Nov 19, 2024

Solving problems and working together can be tricky business—but sometimes the answer is in loosening up and having some fun. From bean bag tosses to shared self-portraits, projects from Assistant Professor of Interior Design Irina Schneid’s course, Interplay: Ethics and Tactics of Co-Design, show a range of creative, collaborative, and sometimes even silly ways to build relationships and work together. 

Schneid first began teaching it in 2022. An interdisciplinary course in the School of Design, Interplay brings undergraduate and graduate students across programs together to build community. “We use play and gamification as a way to teach students the foundational building blocks of working together with one another and also with community members beyond Pratt’s gates,” said Schneid.

Each semester, students in this class team up to design an installation, or “InterAction,” within Steuben Hall and Pratt Studios. The project must be something that the larger Pratt community can interact with or participate in. The project is designed to spark moments of joy, reflection, empathy, or connection.

Teams start by thinking about and sharing their favorite childhood games with one another. Next, they explore the qualities that make each of the games fun, interesting, or successful. After that, they work together to combine parts of their games together to create a new game or interaction. The process gives students hands-on experience with creating engaging, accessible experiences as a team. 

Take a look at some of the playful projects from the last five semesters below!

Fall 2024 InterActions – On View Now!

CO-FLICKt: Competition Meets Community 

Sajjad Musa, MFA Communications Design ’26; Molly Wasserman, BFA Interior Design ’25; and Yichi Zhang, MFA Communications Design ’26, brought together elements of their favorite childhood play to create a game that includes collective point-keeping, technical skill, and strategy. CO-FLICKt encourages friendly competition between players who attempt to flick colored stones onto the board’s different zones, earning points for their color team. Since points are earned over time, the game creates a sense of camaraderie with your team, even if you don’t know who they are or don’t play at the same time.

“It was really cool to see that the intent—which was joining this bigger team that’s greater than even the people you know—was actually coming into effect just later that [first] day,” said Wasserman. “I think the biggest takeaway was that having a very quick activity can engage—or create a sense of—a larger community, which was super cool to see in action every time I walked by.”

A display setup on a light wooden pedestal featuring an interactive activity labeled 'CO-FLICKt’. A sign on the wall provides instructions with three colored circles (red, blue, and green) for tracking scores, along with 'Step 1' and 'Step 2' instructions. To the left is a small container labeled 'STEP 1' filled with colored counters. The main activity board, encased in a clear cover, has a colorful grid with numbered and colored squares, where participants can flick counters. Shadows cast across the setup add dimension to the display.
Close-up of an interactive game board titled 'STEP 2' on a wooden surface. The board features a colorful grid of numbered squares in red, blue, and green, each with large white numbers. Small colored stones, in red, blue, and green, are scattered across the grid. Instructions at the top indicate that players should flick their stone and keep it in the same colored area to earn points, with additional instructions for black stones. An arrow at the bottom of the board points toward the grid, suggesting the direction for players to flick their stones.

COMMUNITY CANVAS: Visualizing Shared Values

Through word association prompts, Community Canvas by Devyani Goyal, BFA Communications Design ’25, and Jingwen Zhang, MFA Interior Design ’28, encourages people to literally and figuratively draw connections between School of Design values, including accessibility, inclusivity, waste, collaboration, and sustainability, and design topics such as transportation, food, and fashion. As more people add their sketches, the canvas fills up with visual reminders of the community’s shared values and concerns. 

“Working with students from different departments was a great learning experience for me,” said Goyal. “It is also interesting to see how people from different disciplines approach projects with different constraints—like for me as a graphic designer, I generally think about the visual aspect first. While my partner, who is an interior design major, approached it from the viewpoint of the physical dimensions and materiality aspects.”

A close-up of various sketches and notes pinned to a board as part of a 'Community Canvas' display. Drawings include simple line illustrations of trees with the label 'NATURE x Technology = USB TREES,' a figure in a large dress with the words 'Inclusivity language,' and diagrams relating to themes like 'Fashion Waste' and 'Creativity & Music.' Colorful sticky notes label each drawing with topics such as 'Collaboration Academics' and 'Waste' 'People.' The drawings and notes reflect community members' ideas and thoughts on topics including the environment, creativity, and social issues
A bulletin board titled 'Community Canvas' with only a few sketches, sticky notes, and illustrations pinned to it. Drawings include a simple diagram labeled 'Fashion Waste' and another labeled 'Diversity Entertainment.' To the left of the board, there are posted instructions for participation and holders containing markers, blank papers, and envelopes for submissions. A folded paper fortune-teller with words like 'Innovation' and 'Inclusivity' is attached to the bottom right corner of the board. The display invites viewers to contribute ideas and creative expressions related to community themes.
A poster titled 'Community Canvas' filled with colorful drawings, sticky notes, and sketches pinned on paper. Various illustrations depict different themes, such as community, environment, and technology. To the left, there are posted instructions for participating, along with holders for markers, papers, and other materials. This interactive display invites community members to contribute their ideas and creativity to the canvas.

