A Human Centric Process for a Human Centric Experience

September 23rd, 2026

by Irawandhani Kamarga

This era of automation made a lot of things felt too generic that authenticity becomes a scarcity. As things are becoming easier to generate and replicate, craft may very possibly turn into a rare commodity. This sparks a renewed interest in craft and handmade everywhere, people are returning to human made things with newfound appreciation.

Focusing on the narrative behind the product, at The 1984 we are always on the lookout for emotional resonance and cultural or environmental value throughout our works. Through Joyland 2024, our idea of ‘The Joyland Tribe’ highlights the communal aspect of music appreciation and sense of belonging that derives from their passion for music with like-minded peers. Through this story of tribe, we see familiar faces and characters that make up Joyland’s crowd. We trace and animate these people dancing and turn them into key design elements.

We trace from human motion, print each of the image traces onto Risograph machine, scan and reanimate them all as one. It truly was a tedious process, but it is important to prioritize creation of lasting values over superficial output.

For us, doing crafty executions are a skillset that we have honed from early on. As best as we can, we manifest this craftsmanship spirit in many facets of our work. This year, our independent publishing sister company Binatang Press enters its 11th year. What started as something we did for our love of manual printmaking techniques, became a bit more serious due to demand. This is a stark evidence on how people crave for hand made authenticity.

With its speed and capacity, we love AI for its contribution in doing menial aspects to production value. However, when it comes to ideas and crafts, we believe in human centric process for a human centric experience. At the end of the day, this is what we believe as the ethos of creating.