‘TRIP! - a journey to connect’, is an interaction tool that encourages connection, stimulates the sense of observation and fosters communication. It is a collaborative game developed for those people who are recovering from substance addiction, that need to put the pieces back together, see beauty in life, get in contact with other people and with the territory in which they live. TRIP! mixes timeless beauty and graphic design to offer a lighthearted meeting opportunity that shows how new connections can create beautiful compositions for a new start.
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'TRIP! - a journey to connect ", è uno strumento di interazione che incoraggia la connessione, stimola il senso di osservazione e favorisce la comunicazione. È un gioco collaborativo sviluppato per quelle persone che si stanno riprendendo dalla dipendenza da sostanze, che hanno bisogno di rimettere insieme i pezzi, vedere la bellezza nella vita, entrare in contatto con altre persone ed esprimersi. TRIP! mescola bellezza senza tempo e design grafico per offrire un'opportunità di incontro leggera e divert- ente, che mostra come nuove connessioni possano creare delle bellissime composizioni per un nuovo inizio.
The outcome consists in a cooperative game which is based on the use of 25 front/back pattern/detail cards and of 25 composition cards.
The game is called TRIP!, a word pun between the two meanings of the term. Indeed, it refers both to a physical journey and to the mental trip that drug addicts do when taking drugs. I chose to use this name as a provocation against the negative acceptation of the term and because the game is kind of a journey through beauty, in contrast of the journey through disconnection and fear that a drug addict goes through.
The game develops in three phases and repeats so many times
as there are players. It can be played by two to four players and during every game every player has to be the protagonist at least once.
In order to develop the dynamic of TRIP! I took inspiration from the journey of a dependent subject. Indeed, the game starts with a belly decision, taken without reflecting too much on the consequences, a parallelism with what happens when starting taking drugs (“It all started out as a game!”).
TRIP! is a game that encourages social interaction through beauty and graphic design. It is a non-verbal tool that creates a meeting occasion that does not require the use of words, that helps to make connections and that can open new channels of communication. Through its pieces, it promotes beauty, trying to make people feel more connected with and respectful of the territory they live, stimulating the sense of observation and curiosity as well as that of belonging.
Beauty has a central role within eco-social transformation and in this case it tries to be the medium which reconnects disconnected people. TRIP! is also a medium that allows people to learn and get some insights about Italian beauty, offering players some sparks for potential future travels.
