Description:

The past year’s events have proven that the concept of value is as complex as ever. Crypto currencies rise and fall overnight. AI is either our demise or our saviour, depending who you ask. And protesters are claiming that in the face of a climate emergency, the Mona Lisa is worthless. Amid all this, what we truly value as designers becomes hard to capture. This year, as part of Melbourne Design Week, we wanted to delve into these big issues, but do it in a way that didn’t feel so big or serious as to be overwhelming, and that everyone could engage with.

Enter Would You Rather – a simple concept that enabled us to explore some of the big issues in design in a way that was super easy for people to engage with. We co-opted the well known game and formulated questions that forced designers to show where they sit on some of the topics that are dominating our industry right now. Questions like: Would you rather embrace all AI design tools unquestioningly, or destroy them forever? And: Would you rather design awards were judged by experts, or by the public?

On a small budget, we created an interactive website where designers play Would You Rather via a simple card-sorting mechanic. Every question was designed to divide, which translated to the visual identity of the website and printed and digital collateral through vivid, two-toned cards. Upon finishing the quiz, you see ‘what you rather’, where your stance on each question is compared with other participants.

The digital experience enabled us to generate content for an in-person panel event that delved into the thinking behind people’s responses. Our panelists spanned multiple design specialisms from graphic to motion, fashion and game design, meaning the discussion was interesting and multifaceted, and a diverse section of the community was represented.

Our online quiz was taken over 1000 times. Our event, which was hosted as part of Melbourne Design Week, boasted a sold out crowd of 80 people. But most importantly we discussed the issues that matter to us with new friends in the design community and potential clients, so that people got a strong sense of who we are as an agency and what we can do.