Creating a Game Character Based on Finnish Mythology and the Impact of Costume Design

Creating a game character based on Finnish mythology and the impact of Costume design

Elin Masar

Degree Thesis Film and Media 2017, Online Media Förnamn Efternamn20 21

EXAMENSARBETE Arcada

Utbildningsprogram: Online Media

Identifikationsnummer: 8148 Författare: Elin Masar Arbetets namn: Att skapa en karaktär baserat på finsk mytologi och påverkan av kostymdesign Handledare (Arcada): Mirko Ahonen

Uppdragsgivare: -

Sammandrag: Kostym design och de kreativa val som designers gör, från deras perspektiv, är något som sällan diskuteras i spelvärlden. Mera specifikt, den emotionella påverkan som kläder och accessoarer har på en karaktär och hur dessa faktorer kan hjälpa att bygga en personlighet åt karaktären i fråga. Detta arbete är baserat på tre karaktärer som gjordes för spelet Destination: Nowhere som är inspirerat på finsk mytologi och folktro. Under själva projektet låg fokus på att lära sig om folktron och undersöka ämnet. I efterhand var det viktigt att lära sig hur andra såg på karaktärerna och hur dom passar in i det som har blivit sagt om karaktärsdesign och den emotionella påverkan som kostym design har genom att använda sig av historia. Konstnärlig undersökning var metoden som användes för att göra noggrann analys av karaktärerna. När det väl kom till att läsa teori om kostym design övergick metoden till textanalys för att utveckla sin kunskap om ämnet. Med hjälp av de två undersökningarna kunde man lägga märke till hur viktigt det egentligen är med kostym design då man skapar karaktärer. Målet med arbetet var att få en bättre uppfattning om ämnet och förstå tyngden av kostym design och hur det påverkar en karaktär, samt hur stor del av historien som egentligen kan berättas genom kläderna. Genom att kombinera analysen av design med den rika historik som finns i finska mytologi, kunde karaktärer som fungerade som berättelsen skapas. Det slutliga resultatet för detta arbete var tydligt. För att skapa karaktärer med känsla behövs det kunskaper och genom att låta det man lärt sig vägleda en, kan man skapa karaktärer som stöder berättelsen istället för andra vägen runt som resulterar i en mycket enklare introduktion till vem personen eller varelsen är och vad dom har för mål.

Nyckelord: kostymdesign, finsk mytologi, karaktärdesign

Sidantal: 30 Språk: Engelska Datum för godkännande: 25.5.2021

DEGREE THESIS Arcada

Degree Programme: Online Media

Identification number: 8148 Author: Elin Masar Title: Creating a game character based on Finnish Mythology and the impact of Costume design

Supervisor (Arcada): Mirko Ahonen

Commissioned by: -

Abstract: Costume Design and the decisions made from a designer’s perspective is a subject rarely discussed in the game community. More specifically, what emotional impact does clothes and accessories have on a character and how can it help build up the personality of it. This thesis will be based on three characters created for the game Destination: Nowhere, which is a game based on Finnish mythology and old folklore. During the project, research on creatures from folklore was the main focus and presently the focus is on how these characters fit in with what has been said in the designing community about characterization and the emotional impact of getting to know a character through story. By using the means of artistic research for the actual project when designing the characters based on Finnish mythology and text analysis, as well as literature research for gaining knowledge of the subject costume design, it was concluded how important the latter is when creating characters. The aim of the study was to gain a better understanding on how much impact costume design has on a character, and how much story can be told through the garments and accessories. By combining the research with the rich history of Finnish folklore, characters were created to serve as the story in a game where it was not the focal point. The end result of the thesis was that by first gaining knowledge and having that as one’s guide, the creation of characters supporting the story and not the other way around resulted in a much easier introduction to who the characters are and what their purpose is.

Keywords: Costume design, Finnish mythology, Character design,

Number of pages: 30 Language: English Date of acceptance: 25.5.2021

CONTENTS 1 Introduction ...... 7

1.1 Destination: Nowhere ...... 8 1.2 Objective and research question ...... 9 1.3 Demarcation ...... 10 1.4 Method...... 11 1.5 Description of primary and secondary resources ...... 12 1.6 Terms and definition ...... 13

2 Theory ...... 15

2.1 Costume design ...... 15 2.2 Finnish mythology ...... 18 2.2.1 Hiisi ...... 18 2.2.2 House Elf ...... 19 2.2.3 Birth of the milky way and stinging arrow...... 20

3 Designing the characters ...... 22

3.1 Main Character ...... 23 3.2 Hiisi Character ...... 26 3.3 Bear cult Character ...... 30

4 Conclusion ...... 34

4.1 Final Thoughts...... 36

References ...... 38

Appendices ...... 40

5 Sammanfattning på svenska ...... 40

Figures No table of figures entries found. Figure 1 First look of the character (left), Final colors after testing it in the game environment (right) ...... 24 Figure 2 Concept art of the playable character ...... 25 Figure 3 Closeup of belt and shoes of the character ...... 26 Figure 4 Depiction of Hiisi made by the Finnish artist Tero Porthan (2018) ...... 27 Figure 5 Hiisi character from different angles...... 28 Figure 6 Concept art of Hiisi character ...... 29 Figure 7 Final design of Bear cult character...... 31 Figure 8 Concept art of Bear cult Character ...... 33

1 INTRODUCTION

The world of games and design is an ever-growing landscape and with new technology, we see extraordinary games get created one after another. Many games throughout the years have given the player the opportunity of customization, yet very little is discussed about how these clothes actually affect the character and how they were given these special garments. The fashion aspect when creating a character is given very little attention in discussions of how they were created when in fact, it is a big part of how a character is portrayed.

Forums on the internet are filled with threads where players discuss among each other the different characters from their favorite games and opinions about the design choices made. However, when designers introduce their characters, there is very little said of how they have designed the clothes or what inspired them.

The aim of this thesis will be to determine the importance of costume design for when creating a character and how it affects the characteristics. Not only will it be focused on the emotional aspect, in addition it will also analyze how entities from old Finnish folklore can be brought to life with the help of old poetry and definitions.

My work will focus on costume design, and how clothes and accessories can strengthen one’s character and its characteristics. When discussing character design, story is a very important factor and by putting some extra time to build a character and its back story before actually creating it, there will be a stronger and an all-around better design (Tillman, 2011). By doing an analysis of the three characters that were designed for the game Destination: Nowhere, I’m hoping to learn more about the process of costume design and what might have been made differently today, compared to when looking back now on the project.

