The Typographic Characteristics and Design Value of Naxi Dongba Script
This paper by Jia Biying and Li Xiangyuan (Beijing Forestry University) analyzes Naxi Dongba pictographic script as a resource for modern design. It traces the script's origin in the character-creation principle of "observing objects to capture their image," and its systematic combination of elementary graphic elements with dots, lines, and planes -- a method the authors compare to modern icon and identity-system design. It surveys Dongba script's artistic characteristics (primitiveness and mystery, symbolic quality, ideographic richness, sign-like conventionality) and reviews real-world applications, notably Japanese designer Katsumi Asaba's packaging, poster, and logo work incorporating Dongba characters, plus several Chinese logo designs. It concludes that deeper engagement with Dongba script's character-formation logic, not just its surface form, offers designers a distinctive, culturally grounded design vocabulary.
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