A LITTLE MORE CONVERSATION

PROJECT INFORMATION

TITLE // A Little More Conversation
DATE // 2007
CLIENT // Academy of Art University Coursework
Deliverables // Card Design, Photography

PROJECT GOALS

The Socratic approach to questioning is based on the practice of disciplined, rigorously thoughtful dialogue to elicit meaningful dialogue between teacher and student. This would often involve asking a question and then questions that were then asked.

PROJECT INSPIRATION & APPROACH

When one pictures the life of Socrates, one would often imagine a man that spent much of his life in a public forum discussing the important topics of the times. These public discussions were not only classes, but discussions with the general public itself.

When one considers the modern equivalent of the public discussions that Socrates participated in, one could draw parallels to the concept of a party or a get-together. Both functions require that a participant speak at length about varying topics and to smoothly transition into other topics once conversations about a particular topic has run its course. It is from this concept that the project of A Little More Conversation was born.

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of speaking with strangers is to keep a conversation going or transitioning to a topic similar to the one being discussed. A Little More Conversation is a tool that provides assistance in these conversations that takes the form of a set of 120 cards divided into six 20-card decks, with a deck covering the theme of science and technology, nature, culture and community, science, art and the humanities, and history. Each card hosts a specific topic and some factoids of said topic from the theme of the deck in which they are housed. The project was designed as a series of cards so that they can discreetly pulled out and used during a conversation. Users can choose to mix and match the cards between decks or use individual decks of cards for specific functions, such as using the Art and the Humanities deck at a museum gathering. With A Little More Conversation at hand, one need not worry about a conversation coming to standstill ever again.