Case Study

Action Cats

Action Cats is a fast-paced storytelling game about the secret life of cats.

Action Cats mockup
  • Roles section icon

    Roles


    Visual Design

    Branding

  • Deliverables section icon

    Deliverables


    Branding and Identity

    Visual Design

    Digital Mockup

  • Specifications section icon

    Specs


    Duration

    4 Days


    Tools

    Google Suite

    Adobe Illustrator

    Adobe In-Design

    Adobe Photoshop

    Clip Studio Paint

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Problem

The client, Twogether Studios, developed a simple storytelling game featuring cats and needed branding and visual design for their product.

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Solution

Through Kickstarter, Action Cats game was funded and produced as a fun, fast-paced storytelling game about the secret life of cats. The Kickstarter backers were invited to participate in the creation of the game by providing photos of their cats for the game’s cards.

Branding section icon

Branding

Sketched versions were conceptualized to determine which composition and layout would best meet the needs of the client.

The first set of concepts explored many different shapes and compositions as the client didn’t have a particular vision of what they wanted for the branding.

Action Cats logo sketches - v1

After the first set, the client narrowed down the feeling and shapes of the branding to some variation of concepts one and six. The following second set of concepts was developed to hone in on the final branding design.

Action Cats logo sketches - v2

In addition to the final set of sketches, some rough color comparisons were presented to give the client a better idea what what designs would look like with color.

Action Cats logo color comps

The client decided upon concept eight from the second sketch set and comp two for the colors, but with the modification of removing the cat eye look of the letter “o”. With this feedback, I moved on to the final logo design.

Action Cats logo
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Visual Design

The client provided a suggestion of cats with multiple thought bubbles about action hero type images. Again, sketched versions were conceptualized to determine which composition and layout would best meet the needs of the client. Likewise with the cards, several versions were presented to discover the best design for the product.

Action Cats box concepts
Action Cats cards concepts
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Final Design

The client liked the second concept but simplified. The background was removed from the logo and each cat was given a single thought bubble. The client also requested that the main cat look like a Blue Russian breed as those were the cats they had as pets. There was an experimentation by the client’s request to make the background of the main cat’s thought bubble yellow, but that had the expected unsanitary look. The client’s request was met and they agreed with my recommendation not to use the yellow background.

Action Cats box
Action Cats cards
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What I Learned

The game was a success and two additional expansion packs were designed by myself and released for this base game. Through this process, experimentation was key to finding the best design solution and to allow the client to see the reasoning behind the design decisions. Additionally, iteration through client feedback informed many of the design decisions further down the process and this full communication with the client along the way provided valuable creative exchanges while eliminating misunderstandings that may have delayed the design development and product production.