Character brands have become a trend in business. Firms create character brands to draw consumer’s attention. For successful character brands, a strong attachment will be created to the consumers, so the brand-customer relationship will be loyal and powerful. The purpose of this research is to examine and discuss the marketing strategies and brand management of firms adopted to build their character brands, and theoretical and managerial implications will be addressed. This research adopts the method of case study research. Four character brands with various natures will be discussed separately, and a comparison will be made accordingly. The four character brands examined in this research are Saniro’s Hello Kitty, Fujio’s Doraemon, Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Charles Schultz’s Snoopy. Hello Kitty and Doraemon are Japanese character brands; Mickey Mouse and Snoopy are American character brands. These four character brands are very popular among consumers. The focus of this research is to address the similarities and differences of character development and brand management of these four character brands. The findings of this research are: First, characters with different nature (type) will have different brand concept management strategies. For comic character brands, firms will be focus on the development of character personalities. For pure character brand, firms will concentrate on the design and appearance of such characters. Second, the brand-customer relationship between character brands and consumers is very unique. Consumers gain emotional and self-expressive benefit from character brands. As a result, it is essential to reinforce the brand/character image consistently, so the attachment will be stronger. Third, similar brand management strategies, such as licensing, brand extensions, sponsorships and reinforce character image, are adopted by firms; however, the focus on character brand building for each firm is somewhat different. These four character brands are successful examples on character brand management. In order to manage good character brands, character development is necessary, and it is also crucial to create a strong brand identity. Most importantly, the brand building/management strategies have to be consistent with the nature/types of the characters. Key Word: Character, Character brand, brand management, brand-customer relationship / Character brands have become a trend in business. Firms create character brands to draw consumer’s attention. For successful character brands, a strong attachment will be created to the consumers, so the brand-customer relationship will be loyal and powerful. The purpose of this research is to examine and discuss the marketing strategies and brand management of firms adopted to build their character brands, and theoretical and managerial implications will be addressed. This research adopts the method of case study research. Four character brands with various natures will be discussed separately, and a comparison will be made accordingly. The four character brands examined in this research are Saniro’s Hello Kitty, Fujio’s Doraemon, Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Charles Schultz’s Snoopy. Hello Kitty and Doraemon are Japanese character brands; Mickey Mouse and Snoopy are American character brands. These four character brands are very popular among consumers. The focus of this research is to address the similarities and differences of character development and brand management of these four character brands. The findings of this research are: First, characters with different nature (type) will have different brand concept management strategies. For comic character brands, firms will be focus on the development of character personalities. For pure character brand, firms will concentrate on the design and appearance of such characters. Second, the brand-customer relationship between character brands and consumers is very unique. Consumers gain emotional and self-expressive benefit from character brands. As a result, it is essential to reinforce the brand/character image consistently, so the attachment will be stronger. Third, similar brand management strategies, such as licensing, brand extensions, sponsorships and reinforce character image, are adopted by firms; however, the focus on character brand building for each firm is somewhat different. These four character brands are successful examples on character brand management. In order to manage good character brands, character development is necessary, and it is also crucial to create a strong brand identity. Most importantly, the brand building/management strategies have to be consistent with the nature/types of the characters. Key Word: Character, Character brand, brand management, brand-customer relationship

Les premiers comptes rendus de l’histoire du cinéma ont souvent considéré les premiers dessins animés, ou vues de dessins animés, comme des productions différentes des films en prise de vue réelle. Les dessins animés tirent en effet leurs sources d’inspiration d’une gamme relativement différente d’influences, dont les plus importantes sont la lanterne magique, les jouets optiques, la féérie, les récits en images et les comics. Le dessin animé n’en demeure pas moins fondamentalement cinématographique. Les vues de dessins animés de la décennie 1900 ne se distinguent ainsi guère des scènes à trucs sur le plan de la technique et du style. D’abord le fait de pionniers issus de l’illustration comique et du croquis vivant comme Émile Cohl, James Stuart Blackton et Winsor McCay, le dessin animé s’industrialise au cours de la décennie 1910 sous l’impulsion de créateurs venant du monde des comics, dont John Randolph Bray, Earl Hurd, Paul Terry et Max Fleisher. Le processus d’institutionnalisation par lequel le dessin animé en viendra à être considéré comme une catégorie de film à part entière dépend en grande partie de cette industrialisation. Les studios de dessins animés développent des techniques et pratiques managériales spécifiquement dédiées à la production à grande échelle de films d’animation. Le dessin animé se crée ainsi sa propre niche au sein d’une industrie cinématographique dont il dépend toutefois toujours entièrement. Ce phénomène d’individuation repose sur des formules narratives et des personnages récurrents conçus à partir de modèles issus des comics des années 1910. / This dissertation focuses on the institutionalization and industrialization of drawn animation. Animated cartoons are usually seen as being quite different from live action films. They were modelled on traditions found in the realm of magic lantern, opitcal toys, phantasmagoria and comics. Yet, cartoons were fundamentally filmic by nature. Technically and aesthetically, animated films were considered as a category of trick films. In the 1910s, after the pioneering work of Emile Cohl, James Stuart Blackton and Winsor McCay, who were also famous for their work as cartoonists and lightning sketch artists, the nascent industry of animated cartoons recruited talent from the comic strip and the illustration industries, including John Randolph Bray, Earl Hurd, Paul Terry and, later, Max Fleischer. The institutionalization of animated cartoons — that is, the process through which cartoons gained enough visibility so they could be legitimately considered a new category of films — is the result of their industrialization. Animated cartoons studios developed techniques and work management practices that were specific to their needs. While largely dependent on the moving picture industry, animated cartoons created their own niche. This phenomenon of individuation relied heavily on narrative formulas and recurring characters modelled after famous comics of the 1910s.

