Application of Physiognomy for Comic Character Development in “Menjelajah Negeri Rempah” Comic

Abstract

This research aimed to document the journey of character development in ‘Menjelajah Negeri Rempah’ comic with physiognomy studies. Indonesia was known as a maritime country that had emerged as one of the largest producers of spices in the last centuries. Unfortunately, younger generations of Indonesia lacked the knowledge of spices. This was one of the reasons why young Indonesians were less concerned with the existence of spices. Several things had been done by the government to socialize the glory of spices in the past so that spices would return to their glory in the future. The researchers who were involved in the teaching and learning process in the Visual Communication Design department wished to take part in this effort through comics to help the government spread knowledge to the younger generation through visual languages they liked without appearing patronizing. In creating this comic, one of the priorities was in the development of characters, which needed to be designed in such a way so that the characters were more easily recognized, and the stories came alive. To strengthen the character, it applied physiognomy in the development of the character designs contained in the comic. It used the design thinking process as a continuously applied design method in this character creation development. It consisted of define, research, ideation, prototype, select, implementation, and learn. This research results are in the form of the comic ‘Menjelajah Negeri Rempah’, which aims to introduce Spice Route as this country’s potential instead of the more famous Silk Road. The result of this research still requires additional data, considering that in the process of making comics, apart from building a relatable character, a strong story is also needed.