VISUALIZING CULTURAL MEANING: A STUDY OF CARTOON IMAGERY IN CULTURAL-CREATIVE PRODUCTS AND BRAND COMMUNICATION

Abstract

The rapid development of China’s cultural and creative industries, digital media, and the intellectual property economy has transformed cartoon imagery from an entertainment-oriented visual form into a strategic medium for cultural translation and brand communication. This study examines the characteristics, forms, and symbolic meanings of cartoon imagery used in cultural-creative products and brand communication. A qualitative research design was adopted, integrating literature review, comparative case analysis, field observation, and visual-semantic analysis. Representative cases from international character branding and Chinese cultural-creative practice were compared with the Henan Houjiaguan clay monkey toy, a folk object combining auspicious symbolism, theatrical facial-mask imagery, clay and textile materiality, and a movable string-controlled mechanism. The findings identify six core characteristics of effective cartoon imagery: recognizability, formal simplification, emotional expressiveness, narrative capacity, cultural relevance, and cross-media adaptability. Five recurring forms are distinguished: entertainment-derived characters, institutional mascots, character-based intellectual property systems, culturally reinterpreted characters, and product-embedded folk-toy characters. Symbolic meaning is produced through four linked mechanisms: cultural representation, emotional mediation, identity construction, and brand-value communication. Based on these findings, the study proposes a culture-character-product-brand framework and a three-level feature hierarchy for heritage-oriented cartoon redesign. The study concludes that culturally grounded cartoon imagery can enhance contemporary relevance only when visual innovation is coordinated with cultural authenticity, material logic, product experience, and systematic brand communication.

Keywords: Cartoon Imagery, Cultural Symbolism, Cultural-Creative Product, Brand Communication, Houjiaguan, Intangible Cultural Heritage, Design Translation, Social Sustainability