Scary Beautiful

Game designer Erin Robinson brought this video to our attention a few weeks ago. "Same design principle between shoes and a video game, how strange is that?"

In an article featured in Shine, fashion designer Leanie van der Vyver comments:

"After working in fashion for seven years, and therefore being well aware of the manipulation images in fashion suffer for a perfect result, I still compare myself to them and other current beauty ideals...  My frustration with my own inability to overcome these feelings of inadequacy was what brought 'Scary Beautiful' into fruition." 

View the full article here

A Fitting's Kickstarter has come to a close, but A Fitting will go on!

Hello everyone,

We cannot thank our backers and those who helped spread the word about A Fitting enough. Although the Kickstarter campaign was unsuccessful, we are going to work to finish A Fitting and try our best to share it in a public space. We may not be able to join the Off the Beaten Path exhibition but we plan on finishing the game and finding other ways to raise funding in order to share the game in a like-minded setting.

Please stay tuned and follow us:
https://twitter.com/amandaDittami
https://twitter.com/Baalair

Thanks again,
Amanda & Blair

Article featured on The Feminist Revolution

"When one finds a woman character taking the lead of a game, it is often that her representation betrays the positive impact of the stage. The “women” in these games are not real, but there is a real damage to one’s psyche from constantly being bombarded with the same reoccurring images. They are difficult to avoid, when exploring the game library of any platform. They are discovered in supposed “Mature” rated games and even those rated “E” for everyone. Perhaps the most disheartening of them all, are the games directed at pre-teen girls that carry messages of promiscuity and materialism. Although it may be unintentional, it is a direct assault on the development of young children.  It is of no surprise that many women gamers will have their body issues reinforced by the games they enjoy. Meanwhile, all gamers will be conditioned to think of women as not much more than sexual objects."

Check out the full article by Amanda Dittami

Gone From an Age: A Fitting

A Fitting featured on Games For Change

"At one point in your life, you may have tried chemically altering your hair, tried on a pair of pants that were way too tight, or focused more on fashion over function. All for the goal of achieving a specific look.

Many of us partake in these practices to achieve a standard of beauty in modern society. Too often, we do so without considering why, the social costs if we don’t, or what physical and mental harm these activities are causing every day. Some would argue that beauty is purely for the benefit of those who are gazing upon it, disregarding the discomfort of the ones who have to achieve it.

To give others this distinct understanding, game designers Amanda Dittami and Blair Kuhlman teamed up to create “Gone From an Age: A Fitting“, a motion controlled game that asks players to contort and perform for an audience, in what Kuhlman calls “a cross between a game of Twister and Vogue magazine.”"

Check out the full article by Jeff Ramos

"A Fitting" Game to Explore Body Image

A Fitting: Interviews from our second prototype

On September 27 we shared our second live prototype during an open playtesting exhibit. Along with gathering valuable feedback that will help us develop the game we also asked playtesters what they felt while performing.

Mood board, art and our next playtesting session

We have been working with two amazing fashion designers. Claire Henry and Sadie Monroe are donating their time to make a physical version of the garment worn by the main character. It is inspired by harmful fashion trends spanning multiple cultures and time. Sadie and Claire put together these two mood boards as one of the first steps toward making the dress:

Currently, they are putting together the muslin for the dress, which is used as a test before using the final fabric. The muslin, along with a new prototype is going to showcase during our next playtesting session: next Thursday Sept. 27 at 916 S Wabash, Chicago, IL 60605 in the Project Room from 5-8pm. If you are in the area and can make it, we would love to see you all there.

For the next prototype we are going to try out some new poses and we also hope to have a rough audience and young woman in the game. As a teaser, here are some of the rough pose silhouettes that we have:

We'd love to see/hear some pose recommendations from you all. Whether its images you find on the internet, or a blocked out picture of yourself. Feel free to tweet us: Amanda & Blair

 And last but not least, we'd like to share a piece of art work donated to us by Anthony Sixto. Anthony is a very talented 2D/3D/concept artist that Blair and I have worked with and continue to work with on a variety of projects. Here is his take on A Fitting:

Once again, if you can: Come join us on Thursday September 27th from 5-8pm at 916 S Wabash, Chicago, IL 60605 in the Project Room for our next open playtesting exhibition.

We have 16 days left in the campaign, help us spread the word if you can.

 Thank you all for your support,
-Amanda & Blair

Today I Conversed With...

"A Fitting was a Feature from a larger game Blair and I started working on shortly after we first met a couple years ago called Gone From an Age. A Fitting has become our first installment of a hopeful series. The young woman featured in the game has a whole backstory. We have only shared the original Game Concept document  with a few people but it could be neat to share now that more people know about the project..."

Check out the full article at the blog "Today I Conversed With..."

Blair Kuhlman and Amanda Dittami

A Fitting first open playtest

On September 06, 2012 we had our first open playtest exhibit in the Project Room at Columbia College Chicago with live performances by Caitlin Rafferty, Dylan Roth and last but not least: our playtesters.

A Fitting featured on Kill Screen

"A young woman models an elaborate dress in front of a shadowy and judgmental audience. As she contorts her body into increasingly untenable positions, the audience rewards her with their approval. If she stops, they scowl, then leave.  

This isn’t a description of a fashion show. It’s the premise of the new Kinect game and art installation, A Fitting, which asks players to put themselves in physical pain to gain the admiration of others."

Check out the full article by Joseph Bernstein

This art game actually judges your body

A Fitting Kickstarter launches!

A Fitting's Kickstarter has officially launched! Today is the first day of our campaign and we couldn't be more excited.

A Fitting is a Kinect-based digital art installation that explores the relationship between cultural and personal expectation of body image. Essentially we are using the motion control capabilities of the Kinect to discomfort players physically and the persuasive power of games to mentally coax them into playing more. The game is a satirical piece where the game itself represents societal pressure, and the participating player represents the human will to sacrifice personal comfort for an imagined ideal. The installation has the chance to travel with the Art Works For Change exhibition Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Art and Women. However, we need to raise money for the equipment, shipping and development costs.

We hope that you can help support our project, whether it's pledging a donation or sharing the Kickstarter page with others, we really appreciate any help that you can offer!

A Fitting's first prototype

A sneak peek at our first prototype: