Envision

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Research

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Concept Development

"its honestly really true if you just think about it a little, like its actually pretty obvious you just have to know about it and then it all starts making sense" first presents itself as a creative game that pits the players in the role of a conspiracy theorist. Players may notice a series of prompts on the board that seem "off", and lifting up the pages creates "evidence" for an "actual" conspiracy theory (within the bounds of the game). Unfortunately, solving this puzzle only gives players cryptic symbolism that intentionally leads them nowhere. If they are continuing the character, they may try to figure out what the symbols (that literally tell them that the conspiracy leads nowhere) mean within the bounds of the game, but if they step out of the character, they realize that continuing to try and solve a fruitless problem will only bring them frustration.

While our project did achieve its initial goal, our later plans fell short as a result of burnout and a different "initial" scope. We're used to keeping scope on the smaller side, so when we had enough time to create an entirely new subsection of our project, we shied away from increasing our scope in a different direction in favor of expanding the scope of our initial idea, resulting in the need to create something we didn't have full motivation to create. This was a uniquely valuable experience in the importance of scope direction.

Iteration

Conspiracy! is an engaging icebreaker activity that prompts participants to draw connections between seemingly unconnected images using their creativity and unique perspectives. A variety of images are affixed to a large display board, accompanied by sticky notes and string for participants to use. Participants link the images using the string and notes, creating a web of associations akin to a detective's investigation board. The activity has no specific end point, but evolves into increasingly intricate webs of connections and theories. Moreover, hidden 'easter egg' images are scattered throughout to delight and challenge the discoverers. While the images are deliberately unrelated, any and all hypotheses about possible links are fully embraced.

Concept Development

Collaborate With Peers

During this studio experience, my primary focus revolved around fostering group collaboration and constant iteration of concepts. I feel successful in my personal growth in this studio, particularly in the realm of iterating around user testing while selecting images as well as tweaking the interaction flow. I am also satisfied with the overall collaboration in this studio and felt that Hide, Schuyler, and I worked together effectively and generally stayed on the same page.

Collaborate

Engage and persist

Iteration

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Concept Development



An element that we believe makes a lot of events successful is the longevity of the event. Aside from common interest, if everyone has something to take away to remember from the event, the impact of the event will be greater. Our interactive scavenger hunt aims to add play to the event. Throughout the event, there will be a series of mini-tables that each contain their own collectible object and a plaque of a prominent LGBTQ figure. The object is connected to what the LGBTQ figure does. The participants collect these collectibles and can combine them together to make a take-home souvenir. This allows people to creatively express themselves while learning LGBTQ history. It also gives each individual a souvenir to remember their experiences.

This project i started off doing reserch which was a bit of a challange for me because i had been doing daily reserch all of last studio so continuing that right away without a break burnt me out alot. It was hard to push through that and to sort through and compile the data. It felt like with so much data it was impossible to sort through any of it. I did get a few things out of the reserch, I was able to make bios and get different photos and info on some of the people were focused on. i was able to swith what i was doing a bit midway through and that was very helpful for me to get reinvested in the project and got to modify the models and then lazer cut the final tables. I also did some of the wiring for our electronics, which helped the studio feel alot less overwhelming and well rounded for me.

Reflection on the event: Trinkets were successful. The interaction with the electronics could have been more successful with users pressing a big red button. Adding more interaction to prolong the engagement with the project could have been great too. Overall I thought the vibe of the event was spectacular and people had fun.

In research, focused on the different figures

-Was challenging

-Felt burnt out

-Found info but “everything blends together” – more research doesnt feel helpful

-Sorting and compiling info

-So much info that “trying to do anything with any of it is impossible”

-Took a break and then could compile some of the info

-In the future, would try not to do all of this at once. Try to do other things along the way. Doing too much of the same stuff becomes overwhelming.

In prototyping, laser cut tables out of wood, edited models

Express

Collaborate

Media Literacy

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Physical Fabrication

Perceptions of the Poets is an interactive exhibit that highlights the dissonance between the public perception of queer relationships, and the perception of those within them. It does this through helping the user parse through the weight of public criticism to find the beauty that was enjoyed by lovers. Perceptions of a Poet consists of two window shaped boards with various cutouts separated by a glass wall. The windows also have blinds that can be pulled down to cover the window. As well as a basin containing tablets with clippings from various accounts of the Oscar Wilde sodomy trial (Newspapers of the time, tabloids, etc.), as well as some letters that were written between Oscar Wilde and his lover Alfred Douglas. One of the two sets of tablets contains some of the poetry of Oscar Wilde, highlighting his writing about love. The other set of tablets contains some of the work of Alfred speaking on his views on love. The tablets are each a unique size and shape, and have one of three colors on the back. These tablets each correspond to one of the cutouts of the boards. When the user places a tablet in its correct cutout the user on the other side of the glass wall can see the color on the back. The users can utilize both the color clues, and the silhouette of the cutouts to piece together the entirety of the boards. Together these boards tell the story that was shared in public discourse and public perception at the time. The user can then pull the blinds that are held in place above the boards down completely covering the boards apart from the few cutouts in the blinds, framing certain words. The words the blinds highlight will make quotes from Oscar and Alfred's letters depicting their love for one another. Thus allowing the user to see their relationship from the perceptions of the poets.

