Philosophy and contemporary exploration on designing batik motif for JAVAJAZZ promotion poster application

Batik is cultural expression that contains symbolic meaning of philosophy and high aesthetic value for Indonesian people. The unique method makes Batik represent Indonesian unique character. As its application expanding, unfortunately, modernization has brought incorrect interpretation about history existence of Batik design and application, it leads to a major problem in philosophy meaning and design innovation of modern Batik. Most of previous researcher only focus to preserve the method in producing Batik. Focusing in Batik motif and pattern design is also required a focus. By formulating a good structural connection from the philosophy of an object and its symbolic meaning, this paper proposed new method on designing Batik motif and pattern to create a new Batik pattern which suitable for modern design application. This paper offering four design stage and steps on designing a modern batik motif, which applied philosophy, contemporary style and basic design principle approach to be able to set into a promotion poster for International Java Jazz Festival as an example design application. These proposed methods are improving the idea exploration of Batik motif design and prevent breaking the philosophy rules (pakem) of Indonesian traditional batik. New improvement on designing a new modern Batik motif design are set to applied on innovative product which contain a good philosophy in order to create a strong and consistent message to the target market. Therefore, it can brought Batik to the various application, modernization and international market with the high appreciation to Indonesian traditional culture.


Introduction
As one of interesting cultural traditional art from Indonesia, batik has its own unique magnet for the foreigner eyes; its complexity process successfully attracts the international attention. Implementing traditional batik motif design to a modern design application required specific research on meanings as well as dimension in its interpretation, principles, goals and its influence to the designer and to the target audience. Previous study by Sunarya (2016) stated that we would make a clear statement about modern application on traditional batik design by simply viewing or referring its characteristics to the traditional meaning of batik in its aesthetics and identity. Which mean the comprehension of batik in the past must related or describe with the meaning as it will be use, applied or required in the future as a form of the modernity (Sunarya, 2016).
However, various innovation and application of modernized batik in creative industry is developed rapidly by only considering the economic value. Unfortunately, most of batik craftsmen use business strategic as the foundation to produce batik only to get high profit. In result batik was just only a production not as a creation, every aspect of batik starting to leave behind the philosophy meaning and degrading the precious value of batik. Destroying the value of traditional culture in modern day will produce a problem on our cultural heritage. At this stage preservation of batik traditional art culture is consider very important for Indonesia national identity because it is the key for Indonesian people to identify themselves.
Several research stated that Batik motif design is reflecting the value of tradition, which dynamically support the society. Batik design and motif design is acquired from the lesson of life, religious activity, culture, and nature condition in Indonesia (Anas, 1997)". In the field of art and design batik technique and its media application development is considered as new idea. Interesting research from Laksmi et.al.
(2014) she conclude that "Through precise placement, composition of batik motifs can improve the aesthetic value and provide special features that promote local content in the present design". This means that batik can provide knowledge about the preservation of ancestral heritage so that it still exists to answer the needs of today's society (Laksmi et al, 2014). As in various flood of modernity impacts in the world of batik span from ornaments, themes, colors, composition, techniques, naming, and labeling to the characteristics of each production spaces. The motifs design also modified for varieties of use. According to Baroto in his research on "Development of Indonesia new batik design by exploration of recent context", he is adding a new category on batik motif design development. He called it "others design" which is batik motif design using special software; Batik Fractal (emphasis on the technology on designing batik motif), batik motif design for organization needs such as school/university uniform and batik motif design for recent strategic issue like batik motif design for Indonesian Train Corporation (emphasis on the implementation). He also includes the thematic, segmented and symbolic oriented batik motif design (Indrojarwo, 2008).
By addressing current development of Indonesian traditional batik motif design, then continue to explore and implement the findings to construct the representative or new method on designing batik motif by exploring traditional batik motif design method and make a new combination with the modern design theory. Motivated by these consideration, this paper offer a method on designing the modern batik motif and pattern by emphasizing the philosophy and modern contemporary approach and creative exploration of design element.

Research Method
Grounded theory research are develop simultaneously. After relevant observation, collection of data, and organizing the selected data then continue to constructs applicable method from all source of collected data at the same time. New method are construct to directly applied in designing batik motif design and implement it on poster design. New method in this paper is referring to feature of the traditional batik design method that should be maintains in order to keep the artistic value of the history and philosophy. Combine with the additional theory related to graphic design knowledge in accordance as the one who play important role to convey the information correctly.

Design Method
Method on designing the batik motif is develop from related literature study and previous method which developed into proposed method.

