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relating to cat's facial expression and emotions (book, photobook)

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relating to cat's facial expression and emotions (book, photobook)

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1. Kino, A. (2024). クロネコと首輪. 玄光社Genkosha.

Part of references for character design process.

2. Iwago, M. (2023). ねこがおNEKOGAO. クレヴィスCrevis.

Part of references for character design process, focusing on facial expressions and emotion.

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After sessions with tutor, she suggested that I should look deeper into the illustration that I wanted to do and I did that. Some research and reflect leads me to going back to my original ideas that I've mentioned to Rob during the first session that I wanted to do hand drawn illustration on procreate. Brushes can create better texture comparing to vectorized.

On week 4 I will focus on layout and narrative. The project layout first draft should be done by week 5-6.

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link to รักแรกพบ, a tri fold pamphlet (reference & research material)

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link to รักแรกพบ, a tri fold pamphlet (reference & research material)

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รักแรกพบ (Love at First Sight), a tri fold pamphlet is a pamphlet given to me when I adopted my first cat. It is what mainly inspired me to do this zine.

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Artist: 163.t (@toku_274 on twitter)

This artist's art style is similar to what I had in mind when my tutor asked which art style i wanted to do.

I want to try and do something similar to this but keep it vectorized and play with the color and contrast.

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Reflecting after week 4 session with tutor

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Reflecting after week 4 session with tutor

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My tutor suggested that I should have a cat character or multiple cat characters to help guide the narrative of the zine. She suggested that I should start working on character designing for the main narrator character first. Since I already have my narrative noted down, I will put the organizing narrative part for after I finish the character sheet.

So, I have changed my plans from focusing on layout and narrative to focusing on character design, character sheet, and silhouette study for this week. I will add layout sketches/design to this week's work too.

We are on the same page that first draft should be done by week 5 or 6.

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According to the information found from APPA's state of the industry report:

APPA’s 2025 State of the Industry report shows pet ownership reaching 94 million U.S. households as Gen Z

70% of Gen Z pet owners have two or more pets

38 % of Gen Z in the U.S. are cat owners

This state of the industry report supports my theory that a lot of Gen Z are adopting/getting cats of their own. Making Gen Z the perfect target audience for this zine project.

https://today.line.me/th/v3/article/eLYYQ5O

แม่แมว พ่อแมวเจนซีเป็นแรงขับเคลื่อนสำคัญของตลาดแมวทั่วโลก แม้ว่าหลายคนในกลุ่มนี้อาจยังไม่มีบ้านหรือครอบครัว แต่กลับให้ความสำคัญกับสัตว์เลี้ยงเป็นอย่างมาก

Gen Z cat mom/dad are the main driving force behind the cat market industry. Many of the people from this group may not have their own home or family yet but they treat pets with the best care they can.

กลุ่มเจนซีในตลาดโลกใช้จ่ายเฉลี่ยสูงถึง 72,624 บาท ต่อปี หรือ ประมาณ 6,052 บาท ต่อเดือน

Gen Z spends an average of 72,624 Baht per year / 6,052 baht per month on their pet

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The American Pet Products Association (APPA) Releases 2025 State of the Industry Report

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The American Pet Products Association (APPA) Releases 2025 State of the Industry Report

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gen z

first time pet owner

first time getting a cat

young cat

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some sketches I develop during week 3

cat hiding poses

ways you should not pull cats

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I was going to do character design and layout this week, but work check is coming up next week.

I'm putting everything on hold and will prepare a presentation for the work check session.

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Initial Ideas and feedbacks from Aj.Rob (Idea 1) 03/09/2025

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Initial Ideas and feedbacks from Aj.Rob (Idea 1) 03/09/2025

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- Idea 1 (my main idea for final project):

A cat clothing brand, marketed towards cat owners who are looking for durable and practical clothing for their cat

Designs a brand identity, and at least 2 collections

Focuses on Graphic Design, Brand Identity, Clothing and Textiles, Pet Clothing, Marketing

- Feedback for Idea 1:

Aj.Rob suggested researching the market more to see if this product is actually needed in Thailand.

Is the problem with cat clothing culture specific?

Consider the weather conditions of Thailand when designing the product. If it is functional but not practical for hot weather or humid then it is useless for cat owner in Thailand.