In this studio I was entering with eagerness to interact with primary sources on the stories we were covering. I was eager to interact with members of the community and use my skills to highlight their experience. However, working in such a large group made compromise inevitable. Despite my excitement with my own direction, many others didn't share my vision. This meant that I had to exercise my collaborative skills in order to assure a successful final event. Collaborative brainstorming with my partner, as well as getting feedback from coaches and guests helped distill my vision into a media analysis project. Having clearly expressed vision allowed all aspects of our final prototype to thrive. This included our physical fabrication. The clear direction that was created from our collaboration gave me clear deliverables and framing that resulted in a refined physical prototype, and a successful project.

Engage and persist

Collaborate

Physical Fabrication

Trinkets is a multi-sensory exhibit created for the Queer Youth Exhibition co hosted by The Design Museum Everywhere. The exhibit utilizes small take home objects that are collected at tables placed around the space and when put together form a unicorn. The tables are placed intentionally to guide people towards other events in the space. In addition when a user approaches the table, it lights up and plays a small audio sample through a custom designed audio driver, corresponding to the closest event along with showcasing a prominent LGBTQ+ figure.



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Concept Develepment

Throughout the studio I strengthened my physical fabrication skills throughout the creation of the full scale table and assembly. Another skill I did well on was collaboration, as a group we took up a very ambitious project, which would never have happened unless we worked together in a timely manner. On top of this our project was connected to every other group and I had to learn how to collaborate with and balance many peoples ideas.

Our concept went through many states and changes throughout the studio; throughout all of this, I persisted and developed a solid concept.

Engage & Persist

Express

Giving & Receiving Feedback

"Gays against Humanity" is a card game that resembles a more LGBTQ+ youth-focused version of Cards Against Humanity. This will be an icebreaker game at the Cambridge Youth Mixer that we are putting on in collaboration with Design Museum Everyone. Our game is a more community-appropriate version of the classic Cards Against Humanity, this also includes relatable satirical references for queer youth our age. A significant portion of the humor we used was from the 2010s Tumblr era.

Over the course of the studio, I used skills that I had learned/grew in over last year. During this studio, I had to keep pushing through many iterations of the boxes and the cards. I likely cut out over 1,750 cards which was a place where I needed to really zone in and get a bunch of work done. I grew my concept development skills by making ~400 card ideas for the game. Giving & Reciving feedback was a large part of our project. We ran playtests which greatly impacted the path of our game going forward.

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Concept Development

Collaborate

Engage And Persist

Giving/Receiving Feedback

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Iteration

Conspiracy! Is an interaction-based icebreaker that allows users to connect seemingly unrelated images by incorporating their own unique skills and ideas. Multiple images are pinned onto a large board, with sticky notes and string placed nearby. Users can ‘connect’ the images together using the sticky notes and string, similarly to a corkboard conspiracy web. There is no end goal, only more and more complex connections and conclusions. Additionally, small ‘easter egg’ images will be hidden inside and around the board, spurring on whoever finds them. All images are intended to be unrelated, but all user assumptions around any connections are encouraged.

Bit of a grind for this one. Can't say I grew much studio wise, but certainly as a person. Academics and personal life forced me to stand up and work. The daily reviews I posted constantly reflected on the academic work I had to do, underlining the stress I was under. Overall, trying to tackle a conceptually stretching studio while also working on difficult academic work proved to be overwhelming.

Giving & Receiving Feedback

Collaborate

Physical Fabrication

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Prideful Trinkets is a feature in a more extensive design exhibit created by NuVu and the Design Museum Everywhere that looks to celebrate queer youth living as their authentic selves. The Prideful Trinkets feature is made up of four miniature tables. Each has a prominent queer artist associated with it in recognition of LGBTQ history month. A badge in the shape of a unicorn accompanies this. These badges can be swapped in and out of a frame that is given to all the guests at the event. The capability allows every individual to customize their badge to represent their authentic self.

I honestly don't know how to feel about this studio. Going into it, I was bummed out by the studio selections. I put this studio as my first choice hoping I would be able to design something physically. In that sense, I got my wish. My larger problem was the studio structure. It felt rushed at times and hyper-fixated on unimportant parts. The desk crits we had also felt more like a burden, than an actual desk crit that was beneficial to our project. There was also a lack of contact with our client, and I think we overall handled that interaction poorly. All these elements derailed me from wanting to work and led to my being checked out, especially the first two weeks. Things got a little better once we were actually designing the project, but we went through almost no concept development. The physical fabrication and the ideas of it stayed the same pretty much from the start. It went under a little iteration in the mid-review, but that was it. When it came to my core growth for the studio, it felt different than other studios. Since I am not part of the queer community, it put me in a very uncomfortable situation. The thing is, I'm not even sure I feel better after it. I was scared to ask questions out of fear that I would say something wrong, and mainly just incorporated what my queer classmates suggested.

Engage and Persist

Collaboration

Giving and Receiving Feedback

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Physical fabrication

Gays Against Humanity is a game structured like Cards Against Humanity, except it's made with queer youth in mind. We target this demographic with cards themed around current events, relevant history, and Tumblr culture. The game aims to use familiar concepts to make people laugh, learn about each other, and feel seen.

I had trouble identifying much growth throughout this studio, as I spent unfortunately much of it stressed and exhausted. Sorry, but I don't think I got that much out of this one. The collaboration was good but not in any new way; it felt very similar to my previous studio in that regard. While I doubt I deteriorated in any areas (besides mental health), I don't think I had measurable growth either.

Jasmine Horowitz & Verity Gould

October 27, 2023

Gays Against Humanity