I like the perspective of this game. It looks flat and yet still seems engaging to play. This is the kind of style I want in my game I think
But will be more on one level (probably flat ) with people running around but good scale and nice amount of information on the screen.
Meeting with coders, developers and programmers makes making this idea possible. I went to a show and tell session at HackSmiths and shared my idea for a game with them. They gave me many references and suggested Global Game Jam. A 48 hour hacking event where designers, developers, programmers and other creative types get together to make stuff over this period. I hope to take part in this to network and get to know some more people who would be willing to help
In Papers please you play an immigration officer who accepts of denies people into the country depending on their passport. The more people you let in the more credits you get. This allows you to feed your family, pay for rent and heat. You have a wife, son, mother in law and uncle to look after . Papers please is monotonous but gives an insight into the difficult decisions an immigration officer must make. Circumstance and money forces you to be cruel and mean. This Simulation (sim) game puts you (the player) in the position of having to make the difficult decisions. I like this (sim) format and would like to do the same for my game.
I thought it was interesting that as you start playing you receive offers for things like military training. This forces you to make decisions. I like the idea of in my game the decisions having to be made like this one, but about sending your kids off to work. Also the timescale of the game means that it can be tied with real events that have occured in my context meaning that the game can be a great carrier of real research . The thing i like about this game is that it is obvious how hard it can be to live like this . At the end of each new year having to start again almost from scratch
The game is really hard to play.( not surprisingly ).
I like how simple the game is. It feels easy to overcomplicate. It's grid structure and repeated elements I assume makes it easier to code. I wonder what the key elements of my game are if i were to teach about chocolate in the ivory coast and child slavery/ poverty
3rd World Farmer lets you experience some of the hardships of farming in a poor country. Will you prosper despite corruption and lack of basic neccessities? Or will endless wars, diseases, droughts, and unreliable markets perpetuate your economic disadvantage and spell your ultimate doom?
3rd World farmer is a serious game, developed on a very slim budget. It is not precise in all details, but covers a wide range of topics. It is meant to be both educational and slightly provocative, with the sole intent of making people think about these topics and, hopefully, realize that each of us can make a difference in helping to end poverty.
The more I read into the context of child slavery in the chocolate industry in the Ivory Coast the more I realise how complex this issue is. Yes, we all have a responsibility as consumers to know where the things we buy come from and the implications of buying into certain commodities. And together we can boycott companies implicated in exacerbating or turning a blind eye to these problems. Often the stories of where things come from is hidden from view of consumers.
It is one thing to know this in theory, but quite another to change your behaviour accordingly
But this is only part of the issue, Poverty and unemployment in neighbouring Mali (with little or no exports) forces parents to send their children out to work in neighbouring Ivory coast instead of receiving an education. Schools are simply too expensive. Boys and Girls who are desperate for money and far from home are trafficked to the Ivory coast in the hope of earning money. faced with the reality of forced labour, children in this situation are left with physical and psychological scars.
To release a child from bondage is a responsibility because these children need somewhere to go, They require physical and emotional support, A safe place to go, Food and and an insight into the reasons why they have been sold into slavery.
The Ivory coast is the worlds largest producer of coca (about 33% of the worlds supply of coca comes from the Ivory coast). This represents about a third of the economy and is so many people depend on coca farming for a livelihood. Coca is an economically unstable crop and so the livelihood of farmers depends on something they can't control ( the world market value of coca). When market process drop, profits do too, making it more likely that child slavery will occur. (the draw of cheap labour )
Not all of the chocolate that has origins in the ivory coast is produced under forced labour, but the beans are mixed up and Ethical farms (who don't use child labour and pay their workers a living wage ) don't get enough for their crop, with only about 3% of their produce reaching the price it should when it is sold up the chain to distributors.
With Coca being such an important export and loose definitions of what child slavery means in policy making ( both internationally and in the Ivory coast. government policies which do little or nothing to tackle the causes of child slavery in this context or the effect felt by children on the ground. We are left with a serious dilemma.
Academics meet in conferences to talk about the problems of slavery in this context but with the aim of raising awareness , In the hope that increased public knowledge will lead to boycotting key players in the industry who have been perpetuating child slavery in the ivory coast ( and other places) Nestle, Hershey's...
I believe that design has a vital role to play in many aspects of this context:
In the rehabilitation of child slaves in the Ivory coast
In the education of traditional families and communities of the dangers of sending children out to work in the Ivory coast.
In the education through experience of children in the west to inform future consumer choices and build empathy
In directly challenging large chocolate manufacturers and coca suppliers with changing their rules around what is accepted and what is not in their product. Companies must insist on knowing where their products come from and the implications of the work they do ( not just financial).
Kara Walker explores the raw intersection of race, gender, and sexuality in her work, crafting vivid psychological narratives from a contemporary perspective on historical conditions. Over the past two decades, Walker has unleashed the traditionally Victorian medium of the silhouette onto the walls of the gallery, creating immersive installations that envelop the viewer. Walker's multi-media work—which includes drawing, watercolor, video, and sculpture—often reconsider grotesque caricatures, probing their persistence in popular culture and reclaiming their subjugating power to alternative ends.
