Wayang is a traditional form of puppet theater originating from Indonesia. It combines storytelling, music, and intricate puppetry to depict ancient legends, mythologies, and moral tales.  

Project: Wayang   I   Services: Educational Playing Cards

Year: 2013   I   Tools: Adobe illustrator

The objective of creating educational wayang playing cards is to provide a unique and engaging educational tool that combines traditional wayang characters with a modern twist. 

These cards aim to promote cultural understanding, enhance learning, and foster creativity among individuals of various age groups. By incorporating educational content such as historical facts, moral lessons, and character descriptions, the project aims to make learning about Indonesian culture specifically on wayang, mythology, and storytelling more accessible and enjoyable. 

The cards can be used in schools, cultural centers, or at home to facilitate interactive and immersive learning experiences while also preserving and promoting the rich heritage of wayang theater.

Playing Cards with the illustration of Wayang Character

Problem Statements 

Although UNESCO recognized wayang as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003, acknowledging its cultural importance and the need for its preservation, the young generation lacks interest in wayang, perceiving it as an art form reserved for older people and considering it uninteresting and dull compared to modern storytelling mediums such as comics or contemporary stories. Some parents that try to teach or introduce kids to wayang need a better way or medium that is interesting enough to keep them entertained to know more.

I decided to start by listing some of the problems 
and the possible solutions that I can work on.

I start with exploring the combination of layouts, shapes, and combining with patterns, then decide to use the card layout combination on the card on the right.

Wayang in Action playing cards. 
The pattern on the front side showcases the character's family, and on the other side is the character, for which I apply the pattern as part of their clothes attribute. Below are some of the characters as part of the Mahabharata story.