By creating a character with a strong costume design, the player can feel a stronger immersion to the story and character. when it comes to inspiration in design and when creating a character there is no rule saying you can only use one specific era whilst

designing the clothes and accessories. Instead, by using the combination of new and old fashion, designers have created something memorable (Polygon, 2019).

The reason I wanted to write about this subject is because it is something not often discussed in the gaming and design community, and how the designing of clothes for a character can strongly influence the identity you want to create. Robbie Cooper discusses the connection between the avatar and the creator in his book ‘Alter ego – avatar and their creators’, yet very little is said on the designing part of making a character. “We say they’re only games, these little worlds, but often we end up devoting more time to them than to any other realm of our existence, until it start to make less sense to think of our avatars as fictional characters than as seconds selves” (Cooper, 2007).

By having a clear picture of the character and how they are dressed and knowing where they came from, I believe that one can feel more absorbed into the game, no matter if we’re talking 8bit games or high quality 4k games; a solid back story with a clear vision will always help.

This thesis is aimed at any designer interested in the working process of creating a character, and the importance of using costume design to enhance the characteristics of a character. By discussing whether or not costume design is an important factor in the design process and when making the characters profile, I’m hoping to bring new deliberations into the game design community and shine some light on the importance of costume design.

1.1 Destination: Nowhere

Destination: Nowhere is a game that me, Amanda and Emilia worked on during the spring of 2020. The main inspiration for the game lays in Finnish mythology as it was something we didn’t find on the mobile game market at that time. We wanted to create an infinite runner that you would play on your phone, and the goal was to not make a

very action filled game but a more relaxing game that you easily could, and wanted, to come back to during your day.

The idea for the game was that the playable character, which is a house elf1, is exploring the Finnish nature and all its beautiful secrets and creatures. During the game, you will meet some other entities from Finnish mythology, such as Hiisi and a bear cultist. We wanted to have more characters in the game but due to time restrictions there was no way for us to create any more.

This thesis will be based around the work I put in to make the three characters for Destination: nowhere, and mainly focusing of the thought process and designing part. Though, Finnish mythology and its detailed stories and poems played a big part in creating the characters which is why they will be analysed thoroughly. Character design in itself is a subject discussed extensively in the industry, yet very little is specifically said about the fashion choices of the character. By using the means of analysis on the characters created for Destination: Nowhere, I’m hoping to find the importance of costume design.

1.2 Objective and research question

The main objective with the thesis is to highlight how fashion and costume design can affect the design of the character and how it also strengthens its abilities. What I wish to achieve with the work is to first: get a better understanding of the concept, and secondly: what process you go through when creating a character, specifically deciding the look and clothes to establish their personality and back story.

What I am expecting to find is interesting sources of inspiration that has been used by designers when creating characters for different games that are outplayed in different eras of time, and how culture and old folklore has affected the process of creating the character.

1 House elf, also known as house gnome or elf, will be used during this thesis when discussing one of the characters. Based on the Finnish mythology read for this project, homeowner (kodinhaltija) would have been a direct translation, but house elf felt more fitting. 9

Research question:

What needs to be taken into consideration when designing costumes for game characters based on mythological creatures from old Finnish folklore?

Not only will the mythology aspect be discussed during the thesis, but also costume design as it is equally crucial in the subject:

In what way can costume design help emphasize emotions for a character?

Here the main point was to try and find these creatures in folklore and then try to bring them to life in the game with clothes reminding us that these characters are ancient. At the same time the goal was also to try and show the characters’ personalities through their clothes, for example, mysterious or adventurous.

My hypothesis of this subject is that by creating a believable character, by using costume design to bring forth the strengths and weaknesses of the character, one can generate a more immersive experience for the player as well as other designers and programmers working on the project.

1.3 Demarcation

In the thesis some demarcations will be made to keep the focus on the research question.

Mythological creatures are an overall big group of diverse beliefs from various folklore and hence is too extensive to discuss in a thesis where the focus is merely on the design of the character. Rather, Finnish mythology and folklore will be the focus but as it will be shown in theory: Scandinavian and Finnish mythology have a resemblance among each other (Harva, 2018).

When it comes to the subject of Costume design, I will put focus on how the costumes affect the character, rather than how to create clothing for a character. Costume Design, as well as mythology, is a very big subject which is why this thesis will only focus on the parts needed to answer the research question on the subject of how costume design affects character creation.

When discussing the actual character and its design, I will focus more on how they look and what emotions they evoke rather than how the character is built. The story and emotions involved will be of more importance compared to how I designed the character, for example anatomy and technique.

1.4 Method

When creating the characters for Destination: Nowhere, the method used was Artistic Research. The aim of artistic research is to see the research as something more than a “simple matter of a study”, and avoid downgrading the project (Uniarts, 2020). When using artistic research as a means of method, the project and process will not be measured by something scientific. Instead, an empirical study will help to gather information.

This form of research can be in the method when searching and collecting information, as well as interpreting texts and modeling the subject in question. It can also be used when discussing the inspiration behind a project and in reflection; For example, when formulating the research question. Julian Klein discusses artistic research and on what level the research can take place. Generally speaking, the level of reflection cannot be greater than the level of artistic experience. Compared to scientific research, artistic is “sensual and physical”. The knowledge attempting to achieve with artistic research is “a felt knowledge” rather than something very specific. (Klein, 2010)

The first phase of the project was to do research in Finnish mythology and learn more about the subject. When reading, many ideas were discovered and designing begun. With the first idea, or prototype of a character, I discussed the decisions with the team of how they thought about the character and what needed to be changed. After 11

analyzing the character and determining the ‘issues’, the project phases started over with research, pitching and reviewing.

Through text analysis and literature research methodology I have gained knowledge and received answers for questions when creating the characters, especially the costumes. By using the two primary resources which are books on Finnish mythology, there is now a better understanding of the mythology and the data of the characters and their costumes.

Along with using literature the point of feedback has been very important for the creation of the characters. Discussing the decisions made with the team helped to gain a better understanding of how other people viewed the characters and to make sure that the right emotions and characteristics were showing through.

By using the method of artistic research when researching and testing the characters, I’m hoping to gain a better understanding on both the subject of costume design, as well as Finnish mythology.

