UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI SCHOOL OF THE ARTS AND DESIGN BDS 413 AESTHETIC ILLUSTRATIONS USING AFRICAN MYSTICISM TO EDUCATE THE YOUTH IN NAIROBI, KENYA (Specialization- ILLUSTRATION) CARLTON NJUGUNA NJENGA (B05/52308/2012) Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the award of the degree of Bachelor of Arts in design (B.A Design) Supervisor: Mrs. Francesca Odundo Submitted on 18th December 2015 DECLARATION I declare that this project entitled “Aesthetic illustrations using African Mysticism to educate the youth in Nairobi, Kenya” ―is my own work and to the best of my knowledge has not been presented to any other university for a degree or any other certificate. Signature……………………………………………..Date:……………………………… CARLTON NJUGUNA NJENGA B05/52308/2012 School of the Arts and Design, University of Nairobi This research project has been submitted for examination with my approval as University Supervisor. Signature:…………………………………………Date:………………………… ……………. MRS. FRANCESCA ODUNDO School of the Arts and Design, University of Nairobi DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this project work to my parents Mr. Samuel Njenga and Mrs. Margaret Muthoni and my sister Michelle Wangari, who have instilled valuable academic discipline and a hardworking attitude in me. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to acknowledge and extend my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have made the completion of this project possible. First, I would like to thank the School of the Arts and Design, University of Nairobi, to whom I am deeply indebted to, for supporting me through the four years. Secondly, I would like to thank my supervisor Mrs. Francesca Odundo and Dr. Lilac Osanjo whose knowledge, insight and encouragement helped in shaping this project to fruition. Thank you for reading both the proposal and report at its various stages and providing valuable advice. I am also grateful to all my Lecturers who have imparted knowledge over the past four years of my Undergraduate studies. I would also wish to acknowledge and appreciate the motivation and support given to me by my colleagues at the School of The Arts and Design at the University of Nairobi, thank you for the constant reminders on class meetings and group discussions and also for dissecting that paper. Most especially, I would like to thank my family for supporting me to achieve great endeavors all through my educational development; thank you for being a constant source of inspiration. And to the Almighty God, who made all things possible ABSTRACT Today the world is changing. The social media is a buzz, globalization and climate change are just a few of the powerful and complex forces at work. As these changes occur with limited resources and limited time to make the required impact, the Kenyan government has made strides to propose laws that protect cultural heritage in Kenya for endangered wildlife has focused its efforts to promote sustainable environmental conservation, with special emphasis on endangered species which are considered to be of special ecological, economic and cultural importance. As designers we need to be inspired by what is around us and adapt to these changes. Today environmental conservation and culture has a huge impact on illustration design and it’s compatible with all traditional cultures. It can be adapted to different sociocultural contexts. For example, African cultural beliefs and practices play an important part in communication, were attributed to writing and were regarded as signs or marks representing something or relaying certain message about one thing or the other. They not only provide information and education but also have an aesthetic value. The traditional African Mysticism has been reborn today in contemporary cartoons, narratives, paintings. This research will be composed of five major chapters, where by each chapter will handle major segment of the study Chapter one will have the basic introduction and guidelines into the whole research. It will contain the introduction, objectives and scope of the study. Chapter two will look at literature on Illustration design, the youth, African mysticism, popular illustration mediums for the youth, African art vs. Western art and also it will highlight on the use of more Visual argumentation. Chapter three outlines the methodologies used by the researcher to get the objectives of the study, which will include data collection methods and analysis. Chapter four will account for the data analysis and findings, where by the researcher will base his data collection on the corporate identity, advertising, photography and packaging. Chapter five will entail the recommendations stated on the basis of this research. Table of Contents DECLARATION ...................................................................................................................................... 2 DEDICATION .......................................................................................................................................... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................................................... 4 ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................................. 5 CHAPTER ONE ....................................................................................................................................... 10 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 12 1.2 BACKGROND OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................... 13 1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM ................................................................................................ 14 1.4.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................... 14 1.4.1 Main objectives .......................................................................................................................... 14 1.4.2 Specific objectives ..................................................................................................................... 14 1.5.0 Research questions ......................................................................................................................... 15 1.6.0 JUSTIFICATION .......................................................................................................................... 15 1.7.0 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................... 16 1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY .................................................................................................... 16 1.9.0 Concept .......................................................................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................... 18 2.0 INTROUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.0 AFRICAN MYSTICISM ............................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1 Learning from the past ............................................................................................................... 21 2.3 MYSTICISM IN WESTERN WORLD OFCOMICS ...................................................................... 22 2.4 URBAN YOUTH AND MEDIUMS OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION ....................................... 24 2.5 STREET ART AND GRAFITTI ...................................................................................................... 25 2.6 AFRICAN ART VS WESTERN ART ............................................................................................. 27 2.7.0 POWER OF ILLUSTRATION ...................................................................................................... 29 2.7.1 VISUAL ARGUMENTATION ..................................................................................................... 31 2.8.0 ILLUSTRATION DESIGN PROCESS ......................................................................................... 32 2.8.1 The Design Process .................................................................................................................... 32 2.9.0 EXEMPLARS ............................................................................................................................ 34 2.9.1 Abayomi Barber ......................................................................................................................... 34 2.9.2 LeSean Thomas .......................................................................................................................... 35 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................................................ 37 3.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 38 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................................................... 38 3.2 TARGET POPULATION ................................................................................................................