Mind Islands

Global – Illustrator Carl Burton has released a digital project that encourages mind-wandering and embraces the mundane.

• The game, Islands, is now out on iOS, PC and Mac, and takes about an hour to complete
• Burton has focused on transit spaces such as car parks that people often ignore

It is hard to find downtime in the digital age. Our communication-saturated lives leave little room for the mundane, but consumers are now hankering for respite, and brands are starting to latch on to the power of providing a breathing space. See our recent brand case study Halt for more on how downtime can provide powerful moments of connection.

The same thinking lies behind Carl Burton’s latest digital project Islands. I refer to it as a digital project rather than a game because Islands deliberately eschews the over-stimulation we associate with that media format. Users encounter seemingly mundane locations and situations such as car parks, ATM machines and escalators, which turn into surreal experiences as the user interacts.

Islands fits into a growing interest in mindlessness, as opposed to mindfulness, where people are embracing the power of mind-wandering and procrastination rather than the more earnest quest for being present.