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Roles
Visual Design
Branding
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Deliverables
Branding and Identity
Visual Design
Digital Mockup
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Specs
Duration
4 Days
Tools
Google Suite
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe In-Design
Adobe Photoshop
Clip Studio Paint
Problem
The client, Twogether Studios, developed a simple storytelling game featuring cats and needed branding and visual design for their product.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.