Gould Studio launches futuristic online comic series ‘Tales of Khayaal’

Gould Studio crowdfunded more than $50,000 for online comics inspired by Islam.

Australia-based Gould Studio has crowdfunded Tales of Khayaal, a series of online futuristic comics featuring original characters with fictional stories inspired by Islamic spiritual concepts and Muslim cultures.

Through a campaign on LaunchGood, Gould Studio raised $50,000 from 600 supporters globally. 

“The comics are the result of long hours discussing and designing our characters and their world, but we wouldn’t be able to do it without the encouragement and contributions of so many people,” Peter Gould, founder and CEO of Gould Studio, told Salaam Gateway.

The studio initially explored the concept in 2020 to fill in the gap in video games, interactive comics and animated series related to Islam. Gould said despite the overwhelming media and entertainment available today, there was “a relative lack of high-quality, engaging, representative and spiritually-focused content” for Muslims.

The idea was to develop a concept to which Muslims, and others interested in spirituality, could relate. The stories are both mature and have sophisticated themes. “It is about inviting the audience to think directly about faith and spirituality – especially in relation to our increasingly digital future,” he said, indicating his inspiration dawned from Samir Mahmoud at Cambridge Muslim College.

“He explained the deep Islamic spiritual concept of khayaal – loosely translated as ‘spiritual imagination’,” said Gould.

The word can also be described as “the capacity of the heart to give forms to spiritual realities that don't have any form and to spiritualise material realities that do have form”. 

“(We) conceptualised a fictional landscape to explore this spiritual imagination and open up conversations about our future as Muslims in a fast-changing world. The series is inspired by the beauty and richness of Islamic heritage for our core characters; taking the time to ensure language, customs, names and dress were culturally appropriate and genuinely reflective of Muslims today,” Gould said.

Each character introduces khayaal into the story as a realm of spiritual imagination – a place where they can develop their gifts; discover their true purpose and search for important truths.

They face spiritual, social and emotional obstacles to which Muslims today and in the future can relate. Gould said consequently the stories are set 50 years away; drawing on modern-day technology, conversations and issues and imagining potential resolutions in the coming decades.

(Courtesy: Gould Studios)

During development, Gould Studio sought advice, guidance and encouragement from advisors at global media companies and entertainment brands, as well as spiritual teachers and authors.

It is a topic with which the studio is familiar following its Designing for Ramadan 2022 workshop programme guiding global brands in their communication strategies for the holy month. 

“While we wanted to create an engaging brand that represents us, our stories and hopes for the future, it was personally important we didn’t trivialise the deep and authentic sources of Islamic spirituality central to my life. One example is, while we drew inspiration from the concept of khayaal, the stories use a fictional state of Kha,” said Gould.

Gould confirmed the studio’s original long-term vision for Tales of Khayaal to be an animated series and video games is still relevant with various game prototypes built in Unreal Engine over the past year.

“Our first step is to introduce the concept, characters and world-building through online comics to gauge people’s response,” said Gould. “Alhamdulillah, through our LaunchGood campaign, we have established a great platform and believe we have the momentum to take the project forward.”

Gould hopes Tales of Khayaal will encourage people to imagine the future and its potential technologies and think about the role faith and spirituality will play in those scenarios. 

“These conversations are important and Muslims need to be leaders in the discussions, debates and explorations. We’re excited to see where people’s imaginations will take them,” he said.

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