The Design Game

Dear Alice,

I had been thinking about making up Ann Sutton's Design Game for over a year. Mary's birthday was fast approaching, and finally I got in gear to 'make' the game. I gathered different colored card-stocks, decided upon making a largish envelope rather than a box, dug out my inspiration for the envelope, and made a trip down to Hollander's. Oh, yummm. Dangerous place to visit! The papers, cards, and other enticements are hard to resist. I caught a glimpse of the fun thank-you note that Jean had sent last November and thought 'Ahhh...I can stitch that heavy paper.' I took a scrap of leather that is part of another project and created a closure. All in all, it was fun to do, the cards are colorful, and after cake on Saturday, we played our first round of The Design Game!


What is the Design Game? Ann Sutton describes it in her book Ideas in Weaving. She says:

"The Design Game is played like an open game of Pontoon (Twenty-Ones, Vingt-et-Un, Blackjack). Each card in the pack (at least 50) contains an element of design found in a woven cloth. A player is dealt two cards and is asked to read them aloud. If the elements conflict irredeemably, the dealer moves on to the next player who might have two cards which are more amenable, and feels that a third element could be incorporated into the cloth (the vision of which builds up differently in the minds of all in the group). A fourth card could then be accepted, and even a fifth. Each should be read out and considered, with solutions suggested by the group for any ‘impossibilities’. If the player accepts a card which counteracts a previous one and makes the fabric truly impossible, then the dealer declares him ‘bust’ and moves on to the next player.

"The purpose of the game is to produce, by chance, unexpected combinations of technique, weave, color, finishing, etc., and to create a problem-solving attitude to design challenges. It has usually been found to be a mind-stretching experience enjoyed by weavers of all abilities.

"The cards should be similar to playing cards in size, and all of exactly the same size for easy shuffling. These cards include a list of suggested elements. It will be found that a near even quantity in each of the seven categories will give the best results but the cards should be mixed together and not dealt from the separate lists."


The categories are Technique, Color, Yarn, Fiber, Finishing, General Design, and Weave, and each category has several descriptions of possibilities. Using chance to design a new cloth. Great fun! We felt you peeking over our shoulders as we described the fantasy cloths in our imaginations.

I hope it is warmer where you are. We are getting tired of single-digit temperatures.

Yours on the road to discovery,
Nancy
* Today's photos by Mary.