1.5 Description of primary and secondary resources

The two sources of most importance when making the game are Martti Haavio’s book on Finnish mythology (Suomalainen mytologia) and Uno Harva’s book on Finnish antiquity (Suomalaisten muiniaisusko). Besides the two books, a couple of different websites have been of help when creating the characters.

The reason for only two books on Finnish mythology is because what was needed for the game were found in the two books. The works by Haavio and Harva are both known and recommended for Finnish mythology (when looking on the internet) and that is also a reason for picking the books. Haavio’s book was the first one to be used for the project but as he spoke and referred to Haavio in his work I decided to also read his book. 12

When answers were not found in the books, the internet became a good resource. Particularly when a specific character seemed intriguing but there was not enough information of it in the books, for example Hiisi, there was a lot of information found on the creature online.

To gain a better understanding on the concept of design, books focused on character design, as well as costume design were used for the project.

One source which inspired this thesis is Victoria Tran’s discussion on the GDC 2019 ‘Why Fashion in games sucks, and why you should care’ which then led it to being important in this project. This is what ultimately inspired the project but as Fashion design is defined a little different to costume design, the latter will be used as the definition for the project.

The game in itself is not a particularly important resource as this thesis is only discussing the costumes and design of the characters by following the history and stories of the mythologic creatures, not the gameplay.

1.6 Terms and definition

Fashion Design As the first inspiration for this thesis was based of Victoria Tran’s discussion on the GDC, and she uses the word Fashion design, it was originally what was going to be discussed. The definition for fashion design is “Most commonly, fashion is defined as the prevailing style of dress or behaviour at any given time, with the strong implication that fashion is characterized by change” (Steele, 2021). Personally, this definition felt fitting for the purpose of the thesis, but due to the fact that costume design is a more used term in the game industry, it got changed. When comparing Costume Design and Fashion Design, there is not much of a difference. The main difference is that Fashion design focuses on commercial pieces, and Costume design is for more specific reasons, for example: games or a theatre play (Gresham, 2019).

2 THEORY

Literature review done for the thesis will be divided into two parts. First, I will review what has been said about costume design by designers and developers. Secondly, an overall look on Finnish mythology by using the works of Martti Haavio and Uno Harva which were the main sources of inspiration for the characters.

2.1 Costume design

When it comes to character design, a key point is to decide a character’s reasoning for being who they are; is this person evil? Is this person a happy adventurer? Does this person seem to be kind only to betray their companions later on (Rich, 2019)? To answer these questions, costume design could come in handy. By creating convincing clothing or looks for a character, one will not only intrigue the player to know more and create a reaction, but also deliver emotions and story to who this character is and where they came from (Lyons, 2019).

It is important to give the players an opportunity to get to know your character by finding out their history and goals, even if one were to kill off the character later on in the game, a connection need to be made (Rogers, 2014). By creating a connection with the character, a player will more likely come back to the game. With a good character design, the player can sympathize and agree with the character and bond with the story, some might even start to see that character not only as a character in a game but as another version of oneself (Cooper, 2007).

Bryan Tillman discusses the ‘core principles’ in character design in his book Creative Character Design. These principles are called ‘archetypes’ and represent our human emotion in the traits of the character that we then can identify with. Archetypes are in

many different forms, but a couple can occur more frequently than others. These traits are, according to Tillman, needed for a story to create a proper development for all the characters and their different stories. (Tillman, 2011)

Many designers mention the importance of story when it comes to creating a character. By determining what the characters place in the game is you can complement the emotions and reasons for the character in a way to make a deeper connection with the player. With this as a base, the designer can start to build what Tom Barncroft calls ‘boundaries’. Creating boundaries with your design will help to make sure that the character looks like how their story defines them (Barncroft, 2006). An example of this would be a character that starts off as a shy little boy that lives in poverty but later becomes the one to rescue the princess in need. To match the story, the design would be in the lines of a smaller character with weaker features instead of a muscular, so to say, confident character.

Something to consider when creating a character is to remember that the character is there to support the story, not the other way around. The time put to create a proper backstory beforehand for each individual character, as well as their emotional traits, will greatly help when you begin to build your character. If it is the other way around, let’s say a character is created before the story, the character will most likely be changed once the story is written, “The character is always in service to the story” (Tillman, 2011).

Looking through articles about character design, one will realize the lack of discussion around clothing. It seems most works are focusing on other factors, for example, identity, the psychological or the social (in this case MMORPG’s and how players pick the clothes). Even today it seems as if there is a lot more interest in theory and design on how costume design affects the player and game, a lot of the purpose and significance of the design choices are left unnoticed. “It would be foolish (and judgmental) to reject fashion as a superficial ingredient when thinking about how players interact with virtual worlds.” (Klastrup & Tosca, 2009)

Victoria Tran discusses why fashion in games suck at Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2019 and how even though games are visual, very little is being said about the fashion aspect of games. By using the means of fashion, or clothes, one can determine more features about a character: age, gender, status in society, personality traits. If this is done incorrectly you will get “fashion that lacks information or context” (Tran, 2019). There is not much given information about the character and what the character is wearing is not cooperating with who the character is. An example used by Tran during the discussion is the character Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Rex is a diver in the game but nothing of what is worn by the character signifies a diver. That said, if this character were to be shown outside of the rightful environment, it would be difficult to recognize him as a diver. (Tran, 2019)

Appeal is the word Lou Police uses as a ‘general requirement’ for when designing a character. What appeal in this purpose stands for is “the power to attract and grip the viewer’s attention while creating some kind of emotional response”. The character has a gripping design, and the player is intrigued and feels the desire to get to know the character more. How this is created is by using the means of the characters facial expressions, how they are built, in what way the designer has posed them, and costume. (Police, 2019)

What is worth thinking about when creating the costumes for character is the design as it is the ‘heartbeat’ of the garments. By considering the design properly, the designers can more easily interpret information about the character. Since costume can carry so much about the character it is also related to the story. (Lyons, 2019)

Story and character are very important factors when designing characters, every character must have a figured out back story as it is part of humanity to try and figure out the different characters of a person when first meeting them (Tillman, 2011). When we meet someone for the first time, we can make assumptions after just a couple of seconds, “age, sex, socioeconomic status, occupation, personality, etc. It’s usually very flawed, but nevertheless it’s unavoidable because… brains.” (Tran, 2019).

