Narrative Theory
The narrative of the Bio is deliberately structured to apply Aristotle’s concept of causality, whereby the first half constitutes the complication where the “knot is tied”, and the second half unravelling, where the “knot is resolved”.

The structure can be also likened to Tzvetan Todorov’s theory as interpreted by L. Cohen that a good narrative should have:
1. Equilibrium: Smiley baby
2. Disruption: Baby tossing
3. Recognition/facing the problem: Learn communication
4. Repair: Cartooning & Computer Science
5. New equilibrium: Applying communication for a cause
Ceteris paribus, applying these narrative theories is likely to yield better reception to most raw information, as a bio tends to consist of.

Signifiers Of Genre: Name & Tagline
The title, ianimation, is a natural combination of “ian” and “animation”, the chosen genre.   It also rhymes with “mission”, hence the “cartoonist on a mission” tagline.

Signifiers Of Genre: Image, Colours & Font
According to Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist, we associate meaning with each presented piece of media, or media text, as a system of signifier -> signified, otherwise known as Semiotics.  Using this approach, we look into how the meaning is derived from the various parts of this blog’s design.

The purple in the colour scheme chosen is associated with the local campaign for special needs awareness, The Purple Parade.  As I had the privilege of hosting the 2017 event at Suntec City as a volunteer MC, the picture serves as the perfect representation of my involvement in the cause.  Ie. Purple is the signifier, special needs awareness is the signified.  The event picture is the signifier, special needs awareness is the signified.  Despite the picture being personally cringeworthy, it could arguably contain a certain “What has been seen cannot be unseen” factor.  Hopefully, in a positive way.

The background motif, a halftone pattern, represents an association with cartoons, derived from the way comics were printed historically, dating back to 1852. Instead of constructing the pattern from scratch, a CC0 Public Domain licensed image was found at www.publicdomainpictures.net.  Noting the licensing details is important for peace of mind.

A purple colour tint was added using the iMac’s Preview application (Tools/Adjust Color). Ie. Halftone pattern is the signifier, comics are the signified.

Font/typography has the power to illicit strong associations throughout the history of print media. One issue remained: this WordPress theme (Twenty Eleven) does not present the option of customising the font to something with clear representation.

Being dissatisfied with this result, a text and speech bubble was appended directly into the picture, again using the Preview application.  This simple tool allowed for a choice of fonts and colour.

The title’s Phosphate font did remind me of the movie posters for Terminator. Not exactly, as I referenced later, but arguably close enough to imagine Schwarzenegger’s accent.

The cartoonish style of tagline’s Noteworthy font brings the mood back to comics, without use of the dreaded Comic Sans.

Contemplating some audience feedback that the background could be too distracting, a revision was done to darken the tones and resize the halftone pattern, thereby reducing the overall contrast of the background, and better serve as a halftone, rather than an array of dots.