Video Games, Art, Minimalism, and Where the Middle Ground Is - Part 3

Hello! I hope that you're enjoying my Video Games, Art, Minimalism, and Middle Ground series regarding Animal Crossing: New Leaf. If you care to see all previous posts, click below:

Part 1 - Interior Design
Part 2 - Patterns and Designs
Part 3 - More about Patterns and Designs
Part 4 - Introduction to Town Decor
Part 5 - Pattern Design in Town Decor
Part 6 - Gardening in Town Decor

Onwards!

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I can't breathe through my nose, and my energy has run away and taken a nap somewhere. Sounds like a perfect time to make another post! *loudly blows nose*

Ahah, look at that dork! . . . wait a sec . . .

So the last time we talked (in Part Two, linked above), I explained about the basics of designing stuff in Animal Crossing as well as discussing Pro Designs and some of the ways to share your designs. That turned into a really big post, which surprised me, so I had to break it off early! Now is when you get to see the other half, which is about A) what you can do with those designs, and B) what I think about the whole process.

Before I could talk about that stuff, though, I had to go nab some more pictures. But for the sake of showing you a new face, I decided to show off another of my characters: Jeanne.

Evidence of time travel? What do you mean, evidence of time travel? That headdress was earned fair and square!

Jeanne's a jerk. So just ignore her.

Now, as I talked about last time, the downside to Pro Designs is that there isn't much you can do with them beyond wearing them as designed, i.e. a hat, shirt, or dress. But those basic designs that you can make without the Able Sisters? Oooh, there is so much you can do with them. For my example, I'm using a "CRY" template I made, which Jeanne is modeling for me above. Not quite her style, but she'll get over it. I think.

Above: The town hall and, in the background, the police station where Jeanne needs to be taken for unruly behavior. Below, the train station, from which Jeanne needs a restraining order.

So what can you use your designs for, you ask? Great question. First off, you can use your design as your town flag, which hangs outside of the town hall and in the train station. Neat, huh? I could've changed it to the CRY design I made, although I actually no longer have the design shown on the flag, and I'd rather keep it . . .

Welcome to Sandhall. Now cry.

It's also possible to lay your designs on the ground. This might lead to the question of "why would you do that", but it's actually a function of the game that lots of people take advantage of. For example, the people of Bumbury have some really awesome town designs, one of which I used . . .

Flashback, where T.J. gets a nasty surprise.

. . . so that Jeanne could make a moat around T.J.'s house earlier in the month. The idea was "You have to celebrate summer somehow!" but, of course, T.J. was ticked. I mean, at least Jeanne made a bridge for her, but still. Rude.

Of course, I've already shown off how you can use your designs on yourself - as a shirt, hat, umbrella - so I'm going to skip those parts. Instead, let's move on to what you can do inside your house, in which Jeanne shall demonstrate using her modern wood room.

I get the strange feeling that Jeanne is really unamused . . .

First off, you can paste designs on the wall. And besides putting them on the walls . . .

This is from the perspective of God, as Bo Burnham would say.

. . . you can also put it on the floors. Those with eagle eyes will notice that the design is actually rotated on the floor as opposed to the wall, but you actually have both options available no matter where you paste it in your room. Unfortunately, it's really blocky with a design like I have, but I've seen lots of designs used to great effect on the walls, especially, of one's abode. Again, look at Bumbury, linked above, for more info.

Oops. I guess the flooring and the displays were overboard, huh? 

Jeanne looks way too calm for this. Are we sure she's not a little sociopathic?

In addition, you can also display your design in your room just like you would any other item of furniture, as well as showing it off as a painting on a tripod or on the wall. For those who want their designs on display in their homes, this is a really great way to do it, especially since there's so much variety. Again, the possibilities are really endless.

Where's the Neighborhood Watch when you need it?! Or for that matter, the cops??

Of course, if you'd rather use your design on your furniture, that's also an option! There is an option in the game that allows you to customize your furniture with different finishings and patterns, although it has to be unlocked first. Once it's unlocked, though, you can pretty much go crazy. Jeanne, unfortunately, hasn't taken advantage of that option - she's preferred to leave her high-end furniture alone. Instead, she's opted to break into T.J.'s home to give you an example. Uh, Jeanne? Your mayor isn't going to appreciate that . . .

So I've already discussed exterior and interior design, but what about the sharing capabilities I mentioned in the last post? Well, QR codes aren't the only options, of course. You can also take advantage of the Able Sisters to display your designs.

So much timetraveling. At this is legal. I mean, uh . . . nope! No illegal timetravel here!

You get eight slots in the store to display your own work, although the downside is that anybody can take down your design and display their own in turn. Still, it's a great way for people visiting your town to yoink it. There's also another way to get these designs, but those involve the Dream Suite, so I'll try to talk about that later. Spoiler Alert: It involves a being not unlike Jamie Hyneman.

Still, is that the only use of putting your designs up there at the Able Sisters? Isn't there more to it? Yes there is, my friend, because when you put up your designs in Able Sisters . . .

Carmen, stop staring at me, you're a rainbow.

. . . other animals can wear it.

(Although don't ask why they feel the need to wear clothing. Most of them don't even have pants.)

Those, then, are some of the many ways that designs can be used to customize your town, your character, and the rest of the Animal Crossing world! It may not seem like much, but really, there's so much that you can do with it all that it's sort of surprising. That being said, I certainly do have some thoughts on it, and considering the nature of our question "is it art?" that I've been pursuing with this investigation, I feel the need to share them.

It's T.J. again! Uh, yeah, she grew out her hair and dyed it black. And she's back to her time-travel basement. Wait, stop bringing up time travel!

First off, it can let you make something cool in the game just by copying from real life. What you see above is probably one of my favorite designs, but it was largely inspired by a dress I found online a while back. That dress is this:

Apparently this is an Anthropologie dress. Dunno if they still sell it, but hey, it's cute.

Of course, I didn't model the dress entirely off of it, but the dress did serve as inspiration. That's how a lot of the designs started out for me, was from other things I had seen.

What else? There's clearly a lot of customization you can do, whether flat-out within your designs or on a larger scale. You can also share the designs with others which might be the bigger perk of all. Although the sad thing is that not only are the collaborations with the designs fairly limited, but you don't get the best colors all the time, i.e. the darkest red is HORRIBLE. Besides all of that, though, it's a great add-on to the game. Actually, it may be one of my favorites.

But the question stands: can we consider this stuff to be on the level of real-life art? Is it art at all?

Let's look at the evidence:

• It's creation, plain and simple. Nothing more to it than that.
• There's a way to share it with others, whether with QR codes (view Part 2) or via other means.
• It has artistic elements, such as the elements found in fashion design.
• It's extremely customizable and versatile, enhancing the way you can play.

Does this answer the question yes or no? Do these really prove anything? Can we take all of this and still say it's not art, or not on the level of real-life art? And if so, why?

I think we need to dig deeper into this, and to do that, we'll need more parts. Stay tuned!

***

PS: Just for the record . . .

The Gorgeous Series, aka "Screw you, time, I have a TARDIS in my 3DS".

Oh my god, Jeanne, you DID time-travel! You can't get that set until winter! Geeze, where are the cops when you NEED them?!?!