Principles of Design & Visual Design | Duration: 1 week
UX
Solo Project
a tag
Overview
Recognizing and analyzing what users are breaking down and interpreting as they see the various signs, symbols and other semiotic elements in Minecraft. Minecraft is a game where you either try to survive the night or build a work of art.
What are the signs?
Icons, symbols and indexes are plentiful in Minecraft. An item that can be picked up by the player tends to be an icon, while symbols represent more vague concepts (like brick, water) and tend to be blocks that help build things. Indexes tend to give signals to players like when a creeper is near you. All the signs are contextual.
Crafting semiotics
Minecraft heavy usage of boxes or cubes is seen throughout the game. Be it the use of pixels, characters and the VR head tilt motion - cubes are found in even the most minute details. A cube is a basic element. It connotes simplicity and the ability to build more things and grow like building blocks.
The Box in the room
The crafting table is an interesting example of the use of the Triadic Model. Here the player has to use the blocks and items they have to create other items that cannot be found otherwise. The representamen being the objects. The interpretant (the mental concept) gives us the characteristics of the objects. You then craft the items and you get the object.
But why cubes?
Minecraft’s core concept is to build and create for survival and growth. It grows along with you, as you keep crafting. A solo cube is the basic form which can be made more complex. And as you keep building in Minecraft, endowment effect occurs and ownership settles in leading to the Minecraft world to be your world.