FOR THE GIRLS AND THE GAYS:
THE WASTED EDITION
CREATOR'S REPORT
Throughout this semester in BCM114 I have undertaken the task of creating a project in order to physically implement the learnings of this subject in making media. To do this, was no easy feat and took weeks of ideating, prototyping, and making to develop my final work.
In week 3 of the semester, we commenced the first module of our digital artefacts process; ideating. Here was where I developed my idea, refined my audience, organised my pitch and drafted the characteristics of my project. As a result of this, I had come up with the idea of designing and manufacturing a drinking game for individuals aged 18 to 28 years old of a more feminine nature. I designed my game based off myself and my friends as the ideal user and audience. However, although created for a more feminine audience, this didn’t mean males couldn’t play my game, it just resulted in some cards not being applicable to them or having to swap some cards around. For example, “who has been with the hottest boy” change to “who has been with the hottest girl.” The game featured four categories titled ‘Love and Heartbreak,’ ‘One for the Money,’ ‘My Bad Behaviour,’ and ‘Wild Cards.’ Each of these asked the players various questions or enticed them to perform a task in order for an alcohol induced reward or consequence. My idea has a clear social utility to provide a game that can be played anywhere as this was an obvious gap in the market. Some already published drinking games could only be played in small groups, or at parties, and others had various specific settings attached to them. However, my game, can be enjoyed in any setting, due to its relatable content that can be applied and enjoyed anywhere.
A key learning moment of designing my game and describing it to my audience was to be careful in how I worded things in order not to offend or discriminate against anyone; particularly because the game is titled, “For the Girls and the Gays: The Wasted Edition.” To achieve this, I constantly had friends and family read over my descriptions of the game in explaining it to my peers and projecting it online to ensure I was acting respectfully and in the best interests of everyone viewing my project.
In week 7 came the prototyping stage. This is where I began to design the game itself using online resources. In particular during this stage, I curated the cards, logo and game spinner. Initially, I was going to create a game box as well but a lack of time and desire to create professional and perfect cards distracted from this. In this module, the initial concept of my game also wavered. In the beginning I had stated in my pitch the creation of 60 cards, however, a survey I put out to friends and family which gathered 57 responses highlighted important feedback. This was to ‘ensure excitement and fun is maintained throughout player duration’; as a result, I created 10 more cards to exist in the wild card section of the game. The cards in this category act as ‘minigames,’ often asking the user to perform an action or hold a vote between players; and therefore, I believed satisfied user wants of extended enjoyment. To further user feedback, I also created cards which excluded the holder of drinking within that round or passing the task onto a fellow player.
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Lastly, week 12 was the introduction of the last module; Making, and this was where I finalised my designs and sent them off for manufacturing. Here was when I also prepared for the submission of this task by organising my social media presence and projection of my game onto my blog and writing this contextual report on the development and evolving nature of my project.
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n reflection, if I was to do my Digital Artefact again I would have worked on creating more cards, designing a card game box to hold everything required to play, and curate a proper digital presence for it. For example, an Instagram account to sell my product on. I embarked on this project to hopefully achieve a strong end result, as it is I have achieved that, but I would have loved to make some profit on my hard work and share my amazing ideas with the world. Thinking back, if I was to do the same class again and had the opportunity to develop the same or a new DA I would choose to create something different with more of an online presence to it. What I mean by this is creating an Instagram for local bands or a tiktok for the best beaches in Sydney that are ‘must visit’ places. This is because social media projects are a lot easier to evolve and develop over time. Doing these DA’s, I would be able to undertake a new posting approach or expand into different but similar areas of the same creative genre. This would have made the breaking and remaking stage of the DA much easier for myself as I had created a physical object which was hard to change and recreate once it had been manufactured. However, considering an approach to different platforms I have definitely developed my skills in the use of twitter as it was the main promotional platform I used to advertise my project. I relied on it heavily to include my audience and users in the process of creation and aimed to be as transparent as possible.
I am proud to say my Digital Artefact is now completed and I am submitting a strong final project that is almost an exact creation of my initial concept and can be enjoyed for all while actively engaging with its social utility and purpose!