8-Bit Crafting
My son ran up to me a few days ago and asked if he could download Pacman to the Playstation 4 in the living room. My eyes opened wide and I started smiling from ear to ear. It was a special moment because my son is about the same age as I was when I first saw Pacman. I downloaded it without hesitation and we played until bedtime. It was honestly more fun than playing almost 30 years ago. I probably have some bias in that last thought.
These retro 8-bit videogames have stayed around for almost 40 years. Starting from its humble beginnings eating all of my dimes. I have fond memories of going out with my parents and just standing in awe at Space Invaders and Pacman machines. Then soon tricking kids with the most amazing box art promising space battles and all out warfare. What we got were colorful moving squares. Don’t get me wrong; it was mind blowing to be able to control these characters. Technology and time progressed and 3D graphics took over and made video games absolutely ridiculous to look at. These kids don’t know how good they have it.
Nostalgia has taken us over as a culture. Constantly seeing fashion come back, films being re-made and video games getting a graphics boost. Some say living in the past is unhealthy. The NY Times has noted that Nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety. It makes people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders. Couples feel closer and look happier when they’re sharing nostalgic memories. On cold days, or in cold rooms, people use nostalgia to literally feel warmer. Its time to celebrate the past and bring to life some of these memories with something I call 8-bit crafting.
The term craft denotes a skill, usually employed in branches of the decorative arts, or in an associated artistic practice. A key feature of crafts is that they involve a high degree of hands-on rather than just skill with a machine. The idea is to use materials to help create a one of a kind project using certain techniques. 8-Bit Crafting is the type of crafting which relates to the pop culture of the 70’s and 80’s. Whether your using paper, wood or any other material you can think of it is an arduous process making something. The most popular being video game themed projects. What better ways to show off the characters you adore than planting gigantic pixelated versions of them on your wall?
Amongst all the craft supplies that you can find today to produce pixel art there is one that stands out among the others. Desblox Paper Blocks crafting System opens new possibilities for Designers, Artists and Teachers. Less hurdles to jump over makes your idea or concept more accessible. The goal is to help simplify the process by providing a mechanism that will assist and significantly reduce the time necessary to create paper blocks. Take a trip down memory lane and have fun doing it with Desblox.