Denna undersökning utfördes för att ta reda på hur spelare upplever de grafiska stilarna i relation till Battle Royale-genren inom spel. De grafiska stilarna ifråga är realistisk och stiliserad stil. Två likadana 3D-modeller skapades med skillnaden att ena är realistisk medan den andra är stiliserad. Dessa användes i en intervju-undersökning 3D-modeller för att besvara frågan. Undersökningen visar att respondenterna upplever de grafiska stilarna annorlunda från varandra men att de ser på stiliserad stil som den mest genreanpassade stilen för Battle Royale-genren. Undersökningen visar även på en svag tendens bland yngre deltagare att se stiliserad stil som genreanpassad samt att manliga deltagare prioriterade att den grafiska stil ska hjälpa dem prestera bättre i spelet. Denna undersökning utfördes på en liten testgrupp och den kvalitativa metoden kan ses som subjektiv. Vidare forskning kan generalisera området med en kvantitativ undersökning.

El objetivo de esta investigación está centrado en conocer las principales características que construyeron el lenguaje visual de El Otorongo, durante el segundo gobierno de Alan García en los años 2006-2011 como herramienta de comunicación y crítica a la realidad del país. En este sentido, el diseño de esta investigación tiene un carácter descriptivo con un enfoque cualitativo. Los resultados están basados en el análisis de 15 portadas de este suplemento, las mismas que fueron seleccionadas a partir de las entrevistas realizadas a siete caricaturistas de El Otorongo durante el periodo delimitado. Se utilizó una ficha de análisis visual, mediante la cual se identificó que las principales figuras retóricas utilizadas fueron la metáfora y la hipérbole, acompañadas de tipos de humor como la sátira y la parodia. También se determinó la ausencia del zoomorfismo para representar a las figuras del poder y se evidenció el constante uso de herramientas visuales como la exageración de las diferentes personalidades y los rasgos físicos de los personajes representados y el repetitivo uso de elementos representativos de los partidos políticos. De esta manera se concluyó que, a pesar de la diversidad de estilos artísticos y elementos gráficos utilizados por cada autor, si existió un lenguaje visual definido implícitamente en El Otorongo, basado en el particular tono crítico, burlón y reflexivo; así como la presencia de características repetitivas como la identificación de los personajes o el uso de figuras retóricas que a lo largo de cada publicación permitían al lector decodificar los mensajes expresados por cada autor. / The aim for this investigation is focused on studying the main characteristics that constructed the visual language of El Otorongo during the second governance of Alan Garcia during the years 2006-2011; as a communication tool and criticism towards the reality of the country. In that sense, the design from this investigation has a descriptive character with a qualitative insight. The results are based on the analysis of 15 covers from this supplement, the same covers that were chosen from the interviews that were done to seven cartoonists from El Otorongo during the same time period mentioned before. A visual analysis card was used to identify the main literary devices which were the metaphor and hyperbole, accompanied by different types of humor such as satire and parody. It was also determined by the absence of zoomorphism to represent the figures of power and the constant use of visual tools that connote the different personalities, physical features and representative elements from the political parties they belong to. In this way, it was concluded that despite the diversity of the artistic styles and the graphic elements used by each author, a visual language was defined implicitly in El Otorongo, based on a critic, mocking and reflective tone; that is how the presence of repetitive characteristics such as the character identification and rhetoric figures allowed the reader to truly understand the messages expressed by each author. / Trabajo de investigación

