“congratulations,”
reads the game
card, “you have been awarded a
government start-up grant.”
Question is: how are you going to
spend the cash? Will you plough it
into opening up an art-space cum
trendy coffee bar or, perhaps, by
purchasing a new fashion boutique
by the canal? But remember: if you
go bankrupt, it’s all over.
Welcome to ’De Wallen’, the board game that we’ve
invented to front up our cover story on Amsterdam’s
fast-changing red light district. This once-notorious locale in
the heart of the Dutch capital has in recent years welcomed
a swathe of new hipster-friendly businesses, bringing a dose
of respectability and chic cred to the area. We were there
this month to meet the people who are making this happen,
transforming X-rated video stores and dodgy dens of iniquity
into record shops and buzzy bistros – and that’s very much
the aim of our imaginary game.
Sounds simple
enough, though for
illustrator Mitch Blunt
bringing our idea to life
presented a series of
creative challenges. “It
was very different from
my usual process,” he
explains. “Not only did
we have to come up
with a board that
looked like it could
really work, but it also had to work as a magazine cover too,
so it needed to be very readable and easily photographed.”
The 29-year-old Brit, who’s based in west Germany,
started young – he used to sell drawings of dinosaurs to
other kids in school for tuck-shop money – but today his
skills are put to good use by
The New York Times
,
Esquire
and
Play time
This month’s easyJet Traveller cover is yet another first for us – a board
game that actually works
Wired
, among others. This, however, is the first board game
he’s invented – not to mention the first time he’s done
anything on the ‘Dam.
I’ve never been to Amsterdam before so I had to do a lot of
research. I came up with the idea of using the neon signs they
have there as inspiration for some of the squares of the board.”
It took Blunt about a week to finish our cover, which is a
serious luxury when you compare it to some of his more
recent jobs. “I’ve been working recently for newspapers and
you’re lucky if you have more than five hours on something,”
he says. “It really forces you to think on your feet and go in a
direction that you perhaps wouldn’t have thought of before.
It’s pretty addictive.”
See more at
mitchblunt.com
M A K I N G O F
T H E C O V E R
01
03
02
WINNING FORMULA
01
A first rough sketch of
our game board
02
The game cards begin
to take shape
03
Playing the finished
game – let’s roll!
WORDS
SIMON KURS
PHOTOS
LIZ MCBURNEY
PLUS
35 BEST BRUNCHES
/
MARVIN GAYE’S OSTEND
/
MEET THE BREATH GURU
THE
REGENERATION
GAME
FromX-rated
toX factor–
whyAmsterdam’s
red lightdistrict
isonawinning roll
A MAGAZINE FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO TRAVEL SMART
MARCH 2014
FREE TO TAKE HOME
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