Projects from Previous Semesters

TILT: A Maze Made for Two

For the fall 2023 semester, Eliza Corderman, MFA Fashion Collection + Communication ’26; Abigail Hoover, MID ’25; and Allen Liu, BFA Fashion Design ’25, created Tilt, a hands-on game in which partners try to guide marbles through a maze by holding and tilting the board. Inspired by Set, Uno, and 3D Puzzle Ball, the game encourages team problem-solving and provides a moment of light-hearted play.

A close-up of a CNC-cut wooden board in a workshop, with a person vacuuming up the sawdust. The board has maze-like pathways and shapes cut into it, with layers of sawdust scattered around the design.
A completed wooden maze board on a round table, featuring colored dots (red, green, yellow, and blue) in the corners. Playing cards with shapes and colors, as well as small white game pieces, are placed nearby, suggesting a color and shape-matching game.
A top-down view of a wooden maze game board on a round table with yellow chairs. The board has intricate pathways with colored dots at the corners and circular spaces for game pieces. A small stack of cards labeled 'START' and 'FINISH' lies next to the board along with additional cards featuring shapes and colors.

Tilt by Eliza Corderman, Abigail Hoover, and Allen Liu.

LEGO LOG: A Month of Moods 

Priyashi Mehta and Yuying Zhu, both MFA Interior Design ’24, came up with a build-your-own lego mood calendar. Lego Log tracked not only the days of the week but also how motivated members of the Pratt community were feeling each day. Lego Log used the toys most often associated with childhood to encourage low-stakes creativity. By the end of the month, the calendar was covered with colored blocks, bridging across days, and resulting in a unique collective mural. 

A wall-mounted interactive calendar titled 'LEGO LOG' for March 2023. Each day of the month is represented by a circular pegboard space, some of which have LEGO pieces attached. Instructions on the right side explain how to log daily motivation by selecting a color of LEGO and placing it on the current day's circle. Below the calendar, there’s a tray holding red, blue, and gray LEGO pieces, labeled with motivational prompts. The activity encourages participants to return each day and track their inspiration visually using LEGO bricks.

KNOT IN THE MOOD: A Tapestry of Emotions

Knot in the Mood took a softer approach to tracking shared emotions. Designed by Sara Cui, MFA Interior Design ’23, and Luyao Tang, BFA Fashion Design ’24, Knot in the Mood encouraged passersby to select and weave an emotion-coded yard into a growing network of community threads. While not a game, the interaction provided a powerful representation of the changing emotions of people within the School of Design.

A close-up of a textured art piece made from various intertwined yarns and fibers in shades of pink, blue, red, yellow, and white. The fibers are woven, knotted, and twisted together, creating a complex, layered, and tactile appearance.

Inter-PLAY!: Bean Bag Stress Relief 

For those looking for something more active, Inter-PLAY! gave people a chance to get their frustration out. Designed by Mallory Huang, MID ’23, and Aimee Schmale, BFA Fashion Design ’23, Inter-PLAY! invited people to throw bean bags at the large fabric letters on the wall. The goal was to get the beanbags to stick to the velcro on the letters. Schmale was able to use her fashion skills to hand-sew the letters together. 

A person standing with their arm raised, looking at a wall installation of large letters spelling 'PLAY.' Each letter is covered with fabric in various textures and earthy tones, with patches and raised shapes giving it a tactile look. The installation has a playful, interactive vibe, inviting engagement.
Close-up of a large fabric-covered letter 'A' from the word 'PLAY' in an art installation. The letter is made from a patchwork of different textured fabrics, including patterns in brown, orange, and black-and-white, with multiple small, padded squares attached, adding a tactile element.

OUR COMMUNITY PORTRAIT: Reflecting Who We Are  

Sangeetha Ramanath and Mistral Dotti, both MFA Communications Design ’24, turned the idea of a self-portrait into a shared activity. They hung a mirror and sheets of transparent paper on top of it. People were then encouraged to trace their reflection and adjust it to reflect how they wanted to be seen rather than how they were typically perceived. When layered on top of each other, they created one large shared communal portrait. 

A person smiling and holding a transparent sheet with a green line drawing of a face in front of an interactive art wall labeled 'Our Community Portrait.' Behind them, there are several other line drawings layered on transparent sheets, as well as a photograph and instructions for creating community portraits. Markers are available on the wall, inviting participants to contribute their own drawings to the display.
A wall display titled 'Our Community Portrait' featuring instructions for creating a self-portrait using transparent sheets. Four colored markers (black, green, red, and blue) are hanging on hooks to the left. Below the instructions, there is a mirror for participants to trace their reflections onto transparent sheets. Several layered line drawings of faces on transparent sheets are placed in a holder beneath the mirror, showcasing contributions to the community portrait project. A larger pocket on the right holds additional blank sheets for participants.

Keep an eye out for more InterAction projects coming spring 2025!