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Assignment # 2
In my search for two artists that I could compare and/or contrast, I came across Charles Darrow and Norman Rockwell. While my original goal was to solely find two artists that were active within the same time period, I quickly began to find the similarities and contradictions I didn’t expect to find so easily. Most people who know anything about art have heard the name Norman Rockwell. This is partly due to the fact that he drew Illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post for the better part of four decades. However Charles Darrow is a name that many people may not recognize, unless they are told that he created the game that they know today as Monopoly.
Charles Darrow, while creating a great board game that many people love and enjoy eighty years after it’s birth, was not necessarily a great artist as he was a great salesman. Darrow’s idea for Monopoly was, to be quite honest, not incredibly original. Charles Darrow was one of many people who enjoyed the popular board game The Landlord’s game, which was created so as to show the evils of land monopolies. Although the game was more than 30 years old when Darrow was introduced to it, he knew a good thing when he saw it. Soon enough Darrow was creating games of his own and selling them out of department stores. Eventually he sold the rights to Parker Brothers, which turned him into the first millionaire game designer in history.
Like Darrow, Norman Rockwell took a piece of American history and shared it with anyone he could. Many of Rockwell’s illustrations are snapshots of American life. Unlike Monopoly’s theme, which shows the effect a monopoly can have on many businesses around it, Rockwell’s work showed a simpler theme, a more innocent and honest theme. Unfortunately those themes may have been a bit romanticized. Almost all of Rockwell’s illustrations and paintings were nearly lifelike which is a sure contrast from the cartoony looks of Monopoly’s board. Maybe this childish appearance of the board is supposed to lighten the fact that players are striving to stomp out any competition during game play—one can only guess.
Both of these artists, for the most part, created things by themselves. Darrow did employ the help of his wife and son however, if they can even qualify as his team. A team can either be a designer’s worst nightmare or his/her savior. In my short-term experience of designing games, I would most definitely opt for a team. The thing about a group of people helping deign and/or develop a concept for a game is that there is a torrent of ideas at all times whereas if a game is depending on one lone developer, ideas may not come as quickly or easily. Team members will throw their ideas out onto the table. Some get mixed and matched with each other while some are thrown out all together. Every once in a while an idea emerges that can serve as kindling, which sparks ideas from the rest of the team. This can also serve as a problem. With so many ideas it’s difficult to decide on a combination that can make a great game. Team members may also have different directions they want to take the game, which can potentially create conflict.
