjoyed the characters and
some could even identify the culture by looking at the them [1].
The process of developing the Chinese elements was slower and
involved more collaborative work, which resulted in more thoughtful de-
cisions; however, the nal designs still represent clichés. We believe this
is mainly due to the inuence of Chinese representations in pop culture
and visual media that we accessed. These stereotypical representations
leave an indelible mark on our collective brain, making it dicult to
disassociate certain symbols from the culture and looking further for
better and deeper representation. The inuence of Kung Fu movies and
East Asian games and animation references are visible in our designs.
The truth is that the Chinese group was quickly and easily identied by
the 3rd graders in the preliminary studies [1].
The process of developing the Brazilian elements was much slower
than the previous two and involved a much more collaborative approach,
as explained above. The insights given by the Brazilian team members
changed our perspective on designing the elements: it was no longer
about tradition and stereotypes already seen in pop culture; it was about
authenticity, contemporaneity and diversity. The visual elements have
a more complex relationship with the country they are representing,
making the connection less obvious. This may make it more dicult for
children to identify the culture being represented; as there is no direct link
between these elements and what we would usually see as representing
Brazil on mass media – like football, favelas or Carnival parades.
3. Conclusion and Future Work
The research question formulated in the beginning of this paper brought
forward answers that are not de nitive nor are they rules easily applied to
similar projects. This opportunity for reection made clear that representing
a culture is a delicate endeavor, that will almost certainly leave out important
aspects of its identity. We bear in mind that any process of representation
of identities, which inevitably simplies and homogenizes a culture – since
cultures are never unitary in themselves – happens through an alienation of
the complexities of the culture [32]. However, it is not within the scope of our
project to show an extensive and comprehensive representation of each coun-
try’s individuality. We aim instead to create story elements that will entice
children’s imagination and captivate their attention and curiosity, so that they
can start a dialogue, and later learn more about the world.
Our research team progressively adopted a creative process based
on exploration, collaboration and iteration. This analysis showed that
collaborative work is of the utmost importance to achieve satisfactory
results. The individualistic approach led to shallow and stereotyped
representations, that were achieved in a short period of time and that
were easily identied by the children; while collaboration led to discus-
357
[Drawing and Video Games / Desenho e Videojogos] · VISUAL DEVELOPMENT PROCESSESFOR A MULTICULTURAL STORYTELLING TOOL
Gabriela Sá, Douglas Menegazzi,Ana Paula Caruso, and Cristina Sylla · {gabrielasa, douglasmenegazzi, anapaulacaruso, cristinasylla}@mobeybou.com
sions and deeper research to support claims, taking longer to achieve the
nal designs. Still, it was not enough to achieve non-stereotyped repre-
sentations, because of the natural distance we had between us and those
foreign countries. It can be dicult to empathize with the perspectives of
individuals from a culture beyond our rst-hand experience [33], which
can hamper the process of designing for an international target-audience,
as well as the process of representing the culture of others.
The key factor, we believe, to creating visuals that are more interesting
and connect to their context at other levels is to work with people born and
raised in that culture. Research will lead us through traditional and folkloric
representations, while people who have a close relationship with the culture
will show us dierent aspects of the country’s identity. It results in a more
complex representation that asks more of its viewer. However, we have to
be aware of a generalization problem, that can happen if we regard a small
group of people as being representative of the majority within a culture [33].
To prevent this, we could consult with bigger groups of people from a given
culture, to get a wider scope of perspectives and opinions.
Given the purpose of our work – which is to foster the improvement
of language and narrative competences, while promoting multicultural
awareness through creative storytelling – we need to balance the stereo-
typical and the new forms of representation. It is important that the chil-
dren can identify the culture being depicted, while at the same time, being
confronted with new knowledge that will entice their curiosity and show
them dierent aspects of that culture. We will continue to strive to attain a
model of workow that allows us to accomplish this goal, repeatedly, with
each culture we incorporate in the digital manipulative.
