shiyaal ne ek chaalaki sujhi
The revival of folklore:
a preservation of cultural expression from past to future generations
editorial design
2020
Culture and languages are slowly losing their importance and it is our responsibility to preserve them. Wherever English spread in the last 200 years, local languages, wiped out. Children can retain and learn information at a quicker and a more efficient rate. So they could be the perfect channel to preserve our dying culture.
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Gujarat is one of the largest Indian states to contribute to international migration, one of the biggest causes of the slow erosion of Gujarati, my mother tongue. Hence my graduation project revolved around preserving it.
So then the question arose,
How can I preserve Gujarati folklore in a way,
kids can enjoy?
The initial ideation concepts revolved around interactive books, playing with clay, card games, augmented integrated books etc. that explored the insights I acquired through conducting interviews.
Since it was a kids’ book, I thought it would be a great idea to get inspired from the drawings the kids made themselves!
Their drawings made me create a design style that was unique and yet very friendly.
Finally, I included most of my opportunity areas in an illustrated activity storybook called ‘Shiyaal ne ek chaalaki sujhi’ meaning, the fox had a clever idea.
character sheet
It aims to preserve the Gujarati stories, written and published in the '50s by the famous Gujarati author, Jivram Joshi.
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The children converse very well in their mother tongues but can't read the script.
So, this is a transliterated book of 6 animal-based stories revolve around the main character ie. the fox. The closely knitted activities keep the children hooked to the book.
Integrated with AR, it helps learn Gujarati in a more immersive way.
In the hopes that this book does get published, I created a small advertising campaign, which involved 2 Augmented Reality posters, announcing the book is now in stores.