Focuses on marketing aspect too not just aesthetic, research market and suitable advertisement. Do not forget to research the platform.

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Content of my zine includes:

1. Introduction

2. How to prepare a space for cat

3. Handling a cat, what to do when they hide

4. How to be friend the cat

5. Playing with cat the correct way

6. Food & Water

7. Hygiene (Litter, Baths, Cleaning)

8. Healthcare

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There will be 6 Spread in total, not including the cover and back cover.

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artist 1 : 24cm (@24cm_am on x)

vector, sometimes traditional, uses vibrant color but not many color

artist 2 : schinako moriyama

hand drawn, some texture, soft color background, nature, layout with minimal text

artist 3: leebom (@o_l_bom on x)cartoonish & minimal, big eyes, emoticons, uses 3-5 color, plain white background

After more research on the art style I want to focus on, I realized that I want it to have more texture. Vector art work with texture is nice, but it is not the texture I’m looking for. I like texture of brush strokes, so I decided to make illustration on procreate instead of adobe illustrator.

Minimal cartoonish cats, no mouth, only eyes and whiskers, uses color to make the design pops.

I will have to research more on color and printing techniques this week. Riso is interesting but I have to research some more on the printing places and costs.

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researching cat characters with big eyes, minimal facial features

1. Hachiware, chiikawa 2. Toro, doko demo issyo 3. Hello Kitty, sanrio 4. Pipi, the legend of pipi 5. the legend of Hei 6. Skip & Loafer 7. Nights with a cat 8. Chi 9. Turbo Baba cat version, Dandadan 10. The cat emoji i use on Facebook

Looking at these big eyes cat character and their structure helped me improve my character design. I found that using a rounded face feature with big rounded eyes dilated pupils works the best for the project.

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The "cute" exhibition at somerset house. London, 2024.

Recommended by Aj.Rob I looked into the exhibition. From the research I learn that this exhibition is aimed towards defining the word cute. Most of the pieces shown at the exhibition are cats themed, cute. There are rooms/areas dedicated to each topics. Cats, AI Cats, Sanrio Hello Kitty 50th years celebration, Kawaii culture, and more.

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Searching on the internet a lot of people who claims to be associate with Kawaii culture loves the character Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty originally is created to be just a design on gift items; coin purse, pen, etc. As time pass Hello Kitty gained popularity in the fashion industry. Hello Kitty and fashion industry especially the kawaii culture and Japanese fashion in general have been growing side by side for over 40 years now. This year marks Hello Kitty's 50th Anniversary.

Now Hello Kitty has her own story/narrative, appears in every household item possible, took over fashion industry, and even has her own themed park. Every few months we see new Hello Kitty collaboration and they are almost always unexpected; Hello Kitty X Butterbear X 7-Eleven Thailand for example.

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Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington Seattle

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Say hello to Hello Kitty - the character with a cute bow and a face that holds a blank canvas, waiting to be filled with your emotions. Despite her appearance, she is not a cat; she's actually a little girl named Kitty White from West London, not Japan! Hello Kitty emerged in the 1970s when British culture was all the rage in Japan. Yet Hello Kitty is not just a character, she's a symbol of joy and connection that has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. In this blog post, we will embark on a journey through the captivating world of Hello Kitty, where we'll explore her origins, cultural significance, and the special place she holds in her own life.

How Was Hello Kitty Born?

The founder of , Shintaro Tsuji, initially began his career in the sandal business. However, as the demand for sandals with floral paintings began to surge, Tsuji pivoted his company's focus toward rebranding "Sanrio." Hello Kitty first appeared in 1974, when she was created by Yuko Shimizu, a Japanese designer working for the Sanrio company. She was first introduced on a vinyl coin purse and therefore had gained worldwide fame. Moreover, Hello Kitty rose to even greater prominence when several celebrities, including Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga, embraced her as a fashion statement. For Hello Kitty enthusiasts visiting Japan, the must-go destinations are two theme parks, (opened in 1990) and in Oita (opened 1991).

Cultural Significance of Hello Kitty

Hello Kitty defies conventional norms with her distinctive appearance, characterized by a round face and minimalist features. This unique aesthetic seamlessly captures the essence of the Japanese concept known as "Kawaii," a term loosely translated as "cuteness" in English. It's a cultural phenomenon that celebrates all things adorable.

