Telling stories through Archetypes
Nuclear energy is a somewhat clean and very efficient source to power many aspects of human civilisation. Going by this fact, it is also obvious then that as time passes, nuclear waste will also increase manifold. As of present times, one prevalent method of nuclear waste disposal is by burying it deep within the ground in tightly sealed containers.
But, no seal can stop nuclear radiation from spilling out given sufficient time.
When that happens, say, in around 10,000 years, the land above the disposal sites would be contaminated by radioactive wastes right? Now, the rate at which human civilisation and human intelligence is evolving, means that 10,000 years from now, in all probability, the human beings on earth will neither be speaking our language, nor have any idea about radioactive hazards.
So, the question now arises —
How do we, as responsible ancestors of the future humans, mark out danger for the future?
In this piece, we’ll be learning what an archetype is, and how it influences our perception of everyday life.
Coming back to the question of how to demarcate nuclear-waste disposal sites, the answer is of course, through appropriate design.
Some proposed designs suggest using marker-pillars shaped like huge thorns poking out from the surface of the land, and covered with spikes, all over the disposal site. This should address the almost impossible design specification required for this project.
By using themes of parched and dry barren earth, and claws and thorn-like structures — the design is bound to be effective at warning people 10,000 years from now, not through any spoken language, but using visual stories on an instinctive level.
You see, an archetype is a sort of universal form, like faces, horns, canine teeth, snakes, spiders et cetera, that draws people to it based only on instinct. It is because of interest in archetypal patterns shown by our early ancestors that have given them the adaptive advantage necessary to continue the human race to this day.
If you saw a pattern of a spider, or a snake, or a thorn — your instinctive reaction would be to stay away from potential danger, and similarly, if you saw the outline of a smiling face, you would instinctively feel positive about it.
These are archetypes.
Here’s an example — can you imagine a young man, clean-shaved, in a bright red polo t-shirt, riding a mean-looking Harley Davison?
No.
Can you imagine your laziest friend out there, who eats away to glory at the slightest chance, to be elected as a brand ambassador of Nike?
No.
When you hear Harley-Davidson, you think of big muscular men, with dark leather jackets. When you think of Nike, you immediately vision an athlete in a heroic pose — Usain Bolt thumping his chest at the finish line of a 100m dash, or M S Dhoni hitting a game-winning six, or Michael Jordan mid-flight to a dunk.
These are archetypes that these brands align their designs with. Nike sticks to the Hero archetype, while Harley-Davidson aligns with the archetype of an Outlaw.
And not just with brands, even in movies we see the story of the Hero archetype all the time — in Superhero movies, in action thrillers, even in rom-coms. You may not know the exact plot, but if you see the trailer or read a 5 line summary of the movie — you’ll know a Hero-archetype before your eye can Blink.
Archetypes are very effective at influencing our perceptions on an unconscious level — and are crucial when conventional languages cannot be used.
Though reactions to some archetypes may vary across cultures, the global patterns that we, as human beings, are all too familiar with — can be used in our designs to appeal to people through their instinct.
You might still want to test your archetype on your target population — but if used properly in all aspects of design — form and function, name and brand — they capture and hold attention very well — making them pretty much priceless.
There you have it — archetypes in design.
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