Previous Method
In early days, making batik is made by the princess inside the palace environment only, each stage of batik making is considered as a full-fledged of spiritual activity which requires full concentration of mind, patience, and clean soul based on the solicitation, guidance from God. That is why the motif design of batik always embellish permanent beauty and contains symbolic values that are closely related to the background of the design process, uses, and the appreciation in it (Doellah, 2002). The main motifs functioned as the starting basis or the essence in certain pattern design using repetitive style. This pattern was then applied on object and transformed its function into ornaments or decoration (Gustami, 2008). Design process in batik motif design by Raharjo et al (2014) according to their study title "Creative Batik Motif Design Based on Local Cultural Art and Natural Environments". It was explaining the basic structure on batik motif design, which then became foundation that applied and modified in this paper. The steps became the main theory used on design method that construct. It was describe as follow; First thing is about Ornamental styles or motif, which prepared at first stage to represent or symbolize the message that intent to communicate. The motif were then organized and arranged in a way that they formed patterns (Dalidjo, 1983). Second step would be collecting source of motif design which usually created on the basis of natural forms such as plants, human beings, animals, inanimate objects (e.g., mountains, clouds, and buildings) and so on. Furthermore, as described above, the ornamental style of the batik was generally in the forms of: (1) stylization, which is an enrichment and the transformation of form into more stylistic without abandoning its original characteristics; (2) distortion, which is a transformation of a form for the purpose of emphasizing certain elements of an object; and (3) decorative, which was simplifying a form regardless of perspectives and three dimensional aspects (Riyanto, 1993). Followed with motif arrangement in creating a new motif the object must be thoroughly studied. The result of the motif form then arranged into a pattern. The pattern of the batik was arranged in various ways using repetition methods, namely: (1) unidirectional repetition; (2) reversed repetition;
Above steps is a general method on designing batik motif that have been describe by many researcher in batik making area. It can be conclude that a batik pattern consist of two main elements, which were primary motif and the filling motif (isen-isen). Primary ornamental style was the one that became the main element of a batik motif which can be assume as Main motif. The isen-isen or filling design is an ornament that filled the main parts of a motif and other area that connect batik main motif and the ornament. A complete organized main motif, ornament and filling design construct a Batik design.

Proposed Method
Design method is consider one of effective way to develop batik motif design. This paper proposed a design steps through a visual thinking framework shown in figure 1 which construct the steps stages on designing new modern batik motif and its explanation. The target of implementing batik pattern in the modern design is to preserve the batik design itself. This method is exploring design element and approach to make an innovation in batik design development. This design method will make the batik craftsmanship and the batik product able to reach global market with maximum product knowledge from the batik designer, and automatically preserve the culture with a strong image of Indonesian culture.

Implementation of the Proposed Method
Design steps proposed is done in 4 stages, each stages of design method is construct based on the approach of philosophy, modern contemporary and principles of design.

Pre Design Stage
This section will be conduct the preparation steps to complete the first design stage that can be done as follow; 4.1.1. Define (Establishing the Problem). First, the design problem and the target audience needs to be defined. A precise understanding of the problem and its constraints allows more exact solutionsto be developed. This stage determines what is necessary for the project to be successful. Java Jazz music festival is selected as the main target of the design representation. Main motif and ornament of the new modern batik motif design will be develop based on this music festival. The reason on choosing this festival is because it is successfully attracting interest from all segment of Indonesian youth and from all genres of music, the main philosophy of unity in diversity is in accordance with the message that will convey in this design project.