Hello Kitty's enduring charm is rooted in the elegant simplicity of her design, a secret to her remarkable success. Her unique feature, the absence of a mouth, intentionally fosters personal connections as an individual of all ages to project their feelings onto her, turning her into a universally relatable character. Whether you're happy or sad, Hello Kitty mirrors your emotions, and her missing mouth serves as an open invitation for a deep and personal connection, transcending language and culture.

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Hello Kitty: Connecting the World with "Kawaii" - Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington Seattle

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Say hello to Hello Kitty - the character with a cute bow and a face that holds a blank canvas, waiting to be filled with your emotions. Despite her appearance, she is not a cat; she's actually a little girl named Kitty White from West London, not Japan!

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I looked into cat facial expressions to help understands more about their emotion and reaction to certain situation.

top: NEKOGAO by Mitsuaki Iwago

bottom: internet cats, pinterest, tiktok, fb, twitter(x) and more

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To further my research on cat behavioral, I went to a cat cafe to see how different cats do different actions. Walking, running, playing, sleeping, and more. I captured photos of the cats there and will use it as part of reference for my illustrations.

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Culcat is a great example of how kawaii culture and cats inspired the fashion industry. Culcat is a cat concept stores based in Vietnam, all of their merchandise are cat themed focusing mostly on fashion products such as T Shirt, Tank Top, Scarf, and Hat. Their designs are simplified cartoon cats with some gen z humor mixed in it. For example the shirt on the right, the design itself is a group of cats performing what we can clearly see as a satanic ritual, but the text says PEACE LOVER.

Character design wise, culcat did well. They established this silly cat design everywhere on their social media platform and even created a story for them to be recognized by cat lover tourists and local in Vietnam.

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Sketches before researching more cats characters

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Sketching again after researching, this time focusing on the head, face of the cat only

Experimented with different eyes shape and different kind of round faces.

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This might be my final design for the main character of this zine. A playful, a bit dumb kitten. Big head, big eyes, rounded and short body.

It is still a work in progress as I have not made a proper character sheet, I will do that before starting the illustration.

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finished the character sheet without color for now

I adjusted some of the facial expression, it is a bit different from the sketch. I want to still show the cuteness of a kitten even when angry, or crying so I tried to make it cute but expressive at the same time.

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Develop some layouts for the zine.

Picture above is the sketch I am going to work on for the final piece, there might be some alterations... I want the zine to be a bit more interactive.

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Colored the character sheet

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Develop some more sketches and ideas for the zine to be interactive both physical zine and online version.

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Outlining designs for "how to be friend the cat spread". At first I wanted to compare angry kitten with happy kitten eating snacks, but I wanted the online zine to be interactive so I added Churu packet that I plan to make interactive later.

for this part tutor suggested that I could show more of a cat emotion by adding the tail of the cat in frame.

she also suggested that I should make the cat a bit smaller as it takes up too much space and makes the page feels cramped.

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I was in Flying Tiger store the other day and saw that they had some pet clothing for Christmas already. I took some photos of that.

They also had a lot of festive pet toys, cats and dogs mostly.

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Indigopaper

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what I did after getting the formative assessment feedbacks

I had checked the cute exhibition by somerset house

Researched a little bit about Kawaii culture, specifically hello kitty appearance and relation to Kawaii culture

I finished creating the cat character for the main narrative and have a character sheet

Currently looking into publishing digital zine first then publish physical ones after

For now I am looking at books I have access to. Good book padlet is still not available to me as I do not have the email needed for it.

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I did not go to class for 2 weeks after formative assessment. I was sick from 3 of October until 11 of October, medical paper can be found with ajarn Ketsirin and ajarn Nalinnath. After that I was on a trip with my parents from 13-19 October. I had informed my tutor a month in advance of this trip.

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I had updated my tutor with all works and research I did during the time I was not in class. I had finished the character sheet, narrative part for the zine, layout, research on cute exhibition by somerset as suggested, research on hello kitty and kawaii culture, some research of the cat market, went to culcat store and researched cats and clothing branding, sketched the content of my zine.

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reflecting after last session with tutor

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reflecting after last session with tutor

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I should look into using patterns more for my zine.

We looked into publishing the zine online. There are some websites that allows you to publish a flipbook type of thing.

