Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: The Board Game
By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 1, 2011 7:00PM
If there's one character populating the imagination of Chicagoland who would know what to do with a day off, it's Ferris Bueller. But how can one make the most of a day off work when snowed in by the impending blizzard? A Ferris Bueller's Day Off board game, obviously.
Maxim Dalton, an illustrator based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, used a handsome retro-inspired design style to turn the plot of the movie into a conventional board game. We asked him about this project in advance of its premiere next Friday.
Q: How did the idea of a Ferris Bueller's Day Off board game come about?
It just popped out while I was sleeping. Most of my ideas appear that way. Unfortunately, only 0.5% of them make sense and are usable.
Q: Is it meant to be played and if so, have you played it? Which player piece do you like to be?
What I like the most about this print is that you can have the choice to cut the players on the side and play with them or just frame the print and hang it on your wall. Tough decision, isn’t it? I played it once with a mockup just to see if it works. I chose, of course, Ferris. He’s the one with the rabbit foot and also makes out with Sloane.
Q: Have you ever been to Chicago? Would you say that your mental geography of the city owes anything to watching Ferris Bueller?
I’ve never been to Chicago yet, but it's on my list. Sure Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has a lot of responsibility on my idea of the city. But also movies like The Blues Brothers or Home Alone, another John Hughes’ success.
Q: Was it a challenge at all to marry such iconographically 80s movie to that retro aesthetic that I see in your other work, knowingly evoking 50s and 60s illustration?
Yes, in some level. But I always try to mix modern iconography with that old fashioned style. Is that what makes it attractive to me when I draw.
Q: You mentioned having a short run of smaller copies of the game available during the show. Is there any way for those of us who can't make it to Santa Monica on Feb. 11 to get ahold of one?
Sure, everyone who wants a copy should visit the gallery’s site www.nineteeneightyeight.com. Prints will be available right after the opening (Febuary 11).