Research
Step. Second, is a research stage, it takes a general information relevant data and further reviews from related literature. start from the background of the Indonesia traditional music gamelan and jazz then direct to the related information of Java Jazz festival. Then related symbolic element are convey to identifies potential philosophic object from gamelan music instrument which related to Jazz music that express Indonesian culture.
This steps are divided into 3 type of data collection; a). Indonesia traditional music gamelan, b). Jazz music, and c). Java jazz festival general information which then become the foundation of the design observation and exploration: a). Indonesia Traditional Music. Basic definition of traditional music according to the Indonesia high school standard book for music education in Indonesia which is written by Rahayuningtyas (2007). She defines traditional music as music or sound art that comes from different regions, in this case in Indonesia. It's the spark of feeling or expression through the tone or sound of the instrument that contains songs or rhythms. Traditional music is music that was born and developed in a certain area and passed down from generation to generation. This music uses the language, style, and traditions typical of the local area. In general, traditional music has the following characteristics: Studied orally, don't have notation, it's Informal, Unspecialized Players, Song lyric in local language, used more of local musical Instruments, part of the culture society. One of Indonesia traditional music instrument that going to be review in this research is called Gamelan. Based on the selected research by Rudiansyah et al (2015) gamelan is explained briefly, he said that "Gamelan is a traditional musical instrument in Indonesia, which has its own historical and artistic value. For the Javanese gamelan has become part of their life since the Hindu Buddhist culture when it was still a lot of influence in Indonesia. Gamelan is a collection of various kinds of musical instruments consisting of drum / kendhang, Peking, Saron, Demung, Gong, Kempul, Bonang, kethuk, Kenong, Gender, Xylophone, fiddle, zither, flute". So, in general, the function of traditional gamelan music for Indonesian people is namely; for the spiritual media or cultural ceremonies (ritual), accompaniment of theatrical, dance, and wayang puppet show, entertainment, media of communication within society, self-expression and economic means (Rudiansyah et al, 2015). b). Jazz Music. Common understanding about Jazz is that jazz proved to be very difficult to define; according to several sources, jazz music encompasses a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years, from ragtime to the 2010-era rock-infused fusion. Jazz originated in the late 19th to early 20th century as interpretations of American and European classical music entwined with African and slave folk songs and the influences of West African culture. Its composition and style have changed many times throughout the years with each performer's personal interpretation and improvisation. Further reading from the book of "Jazz for dummies" written by a jazz lover Dirk Sutro able to give enough information about jazz music and also to build a deeper connection with jazz music in accordance to use in this design. c). Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival. General information is taken from the official website of the Java Jazz festival. Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival (JJF) is one of the largest jazz festivals in the world and arguably the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The annual jazz festival is held every early March and designed to be one of the largest jazz festivals globally. It was held for the first time in 2005, when approximately 125 groups and 1,405 artists performed in 146 shows. The first festival was attended by 47,500 visitors during three-day show. Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival (JJF) has its own uniqueness which is not to targeting only for Jazz music lovers, but also for fans of other music genre namely soul, R & B, reggae, hip hop, rap, pop, rock, ethnic, gospel, electro, latin. Other source of information also can be seen on the news and magazine and some personal experience on attending the festival several times (Source: https://www.java jazzfestival.com/).

Observation & Exploration
Step. This third steps are the observation and exploration. Philosophical approach is conduct as the main idea on the whole design theme. Philosophy is translated into a simple keywords. Exploration of the potential object transform into: 1). Design concept, 2). Key message, and 3). Ideation. Observation is start with collecting inspiration from sources such as literature, social media trending topic and news. Then, explore the potential object of musical instrument from Indonesian traditional music element. Potential object of music instrument selected based on their main function and philosophy. 1). Design Concept. The concept will communicate the visual batik motif design mixed of traditional and modern elements. It is the combination of Indonesia gamelan philosophy and jazz music philosophy. Visualization of a musical instrument arrange in harmonization of batik pattern design composition create symbolic meaning of gamelan and jazz instruments divided into 3 elements; 1). Main motif shape and line stylizing which apply the concept of simplicity & emptiness to visually emphasizing the batik motif design theme. 2). Ornaments which an exploration from a specific parts of jazz music instrument to visualizing the modern design application. 3). Filling design (isen) is the decorative combination that explore from the mixed of gamelan and jazz instrument. 2). Key message. Key messages will formulate the concept into a theme inspired from the Kendhang and guitar instrument philosophy transform into keyword of "Swing Feeling". This keyword then translate into batik pattern design which communicate a rhythmical movement of a happy feeling that can be resolve from listening music which also use as the title of the batik motif design.
3). Ideation. This ideation is the final combination of above design concept and key message to direct the key message or theme to act as the main idea on exploration that will express in the poster design; "Music is a universal language which create harmony under one nation". So as the main idea "Harmony Under One Nation" will be included in the poster design use as the tagline of the Festival promotion poster.

Design Stage
This section is a design stage to simplified selected object using stylized process. Divided into 3 categories of results. First, main motif exploration. Second, Ornamentation. Third, filling design or Isen. focus on application of the design elements using line and shape to create the conventional form in order to explore the batik motif design pattern.

Main Motif Design.
The main motif is the one who give a first visual understanding in batik pattern design. By selecting one of gamelan instrument and simplifying it into geometric shape to give an emphasizing effect of the theme. Exploration of the design elements is divided into shape and line elements with each of one alternative exploration. Simplified object are formed start from the basic process of sketching to open a flowing creativity and finally able to find the selected shape and line form of main motif design.

