Color for Miyazaki - Lorem Design Studio

Works

About

Field:

Editorial Design, Research, Scientific Illustration, Infographic

Type:

Bachelor Thesis

Year:

2021

Use of color in visual communication for
Hayao Miyazaki

What is color? What does it reveal? How can it influence the way a story is told and perceived?

In this thesis I try to answer these questions through my own written analysis and graphic interpretation, drawing from scientific insights, color theory, and a visual investigation of Hayao Miyazaki’s storytelling.

This hybrid project allowed me to merge research, illustration, and film analysis around a topic very dear to me, strengthening my ability to translate abstract ideas into functional visual communication.

Chapter one introduces the basic mechanisms of vision and how we perceive light and color.

Explaining Through Images

I designed all scientific illustrations, color diagrams, and explanatory graphics to be clear, accurate, and easy to read. My goal was to translate complex concepts into visuals that support the research without overwhelming it.

Explaining Through Images

Chromatic Overview

These “movie barcodes” are generated through a frame-by-frame color extraction process: for each frame of the selected movie, the dominant hue is identified and then placed in sequence, resulting in a chromatic overview that functions as a visual timeline of the film’s palette and tonal shifts.

Chromatic Overview

Chapter two focuses on color theory and how colors are defined across art and visual communication.

Chapter three applies color theory to Miyazaki’s films, examining how colors can be used to show the personality of the characters, their relationships with others or with the environments, and their psychological development throughout the narrative.

Scene Breakdown

This visualization presents a distilled palette of the dominant hues of a specific scene, capturing its overall chromatic balance and tonal character.

Scene Breakdown

This visualization presents a distilled palette of the dominant hues of a specific scene, capturing its overall chromatic balance and tonal character.

Contextual Color

Different radial charts show the meanings commonly associated with each color, highlighting which of these are most present in a specific scene. They reveal how the same hue can support different, and sometimes opposing, interpretations depending on the narrative intent.