For this project, I decided to focus on a lighthearted, feminine theme and story. Starting with the story, I wanted to start off with going on a date- very innocent but there is some foreshadowing that something could go wrong down the line. I intended to set the scene in an exciting way, so that the player is excited about their date with Brad. This just makes things more interesting when Brad inevitably turns out to be utterly disappointing.
From seeing Brad on, I wanted the story to take a different turn. If the player does not select doing makeup over having breakfast, and dressing how Brad likes, Brad makes a rude comment. Although exaggerated, I wanted this to be cathartic for people, especially girls, who feel frustrated by the expectation to live up to a certain standard. Brad is meant to be more exemplary of these expectations than of men themselves, (even if some men might act in a similar way to Brad).
As for the theme, I wanted to create a really warm, feminine aesthetic. I used lots of pink illustrations. For the endings that ended badly, I used the quintessential crying woman cartoons and created gifs to make them cry as opposed to a still image. I incorporated a lot of images from the vaporwave aesthetic, which I am a huge fan of. There is something classic and feminine about vaporwave, and I think that it fit the story well!
I also made some of my own gifs to add into parts where I wanted something very specific. Here are a few!
I struggled with this project more than the others with choosing a story to focus on, as well as execution, but I am happy with the work I did to make this a funny, aesthetically-pleasing experience! Overall, this project was so much fun, and I really enjoyed making a choose your own adventure.