This diploma thesis is focused on the analysis of humorous environmental cartoons in specific periods during last twenty-three years. In the content and semiotic analysis, I am dealing with cartoons in its various forms in the Czech broadsheet newspapers MF Dnes, Právo, Lidové noviny, Hospodářské noviny, Deník, Lidová demokracie, Svobodné slovo and Práce. I surveyed the subtopics dominating in specific periods and the frequency of envirotoons depending on particular titles and current events in the Czech Republic. The thesis deals with these media contents also in connection with global environmental issues and their public discussion. Another important part is the reflection of social problems which the analyzed topics are closely related with. Combination of quantitative and qualitative methods enables to describe and interpret media units of content and lay the foundations for the research of environmental cartoons which has no tradition in the Czech Republic. In the thesis, I point to the fact that newspaper cartoons provide not only the relaxation and entertainment, but it is also an important medium in environmental agenda-setting and its discussion.

En esta investigación se tiene como objetivo analizar los elementos visuales del diseño gráfico que aporten a la comprensión de las caricaturas políticas que tengan como personaje principal a Alberto Fujimori desde 2016 a 2019. Esto con la finalidad de observar cuales son los componentes recurrentes al momento de ser criticado. Por ello, se identificó los elementos visuales que logran comunicar el mensaje del caricaturista y como el público comprende este mediante la gráfica. En el cual se considera el contexto como un eje importante en el proceso de la comunicación visual. Por lo tanto, se realizó un análisis de veinte caricaturas publicadas por El Otorongo, en los años anteriormente mencionado. El análisis es del tipo documental y denotativo para cada caricatura seleccionada, asimismo se realizó veinte entrevistas a un público diverso etario para descubrir su percepción de la caricatura política y conocer sus conocimientos de los elementos visuales. Un resultado destacable es que el color ayuda al público a asimilar rápidamente de que partido se habla, así como el uso de textura para reflejar la realidad. Asimismo, consideran que poseer un conocimiento vasto de diversos personajes del universo político es relevante para captar el mensaje. Por último, Alberto Fujimori es un político que en los últimos años se encuentra en diversas controversias. Esto se debe a que Keiko y Kenji Fujimori son sus hijos que han seguido el camino político como él. / The objective of this research is to analyze the visual elements of graphic design that contribute to the understanding of political cartoons whose main character is Alberto Fujimori from 2016 to 2019. This in order to observe which are the recurring components at the time of be criticized. For this reason, the visual elements that manage to communicate the cartoonist's message and how the public understands it through graphics were identified. In which the context is considered as an important axis in the process of visual communication. Therefore, an analysis of twenty cartoons published by El Otorongo, in the aforementioned years, was carried out. The analysis is of the documentary and denotative type for each selected cartoon. Twenty interviews were also conducted with a diverse audience of ages to discover their perception of the political cartoon and learn about their knowledge of visual elements. A remarkable result is that the color helps the public to quickly assimilate what party is being talked about, as well as the use of texture to reflect reality. Likewise, they consider that having a vast knowledge of various characters in the political universe is relevant to get the message. Finally, Alberto Fujimori is a politician who has found himself in various controversies in recent years. This is because Keiko and Kenji Fujimori are his sons who have followed the political path like him. / Trabajo de investigación

I’m interested in the way we stage our identity through objects. How objects relate to identity and body. I have been looking into how the self conception and creation of identity is affected by living in an individualistic, capitalistic and mass medial time. I carry a question, how much of the self is really just a replica of a replica? In this essay I discuss how the consumption of different kinds of media gives us knowledge and experiences of the world that is secondary. I explain how I experience that social media creates a thinking where I’m looking at my self from the outside and that this thinking makes my experiences indirect. I look at the individualization of the society and how I think the individualization affects the way we create collective and individual identities. Furthermore, I discuss how object become signifiers of identity and how we, within the consumer society, consume signs rather than objects. I look at the home, as a keeper of identity and memory, I also resemble the home with an organism where the human body only become a part of a bigger body. I discuss how body and object are intertwined both mentally and physically. Jewellery art and corpus is located between art and utility objects, my field gives me the opportunity to discuss the symbolism of the objects we surround ourselves with. In this essay I give a summary of my thinking around materials, methods and sources of inspiration in my work with Replika på replika. I go through my thinking around padded textile objects, the colour pink, the use of aluminium and how I work with reflection and figurative painting. I connect my work with my thoughts on caricatures, cartoons, pop musicians ways of working with characters and to art within different fields.

