Assignment 2

For the second assignment, we were told to choose our own group members and create a country together. We had to come up with the general idea, whether realistic or fantasy, and had to combine efforts to make a country (or at least, create the concept of one) that we all liked.

The first task was to combine all of our 'my desired country' mindmaps from the first assignment to see what characteristics overlap.

My group decided on a fantasy-based country with a Greek mythology theme, that one Greek god would oversee one industry or job in the country. There are many mythical beings there that live amongst humans.

Our country is called Adrestria.

Then, we had to decide the location and geography of our country. Since it's fantasy-based, we decided to go with an island and built lore around it.

We took the map of Hanga Roa to use as the base for the shape.

Then, we had to come up with a timeline to explain the history of our country.

Since it's based on Greek mythology, the history of the country dates back all the way to 1200 BCE.

This was when the creativity needed increased even more. We had to come up with significant landmarks in the country, and that was difficult since it's fictional.

We decided to play into the 'fountain of youth' trope as the main attraction, and then used common city buildings.

Since there are many species of creatures in Adrestria, the culture was interesting to come up with.

Each species have different traditions, eat different foods, believe in different gods, celebrate different dates etc.

In this slide, we had to determine all the national symbols and icons of the country.

We tried to choose colours, animals and a flower with good meanings that represented the country well. The sports are specifically chosen to suit the population as well.

For nature, we described the terrain of the island and the natural landmarks as well.

Places like the mystical waterfall, the crystal cave and Mount Olympus are all part of what makes the island Adrestria. Of course, the beaches surrounding the island and the ground and landscape of the island all play a part in that too.

The population slide was interesting. The island having all these different species was one of the first ideas brought to the table that we all liked.

After we settled on the Greek theme, we managed to link different gods to different industries the island covers. Therefore, this entire slide is filled with early ideas that we enjoyed coming up with and laughing together about.

A combination of modern and olden transportation methods - that was our idea. Of course, we had to mix in some fantasy in the form of pegasi and flying buses.

We further modernised the already modern vehicles like cars and decided to turn drones into forms of transportation as well, all to cater to the many creatures living in Adrestria.

Now, we had to section out the island for different purposes. These are all strategic.

The industrial and agricultural areas are on the borders to have easy access to water. The human and centaur's living areas are on the borders for the same reason.

And we also had a separate smaller island for the criminals and fountain of youth.

This is the more complete outline of the map, with icons and a legend.

Here, Adrestria is completely mapped out and the buildings, terrain, landmarks etc. are marked with pictures like a real fantasy map. A beautiful and bustling fantasy country comes as close to life as possible.

Of course, the last thing every country needs is a flag and a slogan.

By using some of the national symbols we decided on, and the overall theme, idea and concept of the country, we created the Adrestia flag and saying.

The last slide is simply to describe the elements of the flag and lay them out.

Meanings were given to even the simplest of icons, and the country was complete.

And that is Adrestia, the country of magic and Greek mythology, created as a collaboration between classmates.

Reflection

Group work has never been my forte. This assignment was therefore quite tricky for me, since I'm the type to prefer things a certain way but I also don't like confrontation. I also know nothing about Greek mythology, so I felt I couldn't contribute much to the overall slides. I'm just glad I managed to inspire some of the group mates and have fun with them. Not my favourite assignment personally, but I like fantasy, so that gives it bonus points.