DEVELOPING CULTURALLY RELEVANT DIGITAL MEDIA FOR THE INDIAN SCENARIO

Abstract

This research aims to develop digital media that is culturally relevant for India. The main gap that has been identified is that there is a lack of indigenous styles of character and animation design in the present-day media. Along with this, there is a requirement of a design for a digital repository which would be suitable to meet the needs of both; hosting the animated media taking into respect traditional methods of storytelling, and making it accessible to users of all ages by understanding their varied preferences. User study was conducted to evaluate the need for such research and the results were largely positive. Objectives were then formulated to structure the process. The first was to evolve ethnic character and animation styles. The second was to create a mobile app which could host the created media. For the character design different styles were evolved based on traditional Indian art forms. User feedback was taken to analyze the impact of each style on the audience. The final character designs were animated into pilot movies which interpret the rich beauty of the traditional art onto a digital landscape. For the animated media and app, user study was undertaken to determine the limiting factors and preferences. The resultant App called “Kathaa” seeks to bridge the knowledge and culture gap by making a digital platform to share a part of the rich cultural heritage of our nation; Stories. It also aims to maximize accessibility by providing various forms of media consumption, as per user preference.