2.2 Finnish mythology

When we had come up with the idea to make a game, a theme had to be decided. The idea with Destination: Nowhere was to make a relaxing game that would feel calm and stand out to our otherwise hyperactive lives. This idea subsequently led to nature and its calmness. Because nature is proven to help people feel calm, relaxed and less anxious (Mind, 2018), we decided to go for a nature themed game. Finland has a very rich history, and a lot of it has been kept still today thanks to books.

During the research process, there were a couple of stories that stood out. In this chapter, the theory and folklore of Finnish mythology will be presented from each of the creatures; Hiisi, House elf, and three stories that ultimately created the third character.

“There are a few people with such a versatile mythology as the Finns, when discussing European mythologies and comparing them, Finland deserves an honorable second place after the ancient Greek mythology.” (Haavio, 2019) (translated by the student)

Finnish mythology has a lot of different entities and all of them had a purpose. Ukko is the foremost god as well as the god of weather, Ahti is the Finnish god of water, Kalma is the Finnish goddess of death, as well as Hiisi (Godchecker, 2020).

2.2.1 Hiisi

Hiisi is an entity in mythology known for taking care of the woods, an elf of nature. This creature was known for living in mountains or deep woods and it was often associated with hoofed animals (Woods, 2018). When Forsius discusses different forest sprites 2, Hiisi is mentioned as a sprite that pursues bears and wolves (Harva, 2018).

2 Forest sprite is the translation of metsänhaltija from Finnish and it is what will be used in the thesis. Similar to forest sprite would be elf or spirit but due to there already being a house elf in the thesis, forest sprite felt better to avoid confusion. 18

In old spells used when hunting, Hiisi was mentioned in hopes of burning coal under a bear’s paws so that it would slide towards the hunter and make for an easier kill. It is worth mentioning that Hiisi as a forest sprite changed quite a bit over the years. In Agricola’s list of gods, he mentions Hiisi as the forest god of Karjala. But as years went by, he got associated with the devil and shown as evil. (Porthan, n.d.)

The word ’Hiisi’ was originally a word for forest in the Finnish language. In the beginning, Hiisi and Tapio (the god of the forest) were compared to each other but over time, the meaning of Hiisi got forgotten. It was the believed that the word got altered and the people begun associating it with underground living creature 3. This alteration was believed to be due to witches and consequently the word later on got associated with the devil. (Harva, 2018)

One factor that affected how Hiisi was viewed in mythology and by humans was Christianity. Hiisi was interpreted as evil by missionaries of Christianity, which led to people believing it to be a forest sprite that would attack and steal from people. (Wood, 2018)

2.2.2 House Elf

One of the most frequent entities popping up when researching Finnish mythology was the house elf. Depending on the source these entities might have a different name, for example, pixy, sprite or homeowner. Since we had decided to go for something more “human” as our main character in the game, the house elf felt like a good candidate. The house elf has many names, thus there are many different stories of what kind of an entity they are. The house elf is seen in folklore as a key part of history and old archives can show the importance of them in mythology, yet there are many different ways the people of Finland have discussed it and it seems as if it is a difficult character to define (Harva, 2018).

3 Translated from the Finnish word “maahis” 19

A house elf was believed to be a homeowner4 that showed itself in human form as a man or woman, dressed in grey, and took care of the house. They could punish the humans if they were up late making a ruckus, as the elves worked during the night to keep the house in shape. In an old town in Finland, Elimäki, it was believed that if you threw hot water on your front yard, the house elf would burn its eyes and become blind which would lead to bad luck (Harva, 2018). Whatever you did in your house it was for the good of the elf as you wanted to be on good terms with the elves, so that the house would be lucky.

2.2.3 Birth of the milky way and stinging arrow

In many different countries there are stories of a big tree, in Finnish mythology it is an oak, that reached up to the sky and connected heaven to earth. This would be the story of how life on earth was created based on different societies and people. It was believed to be a cosmic tree with twigs shimmering like silver and leaves shining like gold. According to myths it has now fallen down over the ocean and functions as a bridge to take you to paradise, or Tuonela which is the underworld in Finnish mythology. Some folklore associates the story of the Milky Way to the birth of the world, and it was believed that when the oak tree fell, the world was created and the light from the sky shone down on earth which then led to plants growing and life as we know it, to begin. (Haavio, 2019)

With the oak fallen down over the ocean, the silver shimmering branches begun to float along the water. These were then picked up by, depending on the myth, a big black dog, Hiisi, or a Finnish lapphund with teeth of iron. These creatures would then bring the branches to the hands of a fairy, or the hands of an inconsequential boy. The fallen oak tree broke the connection between heaven and earth, and coincidentally created life. Not only was there life, likewise evil and war was born. It is said that Hiisi would stab

4 Translated from the Finnish word ”kodinhaltija” which was the name most used for the creature in the book by Harva 20

humans with the stinging arrows and create animals just to make their lives worse. Diseases and how they were brought upon humanity can be brought back to the lost connection of heaven and earth with an oak tree, or rope, or liana. Different cultures and myths show an identical belief between these two. (Haavio, 2019)

The bear has always been a sacred animal in Finnish mythology, though its name was never something to be spoken of. People feared the name bear and believed it to bring them misfortune if was used. Because of this belief, the bear now has a lot of nicknames: Tapio, God of the forest, Otso, the luck of the forest (Heikura, 2014). By saying its real name the bear supposedly could guess how the hunter was thinking or it would find your location and cause a lot of destruction, and only during the time when the bear was is hibernation were you allowed to use the real name (Tiina, 2018).

Many of the old bear myths deal with the fundamental questions of human existence. For example, some myths discuss the differences of good and evil, death and reincarnation; and these stories can be divided into three respective categories which are heaven, earth and the underworld. (Karhuseura, 2021)

When killing a bear in Finland in the 17th century, a great feast and ritual celebration was held; called peijaiset. This ritual took place after a successful kill as to help the animal on its soul wandering, the people wanted to show how grateful they were of the bear that had been killed. During the peijaiset, beverages would be drunk from the skull of the bear as well as eating its meat. The teeth form the bear would be saved and used in spells and healing; the rest of the bones would be buried at the root of a tree. When the celebration was over, the skull of the bear was hung in a pine and pointed towards east; this way the bear’s soul was recovered to nature and was let free to be incarnated. (Tiina, 2018)

3 DESIGNING THE CHARACTERS

Having decided the theme of the game, which would be heavily inspired by Finnish mythology, and concluding the game of being and endless runner; Characters now had to be made.

