Need to Know
16 : 11 : 21

Switzerland – As gaming becomes a significant part of everyday life, British-Tunisian digital artist Rayane Jemaa is challenging Western depictions of Middle Eastern and North African cultures in violent war games.

With his graduate project Is This The Middle East? the artist scrutinises the hackneyed stereotypes and harmful inaccuracies that underpin many games set in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. As video games often serve as players’ first encounter with a culture, these Orientalist stereotypes can strengthen negative perceptions and increase prejudice.

‘I realised that the majority of games set in the MENA region are inherently violent games and war games. Even if it is not implicitly stated, we’ll find clichés and stereotypes to remind us that we are in fact in the Arab world or the Middle East.’

Striving for a future in which video games take greater accountability for the depiction of certain cultures, Jemaa’s work highlights the need to address the triggering nature of these games and invites brands to find positive cultural uses for them instead. To learn more about the future of gaming, read our Gaming series on LS:N Global.

The Netherlands – Design studio Raw Color is capturing complex climate data through colourful knitted textiles. The project, Temperature Textiles, covers temperature change, sea level rise and carbon emissions – three main drivers and results of global warming. Featuring blankets, scarves and socks, the collection uses graphs and colours to denote this climate data.

The collection’s Sea Level Blanket, for example, illustrates the observed and predicted sea level rise from 2000 to 2100, while the socks portray the rise from 2020 until 2050. Presented during Cop26 and Dutch Design Week, the collection uses engaging design mechanisms to communicate complex data and prompt viewers to find out more information about climate-related issues.

Here, Raw Color showcases how familiar visual mediums can be used as tools to effectively raise awareness and prompt action from consumers. While the climate crisis is generally presented as an intangible topic, it’s important for brands and organisations to distill complex and frightening information into accessible formats.

According to the 2021 edition of the annual Waitrose Food & Drink Report, social media is having a growing impact on British dining habits – particularly among Generation Z. The research reveals that 27% of 18–24-year-olds post food pictures on social media daily.

Meanwhile, three-quarters of all Gen Z said they looked at TikTok and Instagram for food inspiration during lockdown, while one in 12 people posted a picture of their ‘tablescaped’ meal setting on social media – or sent a picture to a friend – in the days leading up to the survey. ‘These platforms are the way that people express themselves and share ideas and enjoyment. Food on these platforms is creative, exciting and fast-moving,’ says James Bailey, partner and executive director at Waitrose.

Platforms like TikTok have a major influence on food and drink trends. For brands, there's a significant opportunity to team up with media companies and social media apps to combine the pleasures of food and entertainment.