V&A appoints Sophia George as designer in residence

Swallowtail chair and BAFTA Ones to Watch winner Sophia George has been appointed as the Victoria and Albert museum’s first ever game designer in residence.

George’s residency will begin from October 2013 for six months, during which she will research the history of British design shown in the Britain 1500-to-1900 galleries and hold a number of public activities and events to bring people in on the game design process.

As part of the residency, the Swallowtail dev also plans to run a project with a group of students from a girl’s school to help promote game design.

After six months she will head to Abertay University for the game production phase. A monthly bursary, a budget for materials, equipment and studio space as well as a team of mentors from the V&A and Abertay University will also offer support throughout the project.

A full educational game based on the V&A collections is expected to be released in the summer of 2014.

Swallowtail will continue operations throughout the period, and will hold events within the V&A as well as continuing development on its debut title Tick Tock Toys and other new games.

“To be appointed as the first ever V&A game designer in residence is a dream come true and an incredible recognition of everything I’ve worked so hard for – from Dare to be Digital, to winning a BAFTA, to releasing Tick Tock Toys,” said George.

“Computer games are an incredible artistic and creative medium that’s often overlooked, despite them blending elements of many traditional practices – including pure art, animation, character design, architectural design, music and much more.

“The V&A is leading the way by embracing computer games as a creative activity and by opening up its collection for interpretation by a game designer. It’s a huge challenge, but one I absolutely can’t wait to get started on.”

V&A residency coordinator Ruth Lloyd added: “We are delighted that Sophia George has been selected. Sophia has endless creative ideas for developing new work in response to the collections and for an exciting public programme.

"We think this will let game designers know that the V&A are seriously interested in their craft, engage a new public in this important industry and explore how our collections can be used for creative game design research.”