As the decision of finding inspiration in Finnish mythology had been made, one thing made clear in the team was to not focus on Kalevala, but instead stories of entities that people believed existed and were discussed by the people throughout time. M.A. Castrén discussed the subject of Finnish mythology and believed that the people have immortalized all the valuable myths in old poetry and rhymes (Castrén, 1839).

Yoshitaka Amano, one of the first designers of the Final Fantasy franchise, found his inspiration in the European art nouveau movement and combined it with Japanese woodblock print design to create a completely new look to the characters compared to other games during the 80’s. Even though the games and its characters during that time were only a few pixels, Amano created concept art that showed much detailing, which later then would help to create future characters of the franchise in the 21st century. (Polygon, 2019)

After reading and learning more about how Amano designed the first characters for the Final Fantasy franchise, I found myself inspired by his work and wanted to put as much soul into my characters as he did.

Tillman discusses the importance of color and how much it affects a character and its story in his book ‘Creative Character Design’. By choosing different colors, different people might associate with the character more or less as people usually choose to go toward individuals who like the same things as themselves. Color is an “amnemonic device” which will incline people towards it. In that sense, it is very important to know what colors you are using and why you are using them, and for what purpose. (Tillman, 2011)

3.1 Main Character

The stories of how the elves took care of the house and the people living in them felt intriguing and I started wondering of what would happen if an elf would be going on an adventure outside of the house. How would it act when seeing entities bigger than itself?

The first known information of the house elf in Finnish mythology is from the list of gods by Agricola. Based on Scandinavian mythology it was believed that the house elf would commonly be an old man dressed in grey clothes and wearing a red gnome hat, or pointy hat5. (Harva, 2018)

Some other folklore believed house elves could be either an old woman or man and depending on the person who first entered the house, this would be determined. If a woman were to first enter the house, the house elf would be a female and based on how she was dressed, for example, if she was happy and dressed in magnificent clothes, the house would be a wealthy one. If a man were the first to step in, the house elf would be male and if he, as well, was well dressed and happy and owned dogs, the house would have good luck when hunting. It could also be possible to have both a female and male house elf if a couple stepped into the house which would lead to a happy home. (Harva, 2018)

When deciding the gender and personality of the character I chose to go for a young female elf. The reason for this being that she would not be like the other elves. The purpose of elves was to take care of a house and its owners, but our character has made the choice of exploring the outside world. Because a lot of cultures associate age with wisdom (Tillman, 2011), a young and reckless personality felt fitting.

After doing the research of house elves I started sketching out the character. Because the game was going to be a mobile game, a lot of the tiny details made on the character

5 The original Finnish word used in the text was ”piippolakki” this translation felt most accurate to describe the object 23

had to be removed, but it still felt like a proper concept design really could bring out the character and its intentions more. As mentioned earlier in the thesis, back story and personality traits is what really builds a character (Tillman 2011).

The first color palette for creating the character was a mix of earthy colors as it was mentioned in old folklore (Harva, 2018) the house elves wore these colors to melt in with the nature around them and making it more difficult for humans to see them. These were very neutral and were fitting to a nature friendly character. With the first test of adding the character together with the background we realized it was not going to work as the character melted into the landscape. By changing the characters brown hair color to a bright blonde, the character popped out more, as well as changing the color of the cape to a warm red.

Figure 1 First look of the character (left), Final colors after testing it in the game environment (right)

The coat for the character was inspired by the cloaks used in Finland during the Iron ages. Both women and men used them to keep warm, the longer cloaks were even used as a sort of sleeping bag and to keep dry during the rain. There were some different types of cloaks, one being a poncho style which was considered being the warmest compared to a cloak where one arm was outside the fabric: like a toga. (Heikkinen, 2015)

A cloak felt like a good option to use as it would be moving and flying in the wind when the character moved. Since it’s a small character, a red big cloak made it more visible and with the flowy animation it is easier to follow where the character is moving. Not only did it feel fitting in the sense of animation, but it also symbolizes how the character is still growing into herself as well as her role she is supposed to have.

Figure 2 Concept art of the playable character

With the concept design for the main character, I wanted to show more of her features; the face and how she is a young house elf ready for adventure. With the concept design there is more detail to what she is wearing. Around her waist is a belt made by tablet weaving, these belts were used during the Iron Ages and can still today be seen worn

with ancient wear6 (Paso, 2019). The shoes worn are inspired by Scandinavian footwear from the Iron Ages (Heikkinen, 2015), with an element of a more fantasy-esque pointy elf toe shoe to fit the character.

Figure 3 Closeup of belt and shoes of the character

3.2 Hiisi Character

Hiisi is a character that, when reading about it, seems to have a lot of discussion about it as well as wonderings and opinions. The different stories of Hiisi were very interesting and since I was looking for enemies that our fellow house elf would meet on her travels, Hiisi felt like a perfect match as he had gotten a darker, and eviler persona over the years; the evil approach on the character felt fitting.

When describing the appearance of a Hiisi, there was very little to be found except the fact that they lived in groves and mountains, or even underground. Some believed the Hiisi to be a small figure living underground, and others thought of them to be massive entities (Harva, 2018). Based on pictures found on websites describing Hiisi, his features were often skinny and evil looking, which then led to a similar interpretation of

6 Translated from the Finnish word “muinaispuku” 26

Hiisi in the game. Since very little was mentioned of how they lived and looked I found more interest in the animals owned and created by the Hiisi.

Figure 4 Depiction of Hiisi made by the Finnish artist Tero Porthan (2018)

Hiiden hevonen, or Goblin’s Horse, is a mythical animal created by the Hiisi inside a big mountain. The horse had a head made of stone, a back made of wood with a lake on top where witches would eat fish. Its hooves were made of iron with which it was able to run through difficult terrain, for example, steep mountain or even Tuonela, the underworld in Finnish mythology. Another creation made by Hiisi was a moose with a head made of hummock, a back made of fences, flesh from the rot of a tree, legs from the stick of a fence and ears made of lily pads from a pond. (Porthan, n.d.)

These two creatures were the inspiration for how Hiisi was created for the game. By combining elements of both the end result was a half human, half hoofed animal with a horse skull on its head and horns down the neck and back. By putting the skull over its face, an eerie and mysterious energy was created around the character. The upper body

was left without any fabrics and the lower half is covered with fur to show both the human and animal side.

