Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546606
3 0 P E R S P E C T I V E S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 2 6 world-building and brought together historical research, visual reference, cultural knowledge and the right experts to deepen the creative process. Her goal wasn't simply accuracy, it was to create a shared visual language that helped every department make creative decisions rooted in authenticity. One of those people was Utah educator Haviar (Havi) Hafoka. He runs "Malialole," a Polynesian music and dance studio that preserves Pacific Islander culture through song, storytelling and dance. His family is from Samoa and Tonga. His guidance gave the artists a deeper understanding of the cultural meaning, context and regional traditions behind the designs we were creating. It was indispensable and would have been impossible to do this without skilled help. During the design process, I was able to send preliminary designs to Havi and he would let me know if the design looked too African or contained any versions of the language which looked too modern. Only the oldest symbols were to be used. Designing the Siapos Once we had met with Havi, I made a symbol wall chart and a small booklet for the design team to use as a quick cheat sheet to understand the language. We needed around one hundred and ten of these designs for the three hero fales and I never got tired to working on them. Jan's team ordered many different types of rope, grasscloth and actual siapos, creating a tropical atmosphere in the office which was so fun to be a part of. To design the siapos, I made ten grids from the research for each of the two sizes we needed. The grids were lifted directly from existing siapos to make sure the proportions and overall design were correct. Then I copied many individual symbols and put them in groups depending on their meaning—all the plants went together and all the spears together, etc. Then I didn't look at the research again, lest I be accused by clearance of stealing someone's artwork. I started filling in the various grids to make them visually appealing but also accurate in meaning. Some icons were done directly on the computer, for others, I used colored inks to draw them with a brush first. I started working on siapos for the Council Fale. During meetings, council members sit in front of their family siapo. We started with the chief's. As the leader of this village, he is allowed to use red, the color of royalty. I used symbols for protection, providing food and leadership on his. These symbols were the tern (safe return from travels), fish (abundance and prosperity), centipede or long god (warrior spirit, protection, ancestors and leadership), spears (warrior and hunter spirit), pandanus flower (ancestors, prosperity), trochus shell (status and prosperity) and the headrest (status). It was also more intricate than the other designs. Think of it as his leadership 'platform' statement, if you will, about why he should be chief. The remaining twenty-seven A A. A LEXICON FOR THE POLYNESIAN LANGUAGE CREATED BY KAREN TENEYCK.