Ornament Design.
Basic idea of the ornament exploration is to explore the small parts of the Jazz instrument which is important parts of the music instrument although people are less aware of it. This concept is to communicating a thought that even a small part of the music instrument also had an important role. These parts of musical instrument are stylized by adapting the organic shape form to create a freeform shape for the ornamentation as seen on Figure 2 each organic shape also can combine and mixed to form a new organic shape.

Filling Design (Isen).
Filling design is taken from the selected main motif and ornament, then processed into simple form using repetition method as describe on Figure 3 the idea of the exploration is taken from each music instrument that have been selected in the theme and represent an element that can be develop into a form of decorative filling. This filling design will be complement both the main motif and the ornament motif design and finally form a complete batik pattern design. In some batik pattern design the filling design hold an important character because by just instantly see the filling design we can tell that it was a certain batik pattern design and has a certain meaning.

Composition
This stage will be implementing the selected result of the main motif, ornament, and filling design into 3 types of layout composition. First step is to construct the grid system and layout, continue with organizing colour swatch, and then compose the whole element into a batik pattern design. 1). Grid system and Layout.
Step 1 Prepare the layout size 240cm X 100cm, It's the original size of batik fabric that commonly produce by the batik craftsmen. This steps are using the 1:1 size layout design to easily control and to be able organize the suitable size of the main motif which will effect on the real production of the copper size making (in batik print technique). Then set the horizontal and vertical guidelines from the mid-point as the basic guidelines to create a balance center layout.
Step 2 Set a vertical line and spread to the side of the layout which will create balance grid from the center point.
Step 3 Set a horizontal line in the mid-point between the guideline and the sideline to create a square.
Step 4 Set diagonal line evenly start from the center point of the square so it will form a balance final grid system for the geometric, diagonal and abstract layout, all steps from left to right see figure 4.  decide selected colour that will use to represent the design theme. Primary colour used in this batik motif design will be develop through a survey step taken from 100 Indonesian youth with simple question about personal favourite colour Figure 8, favourite batik colour, and Jazz representative colour. Then colour swatch is made into 2 category, one for the batik design and second for the poster design shown in figure 8.

3). Final Composition.
This stage is batik pattern design composition from all elements such as main motif, ornaments, filling design, colors, and basic layouts grid. Design exploration in this composition is to follow the pakem rule so it can fulfill the functional value of the batik traditional art. As shown in Figure 11 is the preview of one of the batik design pattern which develop using the non-geometric layout.

Design Application
Fourth stage is to implement the new batik pattern design. In this stage an exploration of design principles with aesthetic approach is perform. Design principles became the main attention to fulfill the aesthetic needs in the implementation of the batik pattern on poster design. In result as shown in Figure  12 is a poster design in standard large poster size 60x90cm, which develop using line & shape elements, and applied the selected design principles which accordance with the theme of the batik design in early stage.

Figure 12. Application in Poster Design
This design is applying different style and layout to test how far the batik pattern design can be incorporate into modern design which in this case is poster design of the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival. Design principles and the aesthetic approach used on the poster design are explained as follows. Aesthetic and design principles in Poster design is applied the batik pattern as the foreground without reducing the opacity and create an emphasis to the whole element which then direct the focal point to the center of the empty space to give a clear information of the message. Main title of this poster is exploring the line element to draw attention of a blending style with the pattern design. Sub title which is the information part is using Simpleness and Bebas font type. Both type are expressing the simplicity to balance the complex effect of the pattern design applied in the background of the poster.

Conclusion
This paper is open a new exploration of the batik motif design source which is unlimited, so batik pattern design will not just repeating the old pattern design. As the improvement of the technology in batik making, applying the design method of batik motif design also develop the improvement of the batik industry in Indonesia. Fresh new design will open various segment of targeted market that can be reach. In other hand offering a deeper understanding on product knowledge of Indonesia batik, as the solution to avoid the misused of batik cloth which is the Indonesian traditional cloth wear. New design which explored specifically for the targeted audience will also making the Indonesia traditional batik pattern design exist and became more classic and more valuable to the market..

Acknowledgement
Biggest appreciation to Universitas Mercu Buana as the institution where I formed my career path as a lecturer and as a researcher, faculty of design & creative arts who give a full support for my study in master degree, additionally to the China Scholarship Council who give a precious chance for me to study in China, big escalation goes to all of their patience and support. Thanks.