Figure 5 Hiisi character from different angles

When reading about the Hiisi I felt like there were many stories of what he did, but not who he was. Because of this mysterious aura from a character hidden deep in mythology, hiding in the woods, I wanted to get that ‘eerie’ emotion from the character. The arms are very long compared to his body, he is hunched down and head bobs slowly as he walks, or merely ambles. His arms are just dangling as he slowly drags his feet in the forest. With the skull on his we don’t really know who is behind the mask and what to expect before we get closer.

I chose to go for very natural colors for the character Hiisi as I wanted him to almost melt into the background. I realize this isn’t ideal for the player but because of his mysterious characteristics, these colors felt perfect. With the big horns on his back being grey, they could be seen easier through the green and dark backgrounds.

Figure 6 Concept art of Hiisi character

Hiisi as a creature were often shown as skinny and small and so I wanted to show that side of how it was being portrayed in the folklore. The legs are muscular compared to the upper body as it is the animal part of my interpretation of Hiisi. Both animals created and owned by Hiisi in mythology were strong and had immaculate stamina to run (Porthan, n.d.). By showing the strength of the animal side, the human side gets portrayed as the weaker part of its personality and is the reason to Hiisi hiding his humanity behind a horse skull.

3.3 Bear cult Character

The third character created for the game was inspired by multiple stories and old myths, more specifically the birth of the Milky Way, war between humans and the creation of the stinging arrow, and bear cults.

The reason for all of these stories as inspiration is due to them being connected. During the birth of the milky way, a big oak that connects the heavens to the earth falls down, or someone cuts it down, which eventually leads to war between humans and the creation of weapons and specifically the stinging arrow. The stinging arrow is made by the branches from the big oak tree from the first story which is why they both felt important to mention.

The third part that inspired the character were bear cults and how bears have been a creature greatly appreciated by the Finnish.

The relationship between man and bear goes back to the stone age. Humans saw the Bear as sacred and there were important rituals to show the appreciation of the animal after killing it, as well as making sure to send its soul to the next life. The sheer motivation to create a cult around an animal thought to be sacred inspired me to create a character that would have been in a cult of bears.

With the stories as the inspiration, I begun sketching up a character. Considering the story of the birth of the arrow, a weapon had already been decided. This character would attack the player by continuously shooting arrows. In honor of being part of the bear cult, the character is wearing the fur of a killed bear on its head. To accompany the headwear, I decided to give him a big beard with two big eyebrows, this would create a hidden face and add more mystery around the character.

Because I had hidden the face of Hiisi, and it was the other enemy of the game I felt like that theme could continue with this character. Our main character is running through terrain she has never been in before and everything around her is distinctively bigger than her, which is also why everything imaginably feels horrifying.

Figure 7 Final design of Bear cult character

The clothes worn by the character were inspired by Finnish and Estonian coats used during the iron ages (Heikkinen, 2015). An open model of the coat caught my eye as it was in a blue tint and felt like a color I wanted to use for the character due to the fact that the beard and bear fur, or many of the features of the character in general, were brown and earth tones. With the blue color of the coat, you can see the character better in the different areas of the game and undoubtedly brace for the arrow attack.

Figure 8 Pants and wrapped leather boots worn during the Iron Ages (Etnofutu, 2015)

The inspiration for the pants and shoes for the character are inspired by clothes worn by Finnish people during the Iron Ages. Because there is not a lot of remnants left of what materials were used for the clothes, a Scandinavian model has been used instead. The pants were usually tight, with leather boots and wraps around the calves. (Etnofutu, 2015)

Normal clothes like these felt fitting for the character as he is supposed to be someone proper, and practically normal. The colors used for the clothes are a very natural beige and brown to keep the focus on the blue coat.

Figure 9 Concept art of Bear cult Character

The bear cult character does not show much of his face in the game, but I wanted to show some more personality with the concept design. He is wearing a very traditional jacket and a belt inspired by old clothes worn by men in Finland and Estonia during the Iron Ages, with a quiver for his arrows attached to the belt (Heikkinen, 2015).

By looking at his face and stance, it is shown that he is a brave warrior who fears nothing. The fur of a bear is protecting his head from the cold weathers of the north as well as serving as a bit of a shield in case of battle.

4 CONCLUSION

The characters of Destination: Nowhere ended up being products of Finnish mythology and the interpretation of how they might look. With the help of reading through the two books on Finnish mythology, I learned a lot on how these creatures were perceived during the Stone Age. By gaining that understanding it felt easier to create something to replicate the creatures.

Looking back on the project, there are some things that I might have changed and some that I feel pleased with. In this chapter I will be discussing the characters’ final look, as well as how the literature on character design and costume design has affected my decisions during this project.

What ultimately brought the characters together for me were the concept designs. Amano used a similar way of creating a better understanding for the characters created for the first Final Fantasy game; even if the game had character that were a couple pixels big, his concept designs were extraordinary. I believe by putting the characters and creatures created under a magnifying glass, hence giving them more detail, there is given a better chance to get to know the character and its creator.

What needs to be taken into consideration when designing costumes for game characters based on mythological creatures from old Finnish folklore?

What I learned during my own process of creating characters based on mythology is that research is what makes or breaks the product. With proper research on eras or creatures, the designer will be able to create a strong connection between the costumes and the story. By knowing what clothes were worn by, for example, Roman emperors during that time, the characters will melt into the story and create harmony instead of standing out like a sore thumb. Of course, there should always be room for creativity. If the research has been done and the characters, as well as the story, feel familiar to the designer there is many opportunities to create costumes out of the ordinary but with the right intent.

When you as the designer, feel a strong connection to your characters as a result of doing research, I believe that emotion will be conveyed to whoever is playing the game. By being vocal on how and why certain decisions were made on the costume design of characters, there will be a ripple effect and more attention will be drawn to the importance of making costume design.

In what way can costume design help emphasize emotions for a character?

By having the old folklore as a guide, the characters were easier to create according to how they were depicted. Since the stories gave information about how the different creatures acted, it helped to make the characters evil or kind minded. For example, Hiisi was known to be evil and pull pranks on humans. By knowing this, it was easier to start working on how to create an “evil looking” character. This then led to me thinking “how could I show this through costumes?” By doing my research on Costume design and knowing how these traits could be interpreted, I then designed what I believed to be a mysterious looking evil entity. the character ended up with the right emotions that I wanted. One thing to consider though is that at first glance, you might not even recognize the characters as any specific creature from a mythology if you are not familiar with it from before. I believe you would only realize what they were if there would be a better introduction to them in game. The inspiration to the characters is there but without a proper introduction no one would know who they were.