I plan to reserch into the new ways of enforcing slavery in coca plantations in the ivory coast. It's not nessicarily manacles, ball and chains. What objects are being used ? What language is being used to manipulate children ? This should be specific to my chosen context. So I can start to challange this .
Visual map of the chocolate bar eminating from the ivory coast. Turning an inanimate thing into something that has feelings.
Research into the context next
Use of a technological approach to connect to people over there, experience and understand the context. use of youtube videos to connect.
Activism through craft. https://craftivist-collective.com/
Craft objects sent to stakeholders to make connections and start conversations. Objects sent to board of directors just before AGM meeting. which had a significant impact towards the living wage. Framed in a positive way. Exactly where and how my designs are seen is important. This makes the effect they have larger. For instance the Phone story app was seen at the Disobedient objects exhibition.
I would like to try to get sponsorship or speak to key people in the chocolate industry. This means that you need to talk to people and explain ideas and bring people into the project. This forces you to explain your project over and over again. From these conversations you can find out when there are key meetings (AGM) and pinpoint where your designs will be shown to have the most impact possible. So next step is to do a stakeholder map.
I have to be sensitive about the way that the material is portrayed and VERY CLEAR ABOUT YOUR AUDIENCE. So SPEAK WITH EXPERTS in the field and ask how this topic could be explained to children. Double check the demographic of the class you will be speaking with. Make sure it's not upsetting to people in the class.
These sculptures were made in river clay in the Congo and then 3d scanned and turned into chocolate sculptures in Belgium. These pieces of art were then sold with a 7000% increase in the amount the worker is paid. This money was paid back to the worker. This I believe highlights a massive inequality in the systems and structures through which commodities flow. The art market verses the chocolate industry.
I saw this game at the disobedient objects exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum. I like the tension between the fun game and the serious subject matter.
Would it be possible to ask my bank to stop me from buying certain objects or products which conflict with my ethical standpoint. This would mean that the story of each product would have to be known. Hopefully this would enforce some kind of understanding over what is alright to buy and what is not . The conditions for restrictions could be set my the customer. What would it mean if the bank had an agenda and could boycot certain companies like Nestle. So your card would recognise when there was a nestle product and would not allow you to buy it with card.
I want to involve as many processes as possible and so I have decided to 3d scan this object. The more things I do in the workshop the more possibilities for making open up. I can use these files to 3d print or CNC out the shape in a variety of materials. The benefit of 3d scanning is that I can make the file any size and scale it up or down with ease in virtual space without having to cast and recast it. 3d scanning in this way saves on materials and means I can be more focused and flexible with what I do with an existing form. 3d scanning approximates the form and simplifies and alters it which is interesting. information is lost in a 3d scan, but it does open up more possibilities. I plan to make Smaller chocolate moulds from this 3d scanned and CNC'd object.
I make some chocolate spinning tops out of ivory coast chocolate. People used them as toys and drawing tools.
Through this tool and little interactions I was able to discuss with people about the problems of buying non fair trade chocolate. Even though it's tasty, we may not be able to see the ethical implications.
This design is a way of getting people talking, an idea which I am also trying to address with the chocolate boy .
I went to the London chocolate show at the Olympia exhibition centre in Kensington.
This exhibition represents one side of the chocolate industry where it seems fun and like an affordable luxuary for all with nothing but positive conatations. Most of the chocolate from this exhibition seemed to come from the Ivory coast (West Africa) or Nicaragua (central america).
Many parts form a cohesive whole in the context of music. Everyone has their own role and is able to share something of themselves. More than the sum of their parts, Snarky Puppy are a fantastic group of musicians in it for the love of music and the sense of collective effervescence brought by working together in this way. This should be a model for the design industry if ever I saw one. I wonder if it's possible to get the same kind of intense collaboration from design.
Shocked and angry with these images I decided that I would use one of our workshops (Gaffa tape and cardboard) to re create a bag of coca pods one to one scale. I estimated the height of this small child and worked out the size of the bag. I left a hole in the top to put things in.
Getting children to tidy up their toys and their friends toys in this bag in a school context would be a way to start a conversation about a difficult subject like child labour.
Coca pod bag
becomes a way of starting a conversation with children about slavery
And an improvised toy box/ way of tidying up.
How can I raise awareness about the problem of child labour in the coco industry ?
To raise awareness I could create a sculpture of a child slave working in a coca plantation out of non fair trade chocolate from the Ivory Coast.
I also like the idea of this being presented like a variation on a chocolate egg or something related to christmas.
Would this help me communicate an idea like child slavery to consumers of chocolate?
Would people feel uncomfortable eating it ?
I asked my mum if she would sculpt the child for me as she is a talented sculptor and knows about anatomy.
Knowing how to delegate is very important because each person you collaborate with will add their knowledge and skills to the project.
http://usuncut.com/news/beware-of-these-10-popular-chocolate-brands-that-exploit-child-slaves/
It is truly shocking to discover that child labour is being used in the coca industry and is being supported by big chocolate manufacturers.These companies turn a blind eye to where their coca comes from despite signing agreements to the contrary in 2001. (http://www.slavefreechocolate.org/harkin-engel-protocol/ )
Hershey
Mars
Nestle
ADM Cocoa
Godiva
Fowler’s Chocolate
Kraft
All guilty of these crimes against children
This leaves me with an important question. What can I do in my capacity as a design student to help ?
