The amazing differences in colours and symbols in lotsa differnt cultures

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March 12, 2010

Cultural awareness has been part of every facet of human society since old cultures began mingling with other old cultures. In recent decades, with the advent of international media and the proliferation of worldwide communication and influences, cultural awareness has dramatically become a higher priority for nations, businesses, and people. The field of Design has been especially impacted by different cultures because much of design is subjective and can take many different meanings. Because design is huge (containing many different sub-branches), there is always a high chance that designs might be misinterpreted or be offensive to a culture with which the original designer is not aware.

Video game design is no exception to this common fact. While I only intend to be a simple environment artist (creating props, land, buildings, etc. for video game levels), my art may have cultural undertones I am not aware of and may be taken more personally by someone or a group of people who have knowledge of the art’s influence and take offense at it.

Differences in the cultural meanings of the sun

For thousands of years, the sun has played an important role in many religions and cultures. Because of it’s necessity for lots of the life on this planet, cultures have most often revered it to the point that it has represented life-giving gods that need to be worshiped. Although the idea of worshiping a god is a purely human notion, the significance of the sun in every culture, past and present, cannot be denied.

Most often recognized as an open circle with a small dot in the middle (more ancient times) or a filled circle with spikes or tendrils emanating from the center (more modern times)- representing light coming from within – the sun is both an icon and a symbol. As an icon, the sun means the sun in every context and has no different assigned meaning. As a symbol, it has many different cultural meanings.

Old cultures such as the Roman, Greek, Hindu, and Egyptian cultures marked the sun as the father and leader of all gods that created the earth. In Islam, the sun is seen as more of a symbol of events than a god (since it only have one god in the religion). In American culture, the sun has become more of a symbol for sunny days, joy, and happiness and has not represented any serious figure or played any important cultural role besides the aforementioned meanings.

Differences in the cultural meanings of the color, blue

As with symbols, universal colors have taken on different meanings in different cultures. Because blue is a popular color, it was interesting to see the variety of meanings different cultures have assigned to it.

English: sadness, depression, happiness and optimism (both- like on a clear day with blue skies), male gender

German: drunk (derived from the ancient use of urine (produced by drinking lots of alcohol) as a dyeing agent for blue cloth)

China: immortality

Iran: mourning

Cherokees: defeat, trouble

Western: royalty, conservative-ness, corporations, soothing,

Eastern: wealth

The Sony controversy

Colors also tie into how different cultures perceive advertisements. In 2006, Sony released an ad for it’s new, white Playstation Portable (PSP) that unintentionally caused a racial stir among the population of Holland (where the ad was originally run) and the neighboring United States.

The ad, shown on the right, depicted a white woman violently holding a black woman’s face in a threatening manner. Because the original PSP was black, Sony introduced the ad for its new “Ceramic White” PSP, only intending to contrast the new and white, purportedly better, PSP over the older black model.

Critics were quick to point out the bumbling mistake on Sony’s part and Sony quickly discontinued the ad and took it down, apologizing for its oversight.