Just like it was discussed in the theory of how the character should always support the story, not the other way around (Tillman, 2011); without the story shown in the game there is no way of knowing. The story and background of the characters are there, they just are not the focus.

However, I do believe we conveyed the characters’ emotions adequately. The house elf is a free spirited, still young and new to her duties. She decides to explore the unknown with only her oversized cape covering her, and a couple of spells to protect her from whatever she will meet on her journey. 35

Hiisi is the mysterious creature that no one knows a lot about, but enough to know not to mess with. His identity is hidden and with his powerful animals and spells, he most surely will stop anyone in his way.

The Bear cult character is a strong and brave warrior with years of killing animals, specifically bears, to have enough skill with his bow and arrow to hit a moving target. He stands tall in the deep forests and big mountains; all our house elf can do is avoid him at all costs.

4.1 Final Thoughts

With the final characters done, and with more information on costume design and what to think about when creating a character, I realized some things that I would have wanted to change with the characters.

First and foremost, naming the characters would have helped a lot to create a personality. As of now, the characters are known as house elf (playable character), Hiisi and Bear cult character. How this flew over my head in the process, I have no idea. Being too distracted by the folklore and stories and focusing too much on other components might have been why the names were forgotten. By not giving them proper names, the players will have a harder time getting to know the character, just as Barncroft explained, it is important to give the player a chance to get to know the characters.

The objective of this thesis was to find out how fashion and costume design can affect the design of the character and if it subsequently strengthens the abilities of the character. By doing the research and taking time to design the clothes for a character, the designer will first of all get to know the character, and secondly create something with more emotion. The same way we get dressed every morning and decide what to

wear based on our own mood, is what should be taken into consideration when dressing the characters. Even though there was a clear objective for the thesis, I was not expecting any big conclusions towards the end. What I’m hoping this project has done is shine some more light on the costume designing part of creating a character, and hopefully inspire players and designers to discuss the subject more.

What could be done in the future for this subject would be to actually look into the community. Customization has become a big thing in games, and would that not mean that there is some sort of interest in costume design and the emotional meaning behind the clothes and accessories? Not only would it be interesting to see what players think of the subject, but it would also be informative to interview designers and creators of games to gain a broader perception of the subject.

REFERENCES

Appleoff Lyons, S., Police, L., Rich, G., 2009, Costume Design for Video Games: An Exploration of Historical and Fantastical Skins, CRC Press.

Barncroft, T., 2006, Creating Characters with Personality, Ten Speed/ the Crown Publishing Group.

Cooper, R., 2007, Alter Ego: Avatars and Their Creators, Chris Boot.

Godchecker, 2020, Finnish Mythology. Available: https://www.godchecker.com/finnish-mythology/pantheon/ retrieved: 16.2.2020.

Gresham, T., 2019, Costume Designer vs. Fashion Designer. Available: https://work.chron.com/costume-designer-vs-fashion-designer-20545.html retrieved: 10.3.2021

Haavio, M., 2019, Suomalainen Mytologia, 2nd revised eds., Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura.

Harva, U., 2018, Suomalaisten Muinaisusko, 2nd modernized eds., Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura.

Heikkinen, 2015, Etnofutu – The Ethnofuturism of Fashion. Available: http://www.etnofutu.com/ancient-dress retrieved: 15.2.2020.

Heikura, P., 2014, Aristoteleen Kantapää: Otso, Mesikämmen ja Nalle, YLE, 10.9.2014.

Karhuseura, 2001–2021, Karhumytologia. Available: http://www.karhuseura.net/karhumytologia.php retrieved: 26.11.2020.

Klastrup, L., Tosca, S., 2009, Cultures of Virtual Worlds, Vol.1. No.3, The JVWR.

Klein, J., 2010, What is Artistic Research?, Gegenworte 23, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.

Mind, 2018, How nature benefits mental health. Available: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/nature-and- mental-health/how-nature-benefits-mental-health/. Retrieved: 18.02.2021.

Paso, V., 2019, Rautakauden mahtiemännät koreilivat vaatteilla, YLE, 11.5.2019.

Polygon, 2019, How Final Fantasy defined weird JRPG fashion. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2bPuEmYh8&list=PL5RhUgDH64ZXLz9H50Qm _FQBXeCFLChIT&index=1&t=120s retrieved: 24.1.2020. 38

Porthan, T., n.d., Suomalainen Tietäjä. Available: https://tietajat.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/hiiden-sepat/ retrieved: 14.2.2020.

Rogers, S., 2014, Level Up! The Guide to Great Video Game Design, 2nd eds., John Wiley & Sons.

Steele, V., 2021, Definition of Fashion. Available: https://fashion- history.lovetoknow.com/alphabetical-index-fashion-clothing-history/definitionn-fashion retrieved: 3.4.2021

Tiina, 2018, Karhukultti ja karhuesineet Suomessa. Available: https://solekoru.com/2018/10/karhu-kultti-bear-cult/ retrieved: 24.11.2020.

Tillman, B., 2011, Creative Character Design, CRC Press.

Tran, V., 2019, Why Fashion in Games Suck, and Why You Should Care. Available: https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1025774/Why-Fashion-in-(Most)-Games retrieved: 13.1.2020.

Uniarts, XXX, What is Artistic Research. Available: https://www.uniarts.fi/en/general- info/what-is-artistic-research/ retrieved: 2.4.2021

Wood, J., 2018, 11 Mythical Creatures Lurking in Finland’s Lakes and Forests. Available: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/finland/articles/11-mythical-creatures- lurking-in-finlands-lakes-and-forests/ retrieved: 15.2.2020.

APPENDICES

Link to the game Destination: Nowhere: https://yllesockor.itch.io/destinationnowhere Link to folder with character design: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1DM7iLAS4zDCre9l9QOSctnCqddN9hVhO?us p=sharing

5 SAMMANFATTNING PÅ SVENSKA

Det här arbetet med rubriken ”Att skapa en karaktär baserat på finsk mytologi och påverkan av kostymdesign” fokuserar på Kostymdesign - hur man skapar karaktärer baserade på finsk mytologi, samt hur kläder och accessoarer kan stärka en karaktärs personlighet och känslor. Orsaken till att jag ville skriva om detta är att det sällan diskuteras i spelvärlden. I vissa situationer kan det hittas forum där spelare diskuterar sina favoritkaraktärer och möjligen påpekar något om deras kläder, men det är mera sällan man hör varför en karaktärsdesigner har bestämt sig att designa just de specifika kläderna till en karaktär.