I want to use this method to publish my work for now as I do not have time to finish the work soon enough that it can be printed. In the future I would like to print it out.

My tutor suggested that for my independent enquiry I could continue researching the kawaii culture and cats.

I probably will go with that, but I'm going to look at some more topics that are related to cats, cuteness, and fashion too.

I was supposed to go to the Bangkok Illustration Fair at Central World as a part of my research but things came up and I do not have time to go.

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Initial Idea and Feedbacks from Aj.Rob (Idea 2) 03/09/2025

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Initial Idea and Feedbacks from Aj.Rob (Idea 2) 03/09/2025

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- How to New Kitten

An educational zine for people who just adopted new kitten, a guide on how to care for them

I was inspired from my experience when adopting my first cat "Audi". I was given a guide book, the one shown in the picture. While it was useful and helped me, it was a bit difficult to understand with limited visualization and no proper text layout.

Goal is to make it easy to understand for people who never owned a cat

Make it more visually pleasing

Arrange the text

Research some more and adds useful information I have gained from owning a cat

Focuses on Graphic Design, Typography, Illustration, and Layout

- Feedback for Idea 2:

Ajarn suggested that I look at Louis Wain's work if I wanted to go with vibrant color

Try to focus on making the first page of the zine to show at the first meeting with tutor

Finds a direction and style for the zine

Focus on this idea first as a mini project and leave the first Idea for later.

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For this zine the target audience is gen z first time cat owners that lives in small space (apartment, condominium) and are adopting or getting cat ages 3-4 months old.

If possible I want to give out this zine at the pet hospital, cat cafe, and adoption places.

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1. Yoshizawa, R. (2016). にゃん たま. Jiyu Kokuminsha.

part of character design process, focusing on how cat's tail looks according to their emotions.

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1. The Cat Encyclopedia. (First American Edition). (2014). DK Publishing.

Chapter 2, cats in culture, specifically the cats in literature, cats in art, and cats in entertainment part to look at how cats were portrayed in different kind of medias. This significantly helped me with my character design process.

Chapter 3, Feline Biology. Cat anatomy.

Chapter 5, caring for your cat. This chapter helped me decide on what to add for my zine and to make sure the information I had from my experience with cats is accurate.

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researching cats, cats illustrations (e-book)

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researching cats, cats illustrations (e-book)

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1. Bessant, C. (2006). The Secret Life of Cats. John Blake Publishing.

Chapter 4, What Makes a Cat. In this chapter of the book, it explained about how human finds cat visually pleasing, how cats evolved into pets and human's obsession with cat's cuteness.

In this book there is a lot of cat drawings which I find is nice to look at. They have accurate cat poses which I used as part of the references for character design and illustration process.

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Link to Digital Version of First Kitten Zine

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Link to Digital Version of First Kitten Zine

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Reflecting after finishing final version

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Reflecting after finishing final version

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I think if I had a week or two more I can probably finish the work much nicer. I had to cut out some of the pages that I wanted. Also at the very last minute I had to use Adobe Illustrator to help me finish up the zine.

Overall it was a great experience to get to do this as a par of my 4th year. I want to make a new version of this zine during the break.

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1. Young, E. (2021). Color Scheme. Princeton Architectural Press.

helped with color choices

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researching Bichi Mao, famous cartoon cat for gen Z

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researching Bichi Mao, famous cartoon cat for gen Z

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1. Yong, O. (2021) Kawaii Kitties. Rock Point.

The book is about how to draw cats like the famous Bichi Mao style. Useful techniques on how to draw cartoon cats, easy to learn.

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Researching Character Designs (goodbook padlet)

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Researching Character Designs (goodbook padlet)

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1. Allison, A. (2006). Millennial Monsters. University of California Press.

Further research on kawaii culture and how it influenced the character designs of Japanese media.

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I planned to use procreate and finished the typography on InDesign but after working on the illustrations, I decided to do some of the pages it using both procreate and adobe illustrator to make it faster.

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I plan to use this illustration for the cover page. Using the classic baby bonnet to emphasize on how gen z in Thailand seems to treat their pets as an actual baby, calling them ลูก ลูกน้อย ลูกอ้วน (baby, tiny baby, fat baby). Also how they like to dress them up, putting funny cat hats on them.

text layout will be adjusted once I import all illustration to InDesign