YEAR 2 - BA2b - Ambivolence Can Collaboration

For our 1 week collaboration project with the Graphic Design and Design for Publishing students we were given the task to re-purpose the object (Tin Can) with an emotion in mind (Ambivalence). The first thing we did was to discuss ideas for our object and a concept for a ballot box caught our attention. The tin cans would become containers of information and the public would place a ring pull in the can for the cause they felt the most strongly about. It was suggested that the question be something people are often ambivalent about and I suggested that the ballot be rigged to make a statement about how all the answers to the question are actually the same but reworded. I made us all a slack group and we used it to discuss ideas further and share files and research between one another.

The next day when it was pitched that rigging could be achieved through random chance via a hidden pachinko machine. The pins in the machine would be metaphors for everyday things that could sway your decision. The surprise is when the ball ends up in a can that you didn't expect and we reveal the influences that changed the outcome. A few of us started working on a playable mockup that would be shown on screen during our presentation. I did everything in UE4 (The general layout and programming), Matthew made the assets and Natalie made the 2D art.

By Thursday the mockup fully working but given that we still had 3 days we brainstormed some more ideas and Ross came up with the idea that the can could be a container of blank dice. You write outcomes on the dice and they make decisions for you to solve your ambivalence. Me and Matthew made another mockup using maya and UE4. I animated the can turning and the dice rolling out onto the game board. This was shown during our presentation.

A gif version of the animation we made

We made sure to include the audience where possible in our presentation where possible to make it more engaging and to test our product out. I think it went well. We got a good response to the presentation and we worked together as a team very well. I've kept in contact with some of the team members and we are planning on collaborating again at some point.