Kaalam is a graphic novel concept that reimagines traditional myths through Kerala’s ritual practices, particularly myths surrounding animal sacrifice and the entities associated with them. The project uses design to question how myths shape our moral and emotional frameworks and reinterpret them for a contemporary audience.
Kaalam
Title Design
A graphic novel that reframes traditional myths giving them new meanings, perspectives, or contexts. It may question or reinterpret established moral structures, power, or fear within myths
Young adults or contemporary readers who consume visual storytelling, People familiar with myths who are open to reinterpretation or questioning of traditional narratives.
What?
Who?
Why?
To question how myths influence our moral and emotional frameworks, and to use design as a tool to reinterpret them for a modern audience.
Kaalam, meaning a period of time or an era in Malayalam, is a graphic novel where time is not merely a measure of events but a force that shapes human existence, choices, and consequences.
The title is designed to reflect this idea visually. The Malayalam lettering grows progressively larger, creating a sense of time expanding beyond human control. Its towering presence above Devan suggests how time, fate, and the events unfolding around him become larger than himself. The distorted, raw edges of the typography add to the unsettling atmosphere of the narrative, hinting at a world where the boundaries of time and reality are not stable.
Character design
Initial concept
Age: 20
Janaki has a strong and confident personality, but she also carries a quiet vulnerability beneath that surface. She appears bold and independent, yet she often craves emotional closeness and reassurance. She is expressive, straightforward, and not afraid to speak her mind.
Age: 20 yrs
Kind-hearted, warm, and welcoming; known and liked by almost everyone
in the village. Runs a small shop at the junction, designing banners and doing similar work for others.Very friendly and close with thevillagers.Father recently passed away; lives with his mother, whom he loves dearly. He Has no siblings. Owns an old bicycle.
