The Basic Guide to Speculative Adventures- future edition
Maryam Rettelbach / Graphic Design / Cultural Diversity
As a graphic designer I am inspired by Dunne & Raby’s ‘Hertzian Tales’ and their notion that critical designers have the power to question the status quo. This is more of an attitude than a style or method. My general artistic drive, as a graphic designer, is therefore to question established ideas we have and explore what might not be obvious at the first glance. This positioning is then used to create a fitting manifestation.
My graduation project exemplifies this as it looks behind the stigma of the so called geek game ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ and investigates it as a serious practice.
For my graduation project you are invited to try out an experimental world building tool
to envision future personas, scenarios as well as new ideas of tomorrow. This speculative process was created based on table-top role-playing as well as creative writing strategies and allows participants to engage with future possibilities on their own terms promoting mental resilience. The method was refined through four rounds of testing with people from various backgrounds, so that anyone should be able to enjoy The Basic Guide to Speculative Adventures - future edition. Below are some impressions of the testing process as well as the final printed version. The result is a guide and workbook on how to create your own future scenario and become a ‘future local’ yourself. If you want your very own physical copy please send an email to 0911642@hr.nl. I will get it to you ASAP. If you can't wait to start then click here to get the digital dice and here for the PDF version of the guide.
Now I welcome you to The Basic Guide to Speculative Adventures - future edition! Take a trip through the beautiful possibilities of unreality and the best part is; you don’t even have to leave your house!
Speculative worlds are beautiful places. Here anything you can imagine is possible. Furthermore this space has very subliminal yet critical power. It takes an aspect
of what is familiar and makes it strange enough to give you, the explorer, mental
and emotional distance to tackle complex issues with fresh eyes. It forces us to
compare and define: the self to the character, reality to fantasy, present to future.
All we need is to imagine.
However already back in the era of Diana Ross and Blondie futurist Fred Polak warned that we were facing a crisis of imagination. During the glorious 70s ideas
of the future shifted from vacations on Mars to death by Roomba. The narratives
of an utopian tomorrow were put into the fairytale section whereas dystopian ideas started to shape the future like self- fulfilling prophecies. With news announcing
the end of the world daily it is not surprising that people are struggling to look ahead and forgot how to dream. Even if it is just silly dreams. But behold! Not all hope
is lost. Next to Pippi Longstockings and New Atlatis is a copy of The Basic Guide to Speculative Adventures - future edition, a workbook helping you back to the
wondrous world of unreality, imagination and beyond. Create your own tomorrow and explore it as a local yourself in three simple steps!
