Creativity is key in contemporary society. Creatives think of new solutions for oftentimes extremely complicated problems. But how can you as a creative yourself see all these opportunities where you can be of value? Or, looking from the outside in, how can you recognise opportunities in the market where you can add value while at the same time holding on to your own principles as a designer?
Total View gives you the ability to discover all these chances and opportunities. When WdKA's Business Station started with workshops for students on how to create a business plan, they quickly experienced that many students have a compartmentalised – we argue narrow - understanding of their profession. Most creatives are focused on their own creative process, so when they started talking about pricing, market segments or other business practices they were talking on different planes:
"We did not really understand each other. We did not connect. Only teaching business skills and tools seemed too little to support a strong self supporting position for students. At this point we started searching for a common language and relevant connections between art, design and business. We started talking about the underlying structures and values that drive both business and creative processes.
It is no longer about business, but about thinking about business. That is why Total View deals with developing a creative business mindset. A mindset which enables you to see opportunities and possibilities as a professional designer, so your work will find the stage it deserves. Playing the game gives you a chance to collaboratively discover your positions and possibilities as artists and designers. Total View will bring you valuable and sometimes surprising insights every time you play."
Total View is a game born out of the imaginative mind of WdKA Business Station's Mark Schotman (who also brought us the Creative Business Map). Together with his colleague Maarten Jan van ’t Oever he came up with the Total View concept and tested the many iterations of the game, which was developed in close collaboration with Playspace (Game development: Bruno Setola, Graphic Design: Tereza Ruller).