A famous painting inspires a videogame: nice initiative of Victoria&Albert Museum

computer games are more and more aknowledged as an artistic and creative medium

Posted on: 5 November 2014

Strawberry Thief is one of UK artist William Morris’s most popular repeating designs for textiles and it is housed at Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Award-winning designer Sophia George behind new iPad app – photo source independent.co.uk

The game designer Sophia George was invited by the V&A to select a design classic from its collection to create a videogame. In this free iPad game, the Strawberry Thief fabric becomes the backdrop for a challenge which enables the user to sketch and colour the famous pattern by flying a bird – the strawberry thief itself – across their iPad screen.

Computer games are more and more aknowledged as an artistic and creative medium that blend elements of many traditional practices – including pure art, animation, character design, architectural design, music and much more. During 6 months residency of Sophia at the Museum, she also did a lot of public engagement, inviting a variety of audiences to experience and participate in the creative process of game design.

“This project at the V&A has opened my eyes up to the possibilities of what games design can show. I am keen to look at more work by other famous British artists and designers and see what kinds of games can arise!” says Sophia in the V&A blog.

In the game, you have to use the Strawberry Thief bird to collect strawberries which enable you to paint. First you start with a blank piece of paper where you sketch the pattern. Once the pattern is drawn out, you can start to add some basic colours to the piece. Finally, richer colours and texture are added to finish the design. To control the bird’s movement, you simply draw lines on the touchscreen and the bird will follow your path.

The game is available for free download from the app store.