Us two games
One of the speakers was Lili Ibrahim from Us Two Games, a small games studio in South London known for its Monument Valley game. I was positively surprised to see that this studio is the world’s first B-corporation games studio, with the profits going to a humanitarian network.
As a games studio, no one would expect them to do more than entertain, but if they are also able to incorporate a little bit of positivity while being playful, to me, that is the true definition of being ‘positively playful’, even if it’s in a small way.
The game itself was well-designed – it’s an atmospheric puzzle game with dreamlike environments. It felt like the perfect blend of illustration and games. With tactile interactions and printable artwork as well, the game has a great balance of feeling good and looking good. It was very interesting to see their game-level compositions that were directly and indirectly inspired by optical illusions. The whole game is based on the Pen rose triangle – a physically impossible triangle that exists only in the game.
Sweet-Thang Zine
Zoe Thompson, the founder of ‘Sweet-Thang Zine’, shared how her entire life has been filled with DIY creations that helped her understand and harness their power. She discussed her journey from being a teenager who blogged to express her feelings and opinions, to discovering zines and eventually becoming the owner of a self-funded independent press that celebrates Black creatives.
I appreciated her perspective of viewing everything she has experimented with over the years as her playground. These playgrounds are reflective, open spaces that helped her find her future direction. This really underscores the idea that every new creative endeavor can help define your path and highlights the importance of engaging in projects that reflect your true interests, rather than solely focusing on work-related tasks.
SPIN Studio
Eve Broke, the Creative Director of SPIN Studios, and Tony Brook, the CEO, discussed their unique studio setup, which is actually in a house that they shifted into, from a commercial space. About seven creatives live together in this house with a garden where they play around with whatever is lying around. They started working analogue and digital – even got a typewriter. They believe that combining these different elements ignites a ‘metamorphosis’ that leads to unique ideas. This inspired me to incorporate more physical experiments into my own practice since it’s easy to feel constrained by digital tools at times. Simply looking around for inspiration can be an enjoyable and straightforward way to spark great ideas for projects or enhance the overall creativity of the studio.