Bouba the little bear cub, Flounder the adorable fish, Timon and Pumbaa the inseparable duo… So many names, so many characters that shaped your childhood or that of those around you. But did you know that these naive and innocent figures manipulated you without your knowledge?
Of course, it wasn't these endearing animals themselves that played tricks on you, but rather the animators and producers. Because if there's one industry that understands the need for emotion to sell, it's the world of cinema. From Georges Méliès to Michael Bay, via James Cameron and Tarantino, cinema has one goal: to make the audience feel something through their emotions.
While it would be interesting to dissect the emotions associated with these films, we're going to focus on specific examples to help you understand how YOUR products generate emotions. (Yes, you haven't made a mistake, you're still with Igonogo and not reading a film studies journal!).
In cinema, the area that allows the most creative freedom is animation. Naturally, everything can be controlled, from character faces to generated sets, and everything can be imbued with meaning and emotion. The slightest choice of shape or name taps into cultural codes and physiological aspects ingrained in us from a young age.
To illustrate this, I propose a little experiment: if you had to name these two shapes below, which one would be Kiki and which one would be Bouba?
If you answered Kiki on the left and Bouba on the right, congratulations, you have the same answer as 95% of participants!
If we go further and ask you to imagine Kiki's character and Bouba's, you might say that Kiki is young, intelligent, and nervous, even unpleasant, while Bouba is kind, good-natured, and perhaps even a little naive.
Of course, this doesn't come out of nowhere: regarding sounds, it's the shape our mouth makes when we pronounce them, as well as the stiffness and abruptness of the phonemes, that associates them with certain shapes. The more our mouth forms an 'O', the rounder the sound will be perceived; the more jerky and abrupt the sound, the more it will be perceived as "sharp". As for emotions or personality traits, their link with shapes and colors is made through association. For example, throughout our lives, red has been associated with danger (fire, a stop sign, blood...) or passion (love is almost always pink or red). As for shapes, it works the same way: a circle is associated with a ball, with play, whereas a pointed triangle can evoke a knife, a spike, something that can hurt us. As you can imagine, all of this is more complex than it seems, with symbols and influences being numerous and varying across cultures, but this is enough to show the underlying mechanisms.
Now that you know sounds and shapes are associated with certain emotions, characteristics, or peculiarities, you can play this game yourself at home while watching any animated film. Does the hero's father have a very square face without the slightest hint of roundness? He's probably tough and grumpy, quite conservative in his worldview. Take the character of Mickey Mouse, a symbol of Disney: he is designed with all roundness, to represent innocence and cheerfulness. On the other hand, characters like Darth Vader or the Joker are designed with triangles and abrupt lines to represent danger and aggression.
Of course, this doesn't come out of nowhere: regarding sounds, it's the shape our mouth makes when we pronounce them, as well as the stiffness and abruptness of the phonemes, that associates them with certain shapes. The more our mouth forms an 'O', the rounder the sound will be perceived; the more jerky and abrupt the sound, the more it will be perceived as "sharp". As for emotions or personality traits, their link with shapes and colors is made through association. For example, throughout our lives, red has been associated with danger (fire, a stop sign, blood...) or passion (love is almost always pink or red). As for shapes, it works the same way: a circle is associated with a ball, with play, whereas a pointed triangle can evoke a knife, a spike, something that can hurt us. As you can imagine, all of this is more complex than it seems, with symbols and influences being numerous and varying across cultures, but this is enough to show the underlying mechanisms.
Now that you know sounds and shapes are associated with certain emotions, characteristics, or peculiarities, you can play this game yourself at home while watching any animated film. Does the hero's father have a very square face without the slightest hint of roundness? He's probably tough and grumpy, quite conservative in his worldview. Take the character of Mickey Mouse, a symbol of Disney: he is designed with all roundness, to represent innocence and cheerfulness. On the other hand, characters like Darth Vader or the Joker are designed with triangles and abrupt lines to represent danger and aggression.
Now, you understand that your products, your logos, and even the names you give them convey values, emotions, and feelings. It might be less immediately obvious in your products than in animated films, but don't worry, Igonogo is here for that! You now have a tool at your fingertips to understand the emotions your customers feel, even before launching production!
If you want to learn more about emotional design, we invite you to check out our webinar "Emotional design, magic or true engineering?".
And if you want to assess the emotional impact of your name, logo, or products, we'll meet you here to discuss it!
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