Happy Birthday!

For my project, I wanted to create an experience that inhibited surprise along with the "WTF" or uncomfortable factor added. Through doing this, I created a scenery that seems to be very inviting and happy.

I went for the motif of pink and white because it seemed very innocent and invoked a feeling of happiness, while still being festive. There were also pink and white streamers that were hung, but I took them down before I took the picture. 

The box on the table is very inviting, with a cute note that asks the participant to open it in a script font. I had my mother help me wrap the box because she is much better at doing these sorts of things, and I knew she would make it look cute. 

When you first open the box, the tissue paper is covering the actual present inside so you have to touch the paper and move it around. It's putting another layer of excitement and anticipation to the gift and adding another layer of effort to open the prize. 

However, once you open the box and move all of the paper out of the way, the prize to be revealed is 74 wriggly and disgusting meal worms. I chose two sizes to work with because the larger size is much more active than the smaller ones. It is a huge contrast against the entire atmosphere of the setting and makes the participant's emotional reaction go from excited and happy to  disgusted, uncomfortable, what the fuck, and all sorts of those feelings.

I'd say that my overall response from all of my participants were ideal because in the end, all but one regretted actually opening the box as they got something they neither expected, nor wanted.