References
1. Sylla, C., Martins, V., Sá, G., Caruso, A. P., Amaro, B., Menegazzi, B., Sylla, F.: Designing
Narrative Learning in the Digital Era. In Proceedings of the ACM International Conference
on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI ‘19 Extended Abstracts, Glasgow, Scotland,
UK, May 4-9. New York, NY: ACM Press. doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3312937 (2019)
2. Lerew, J.: The Art of Brave. Chronicle Books, San Francisco (2012)
3. Kurtti, J.: The Art of Tangled. Chronicle Books, San Francisco (2010)
4. Shea, R. H., Fréger, C.: Parade of the Painted Elephants. National Geographic Magazi-
ne, www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2013/08/painted-elephants (August, 2013)
5. EleAid – E lephant Conservati on in India, www.eleaid .com/country-proles/elephants-india
6. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica: Naga, www.britannica.com/topic/naga-Hin-
du-mythology
7. BBC News: What Happened to India’s Snake Charmers? [Video], www.youtube.com/
watch?v=T885pEJfzwE (2016)
8. Jain-Neubauer, J.: Feet & Footwear in Indian Culture. Bata Shoe Museum Foundation,
Toronto (2000)
9. World Wildlife Foundation: Wild Pandas Get a Boost, www.wordwildlife.org/magazi-
ne/issues/spring-2017/articles/wild-pandas-get-a-boost--2 (2017)
10. Oswald, K.: Rice paddy hat (Doulì), sites.google.com/site/ddmission05 /home/douli-
-rice-patty-hat
358 CONFIA . International Conference on Ilustration & Animation
Viana do Castelo . Portugal . June 2019 . ISBN: 978-989-54489-1-3
11. Osborne, M., Stevenson, J.: Kung Fu Panda. DreamWorks Animation (2008)
12. Nelson, J. Y.: Kung Fu Panda 2. DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon Movies (2011)
13. Carloni, A., Nelson, J. Y.: Kung Fu Panda 3. DreamWorks Animation, China Film Co,
Oriental DreamWorks (2016)
14. Carpenter, J.: Big Trouble in Little China. Twentieth Century Fox (1986)
15. Boon, E., Tobias, J.: Mortal Kombat. Midway Games (1992)
16. Nishiyama, T., Matsumoto, H.: Street Fighter. Capcom (1987)
17. Clouse, R.: Enter The Dragon. Warner Bros., Concord Productions (1973)
18. Lo, W.: Jing Wu Men. Golden Harvest Company (1972)
19. Hulsbosch, M., Bedford, E., Chaiklin, M.: Asian Material Culture. University Press,
Amsterdam (2009)
20. Travel China Guide: Chinese New Year Story – Legend of Monster Nian, www.travel-
chinaguide.com/essential/holidays/new-year/story.htm
21. Holloway, A.: The Origin of Lunar New Year and the Legend of Nian, www.ancient-
-origins.net/myths-legends-asia/origin-lunar-new-year-and-legend-nian-001289
22. China Today: The Story of Chinese Fans, www.chinatoday.com.cn/ctenglish/2018/
ich/201806/t20180606_800131720.html
23. China Highlights, www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/article-chinese-dragons.htm
24. New World Encyclopedia, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chinese_dragon
25. IBGE News Agency, www.agenciadenoticias.ibge.gov.br/agencia-noticias/2012-agen-
cia-de-noticias/18282-populacao-chage-a-205-5-milhoes-com-menos-brancos-e-mais-
-pardos-e-pretos (2017)
26. Havaianas, www.twitter.com/havaianas
27. Vale, J.: Técnicas Construtivas Vernaculares no Brasil. In Viñuales, G. M. (ed). Arquite-
tura Vernacular Iberoamericana. RedAvi Coleccion Textos (2013)
28. National Center of Folklore and Popular Culture, www.cnfcp.gov.br
29. Frungillo, M. D.: Dicionário de Percussão. Fundação Editora da UNESP (2002)
30. Capoeira, N.: Capoeira: Roots of the Dance-Fight-Game. Blue Snake Books (2002)
31. How Products Are Made: Hula Hoop, www.madehow.com/Volume-6/Hula-Hoop.html
32. Bhabha, H.: Cultural Diversity and Cultural Dierences. The Post-Colonial Studies
Reader, ed. B. Ashcroft, G. Griths, H. Tin, Routledge, New York, pp. 155–157 (2006)
33. Hao, C., van Boeijen, A., Stappers, P. J.: Cultura: A communication toolkit for designers
to gain empathic insights across cultural boundaries. In L. Alberto (Ed.), Proceedings
of the IASDR Conference RE: Research (pp. 497-5 10). Cincinnati, Ohio, United Sates:
University of Cincinnati. doi.org/10.7945/C2SD5J
34. Resnick, M., Martin, F., Berg, R., Borovoy, R., Colella, V., Kramer, K. and Silverman,
B.: Digital manipulatives: new toys to think with. In Proceedings of the Conference on
Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 281-287). New York, NY: ACM Press (1998)