This thesis deals with the depiction of racial and ethnic stereotypes in American animated cartoons particularly from the first half of the twentieth century. It studies the relationship between animation and American culture and examines how animation reflects and shapes American identity in terms of race and how it critiques and promotes American values and attitudes regarding race and ethnicity in particular. Considering the historical, political, legal and cultural background of the contemporary eras of American animation, the thesis analyses the portrayal of racial and ethnic features in animated cartoons from the 1920s to the 1960s. Such stereotypes represent, in my opinion, significant aspects of societal and cultural changes in American society of the examined eras of animation. The beginnings of the entertainment industry affected the booming era of animation by implementing commonly recognised literary stereotypes of the African-Americans into animated cartoons. This thesis strives to study the development of animated features of the racial stereotypes throughout the contemporary eras. It provides a brief systematic overview of the main eras that have significantly highlighted the start of animation as markers of race and ethnicity. Simultaneously, it discusses the problematic...

Este trabalho de pesquisa estuda um autor - Renato Canini - que construiu uma trajetória peculiar ao desenvolver uma narrativa de histórias em quadrinhos com um traço bastante pessoal apesar de inserida nas de estruturas de produção massivas. Envolve a articulação da CETPA Cooperativa Editora de Trabalhos de Porto Alegre - que pretendia publicar histórias em quadrinhos brasileiras para fazer frente à avassaladora presença de material importado , estrutura onde Canini realizou com as tiras de Zé Candango seus primeiros ensaios de uma linguagem brasileira de quadrinhos. E porque parte dessas tiras foi publicada no Jornal do Brasil, sua atuação pode ser vista dentro da construção de um sistema massivo de produção e distribuição no país. Este trabalho vai além ao abordar a seminal passagem deste autor pelas publicações Disney por meio da Editora Abril - desenhando as aventuras do personagem Zé Carioca. Deste período resultará uma obra que encontra grande significado por conseguir superar as contradições e os limites de uma estrutura caracterizada por uma rígida divisão de trabalho, dilatando os limites da questão autoral dentro da grande indústria e trazendo amplos questionamentos quanto aos elementos formadores de uma pretensa identidade nacional. / This research deals with the study of the artist Renato Canini, who managed to build a very peculiar way to develop a narrative of comics with a very personal style, although included in the structures of mass production. This period includes the articulation of CETPA (Cooperative Publishing Works of Porto Alegre), which intended to publish Brazilian comics to face the huge presence of imported material. That was when Canini drew his strips of Zé Candango its first steps of a language of Brazilian comics. And because of part of these strips were published in Jornal do Brasil, this work can be seen within the perspective of building a massive system of production and distribution. This work goes beyond by researching the important work done by Renato Canini at Disney publications - by Editora Abril - drawing the adventures of the character Zé Carioca. Not forgetting a significant formal research developed by him on the pages of the Recreio magazine. This period will result in a workforce that is able to overcome significant contradictions and limits of a structure known by being rigid with the labor division and also by extending the limits of copyright issue within the major industry issues and bringing extensive discussion on the elements of an alleged national identity.

A pesquisa é voltada para o estudo da obra de Saul Steinberg, com enfoque nas contribuições de sua produção para o desenvolvimento do cartum moderno e das artes gráficas. Para tanto, busca sistematizar a vida e obra de Steinberg (1914-1999), com ênfase nas transformações ocorridas em seu trabalho no decorrer de sua carreira, relacionando-as ao conjunto de sua produção, ao contexto histórico e à produção das artes gráficas - cartum, ilustração, desenho gráfico. O trabalho busca desenvolver uma análise do desenho do artista, partindo da hipótese de seu caráter moderno - baseado em síntese e simplicidade. É intenção desta pesquisa, também, contribuir com o mapeamento de parte da história das artes gráficas do Brasil e do mundo, neste caso privilegiando a produção gráfica moderna do século XX. / The research deals with the study of the work of Saul Steinberg, with focus in the contributions of his work to the development of the modern cartoon and graphic arts. It tries to systematize the life and work of Steinberg (1914-1999), with emphasis in the transformations occured in his work, related to his whole production, to the historial context, and to the production of the graphic arts. The research tries to develop an analysis of the Steinberg´s drawing, taking into consideration the hypothesis of its modern particularity - established in synthesis and simplicity. Is an intention of this research to contribute with the mapping of part of the graphic art history of Brazil and the world, focusing in the graphic modern production of the 20th century.