Anecdotal accounts suggest that Indonesians perceive culture-specific scripts on typographic artefacts in restaurants as a sign of authenticity and quality. This study examined this notion through qualitative literature synthesis followed by a preliminary quantitative survey. The literature synthesis foregrounded comparable cases where typographic attributes and script choice have been found to influence consumer perception, which shows that the phenomenon is not isolated to Indonesia. The preliminary quantitative survey used a simple frequency analysis of four fictional restaurant logotypes (Japanese, Korean, Balinese, and Javanese, respectively) to determine values that Indonesian consumers perceive in culturally authentic typography (prominent use of indigenous, culture-specific scripts). The majority of respondents perceived culturally authentic typography as representing high-value restaurants in terms of price, food quality, and atmosphere. More respondents associated Japanese/Korean typography with high-quality Japanese/Korean restaurants, compared to respondents who associated Balinese/Javanese typography with high-quality Balinese/Javanese restaurants. More respondents related culturally authentic typography with higher prices, followed by better restaurant atmosphere, and better food quality. These findings confirm that Indonesian consumers perceive culture-specific scripts as indicative of higher brand values to some degree. More rigorous research is warranted to validate these results.
English storytelling activities are expected to help children in vocabulary development and sentence construction, especially for English as a second language (ESL) learners, while keeping the learning process fun and creative. However, in English storytelling activities in elementary schools, many children are found memorizing the stories through provided text. This results in children telling the stories without catching the English words and understanding the flow of the story they are telling, so the story can sound monotonous. Therefore, this research examined the application of two learning media as alternative aids for learning English storytelling creatively, i.e., conventional media (a picture book) and modified interactive learning media tailored to English learning needs. This research used a comparative method with the same pictures being used in both media and was limited to targeting students in grades 4 and 5 of elementary school. The result showed that while children who learned with the modified interactive media managed to catch more words than those who learned with the conventional picture book, both media were effective for story comprehension and English learning.
Beauty plays a vital role in persuasive communication, encompassing values such as goodness, usefulness, splendor, comfort, novelty, and metaphorical strength. This study aimed to reinterpret figures of Jesus and Mary through visual language of Balinese wayang, integrating traditional Balinese cultural values. Western visual portrayals often dominate depictions of these Biblical figures, making them appear generic and less engaging to contemporary audiences. Using a qualitative method, with Bishop Robert Barron's research synthesis of Aristotle, Aquinas, and Balthasar aesthetic, which emphasizes evangelization through beauty. The concept of beauty is explored and expanded toward goodness and truth. Visual designs were developed through literature on Christian philosophy and interviews with Balinese dalang, artisans, Christian writers, and Catholic priests. The study faced challenges in balancing theological reverence with cultural adaptation, which were addressed through contextual design exploration. The outcome is a new form of visual metaphor of Jesus and Mary in Balinese wayang style that reflects both spiritual depth and local aesthetic sensibility, offering a fresh model of religious visual acculturation.
Innovation in fragrance textiles reflects growing awareness of health, well-being, and aesthetic value. Nature has long served as a source of inspiration for designers and researchers, offering guidance for product innovation. Scents and fragrances are known to contribute positively to human well-being, and advances in textile technology have enabled the application of fragrance finishes through microencapsulation techniques. While visual appearance and fabric durability remain primary considerations for consumers, floral patterns-among the oldest and most favored textile design elements-continue to play an important role. This research employs mixed qualitative and quantitative methods to develop specialized textile products in the form of flower-patterned fabrics inspired by traditional Indonesian flora, specifically ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata). The study applies a biomimicry approach by using the ylang-ylang flower as both a visual and olfactory reference in textile design. Pattern development was combined with fragrance incorporation using a microencapsulation technique with PEG 6000 as the encapsulating agent. The resulting textile features a ylang-ylang floral pattern and releases a distinctive scent resembling the natural flower in bloom. This approach demonstrates the potential of integrating visual and sensory elements in textile design and supports future development of fragrance textile products to enhance consumer engagement.
The use of digital applications, particularly online games on smartphones, increased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in 2020. One popular game among students is Free Fire, a multiplayer game that enables virtual social interaction. This study aimed to identify latent messages emerging from the verbal and behavioral expressions of young players, as well as how digital figures like Rasyah Rasyid influence celebrity and fandom phenomena among high school students. This study employed virtual ethnography and Associative Concept Network Analysis (ACNA), using the University of South Florida (USF) association dictionary, to analyze Rasyah's spontaneous speech during live-streamed gameplay. The findings revealed that the primary message emerging from Rasyah's communication was the concept of 'friend,' which was the central node in the word association network, as it had the highest ODC score (0.24). These results indicate that communication within online games extends beyond technical or competitive functions and plays a crucial role in fostering emotional closeness and social bonds. Such interactions contribute to the development of parasocial relationships between online idols and their audiences. This study provides insight into how digital popular culture, game-based communication, and visual personas influence the identities and aspirations of high school students in the digital era.