Min hypotes: genom att skapa en karaktär med stark kostymdesign kan spelaren känna en starkare upplevelse under spelets gång med både berättelsen och karaktären.

Mera specifikt: tre karaktärer från spelet Destination: Nowhere kommer att analyseras. Destination: Nowhere är ett spel som Amanda, Emilia och jag jobbade med under våren 2020. Inspirationen till spelet kommer från finsk mytologi, eftersom det var något vi inte hittade på marknaden för stunden. Vi ville skapa ett mobilspel som inte skulle vara för fyllt med action, utan mera ett avslappnande spel som man lätt kunde komma tillbaka till under dagen, ingen skillnad om du sitter i bussen eller hemma.

Detta arbete fokuserar på de tre karaktärer jag skapat för spelet och den kreativa process jag gick igenom. Under själva skapandet av karaktärerna använde jag mig av

konstnärlig forskning som i sin korthet betyder att man undersöker det kreativa arbetet som gjorts, men undviker att se det som en simpel studie, utan ser det som något mycket mera (Uniarts, 2020). Genom att använda textanalys utvecklade jag mina kunskaper i kostymdesign och karaktärsdesign, samt fick en bättre bild av vad som har skrivits inom ämnet och kunde sedan använda den kunskapen för att analysera karaktärerna på ett djupare plan.

Eftersom både finsk mytologi och kostymdesign samt dess emotionella inverkan på karaktären visade sig vara de två huvudsakliga faktorer som påverkade arbetet har jag valt att besvara följande forskningsfrågor:

Hur kan man skapa kostymer åt spelkaraktärer baserad på mytologiska varelser från finsk folktro?

Den här frågan hade största betydelse i arbetet men i takt med att projektet framskred, uppstod en ny fråga:

På vilket sätt kan kostymdesign hjälpa att betona personligheten hos en karaktär?

Teoridelen är uppdela i två delar. Den första delen behandlar vad som tidigare har blivit skrivet om kostymdesign och även karaktärsdesign. Den andra delen är en allmän syn på finsk mytologi, samt en noggrannare teori om varje karaktär kommer att diskuteras, delvis i teorin men även i resultatdelen.

Som tidigare nämnts, finns det inte mycket om kostymdesign men vad som tydligt framkom i de böcker och texter som jag läste är att berättelsen har en väldigt viktig del i skapandet av en karaktär. Tillman diskuterar i sin bok om hur det alltid är karaktären som skall betjäna berättelsen, och inte tvärtemot. Om karaktären skapas före berättelsen, kommer det ändå alltid att göras förändringar i karaktären i efterhand så att den ska smälta in i berättelsen. (Tillman, 2011)

Victoria Tran diskuterar om varför mode i spel ”suger” på Game Developer Conference 2019. Hon nämner att fastän spel är väldigt visuella så är det inte mycket som blir sagt

om modeaspekten. Genom att använda sig av kläder kan man enklare göra beslut om karaktären: ålder, kön, status i samhället och personlighetsdrag. Om detta görs ”på fel sätt” kan det leda till mode som saknar information eller kontext. (Tran, 2019)

Som tema för spelet valde vi finsk mytologi. Vi beslöt oss för att använda oss av finsk mytologi och folktro eftersom vi ville ha ett avslappnande spel och naturen kändes som ett säkert val för att få den känslan. Finland har en rik historia och mycket av den har sparats tack vare poesi och böcker. Det finns få som har en så mångsidig mytologi som Finland, när man diskuterar och jämför europeiska mytologier (Haavio, 2019).

Det var flera olika berättelser som slutligen ledde oss till dessa tre karaktärers personligheter och kostymer. Två huvudsakliga källor som användes inspiration: Suomalainen mytologia av Martti Haavio och Suomalaisten muinaisusko av Uno Harva. Valet av dessa böcker kom egentligen från vad som rekommenderades när man sökte finsk mytologi på nätet. Haavios bok var det första verket som rekommenderade men eftersom det fanns många hänvisningar till Harvas bok blev den också en viktig källa.

En av de första varelserna som kommer fram när man läser finsk mytologi, men också nordisk mytologi, är hustomten. Hustomten var en gammal man eller kvinna som såg till att huset man bodde i hölls i skick, så länge dess husbonde/husmor i huset såg till att hustomten fick allt den behövde (Harva, 2018). Om man inte kom överens med sin hustomte, var det mycket trovärdigt att olyckor skulle ske i hemmet.

Hiisi var en annan karaktär som ofta förekom i texter och många dikter (Porthan, n.d.). Som varelse var Hiisi någon som var svår att definiera, i början sågs han som en ”skogsande” men i senare fall blev han associerad med djävulen (Harva, 2018). Hiisi hade många djur, t.ex. en älg med hundra horn och en häst gjord av järn; dessa djur blev inspirationen till hur Hiisi slutligen skulle se ut.

Den sista karaktären som gjordes för spelet var inspirerad av ett antal olika berättelser; världens skapelse och vintergatans födelse som ledde till krig mellan människor och skapandet av vapen (Haavio, 2019). Som sista karaktär ville vi ha någon som sköt mot spelaren och då kändes en björnkult medlem passande. Björnar har alltid varit ett djur

som man har haft respekt för i Finland, människor var rädda för att säga djurets namn vilket ledde till att den fick många namn: Tapio, Skogens gud, Otso (Heikura, 2014). Krig och björnar kändes som passande tema för vår sista karaktär.

Som slutprodukt är jag nöjd med hur karaktärerna ser ut. Naturligtvis finns alltid känslan av att man kunde göra bättre. Men med tanke på vad som behövdes för spelet och den forskning som gjorts kan man dra en slutsats: Genom att göra noggrann forskning och själv skapa en stark förbindelse till sina karaktärer, kommer andra förhoppningsvis också att känna samma känsla. Med den gamla folktron och dikterna som vägvisare, fick jag som designer skapat en djupare personlighet åt karaktärerna och tack vare kostymdesign kunde historien leva vidare.