For this project, we created a new narrative for the game chess. All the rules are the same, but the pieces are represented by our theme of nature vs. industry. This is a prevalent issue in our society – greed/money is prioritized over the earth’s health. One side is made up of things found on a construction site to represent the destruction of nature due to industry, and the other side represents the nature that is affected by this destruction, all chosen based on characteristics of the normal chess pieces and how those translate to different animals or vehicles and their behaviors. We really aimed to create a set of pieces that were clear and communicative of our concept and I think we accomplished that well. Creating slice forms was an entirely new process for both of us so it was a challenge! Designing pieces in a 2D space that would accurately translate into a 3D space took a lot of time and focus but it was enjoyable because it forced me to think in a completely new way than I ever had before. Putting the pieces together was like a puzzle and it was very satisfying to problem-solve and see them all come together so cleanly.
View full process here.
Full chess set
Rook and knight close-up
Queen piece close-up
King piece close-up
