This project is a bit of a older project, since this was done last year. However, I only recently applied mock ups and got granted permission from the client to post these designs.
So a bit of background - This project started in mid to late 2016, where I worked with other university students, 4 students in fact, and we worked together with a client in Morley, Perth. This client's name was Glenn, and he is a game developer who creates his own escape games - the type of escape games you can immerse yourself. How do I describe it..? It's not the type of escape game you play on the computer or through a screen, but rather you, are put in a room with your friends and you have to figure out some puzzles to get out of the room. It's a real life type of experience. Perhaps to be more accurate, it is more like if you were to pay for a rollercoaster in an amusement park or an experience in a haunted house, this one, you pay for the experience of trying to escape from an themed escape room.
When we met Glenn, he let us experience his escape room, which was Egyptian-themed tomb. It was enjoyable, challenging, and definitely something unforgettable. His next room, he was planning to have it sci-fi themed, this would be our next project.
In this project, we worked together with Glenn to create game props, puzzle ideas and help him design the next escape room.
For me in particular, I worked on the spaceship logo and access card roles, the roles different players can immerse themselves in. I had to brainstorm a few different roles and think of a few different ideas for the spaceship. Glenn wanted a grungy, a bit old-school type of spaceship yet seem "cool"? (an unhelpful word when designing things, is to use the word cool. What does a client mean when they say they want a design that's cool?)
So a bit of background - This project started in mid to late 2016, where I worked with other university students, 4 students in fact, and we worked together with a client in Morley, Perth. This client's name was Glenn, and he is a game developer who creates his own escape games - the type of escape games you can immerse yourself. How do I describe it..? It's not the type of escape game you play on the computer or through a screen, but rather you, are put in a room with your friends and you have to figure out some puzzles to get out of the room. It's a real life type of experience. Perhaps to be more accurate, it is more like if you were to pay for a rollercoaster in an amusement park or an experience in a haunted house, this one, you pay for the experience of trying to escape from an themed escape room.
When we met Glenn, he let us experience his escape room, which was Egyptian-themed tomb. It was enjoyable, challenging, and definitely something unforgettable. His next room, he was planning to have it sci-fi themed, this would be our next project.
In this project, we worked together with Glenn to create game props, puzzle ideas and help him design the next escape room.
For me in particular, I worked on the spaceship logo and access card roles, the roles different players can immerse themselves in. I had to brainstorm a few different roles and think of a few different ideas for the spaceship. Glenn wanted a grungy, a bit old-school type of spaceship yet seem "cool"? (an unhelpful word when designing things, is to use the word cool. What does a client mean when they say they want a design that's cool?)
Above, is only the few designs sketches I did for the logo and access card ideas. Since Glenn wasn't very specific or a bit vague about what he wanted, the best way was to narrow it down. We came to see Glenn every few weeks, or fortnights, to check up on the designs and what he thinks, and slowly narrow down to what he likes. Below, I wasted a lot of time doing so many variations of the logo, I just went a bit back and forth since I was trying to be open to suggestions on improving the logo design. So I experimented and created many variations of the logo, however, looking back now, I think I didn't have to do so many. I think a few would have been ok, but I shouldn't dwell and do too many or otherwise, I end up wasting my time. Variations are interesting, but also a huge time waster is what I discovered throughout the process.
After the amount of variations, we ended up going with "H13". It was simple and the hexagon shape was dynamic and worked for the sci-fi theme. We thought the octagon Z looked a bit like Suzuki (the car brand)'s logo, so we wanted to avoid copyright.
Proceeding on, I had created even more variations for the access card prototypes, it was fun for a while but again, I wasted a lot of time playing around and thinking I was being productive, but really, I could have moved on. At one point I did feel like there was a final design for each role, but then I also wanted to show that I could make more variations since I didn't feel confident with myself or my design skills at the time.
Proceeding on, I had created even more variations for the access card prototypes, it was fun for a while but again, I wasted a lot of time playing around and thinking I was being productive, but really, I could have moved on. At one point I did feel like there was a final design for each role, but then I also wanted to show that I could make more variations since I didn't feel confident with myself or my design skills at the time.
After a group discussion, I narrowed it down further with a "final options" file, and had made changes previously.
So I've shown so much process work, where is the final designs? They're coming!
Something else I haven't included was that I made a fonts collection which was used to help the client chose suitable fonts for the room, but I did not include it, since I think this project is already so busy. (Just thinking of the viewers seeing the amount of variations and process work I've uploaded. It's crazy, but I want to show the journey it has taken to get to the final results.)
Something else I haven't included was that I made a fonts collection which was used to help the client chose suitable fonts for the room, but I did not include it, since I think this project is already so busy. (Just thinking of the viewers seeing the amount of variations and process work I've uploaded. It's crazy, but I want to show the journey it has taken to get to the final results.)
So these designs were the chosen designs, but not the final colours. The colours just helped in categorising the roles, and showing the client the possibilities. They were originally in CMYK but since going through Behance, it's showing you the RGB colours.
I want to give credit to Harry, the other designer in my group, he helped to align the logo and access card icons that I made, and this helped in presentation. I wasn't very skilled at aligning but I was able to learn many things from the other designers and cooperative design from working together as a team.
I want to give credit to Harry, the other designer in my group, he helped to align the logo and access card icons that I made, and this helped in presentation. I wasn't very skilled at aligning but I was able to learn many things from the other designers and cooperative design from working together as a team.
So these are the mocked up designs I applied. I did a background for the access cards as after the project (2016), I started working with Glenn again during December 2016, and still have been working together with Glenn on various components of his project. I only recently got his permission to post these designs for my portfolio. I, too, originally wanted to post just these images below, however, I also think that final designs are not shiny and final for a reason. I think that there is a journey to endure and adventure upon, before the final design is created, and that is what I've shown you in this collection so far. The journey though, was much more longer than what I've shown you, but I still wanted to present at least part of the journey because I wouldn't have been able to create the final design without the help of my team members, Joseph, Ann, Claudia, and Harry, the client himself, Glenn, and my unit lecturers.
Thank you for viewing this project! I know there was so many images to view and see, but I wanted to present my journey in this project. I still currently work with Glenn, because he needs help for his project, and I've worked on User Intereface design for his computer screen designs (which was coded, and came to life!) and worked on a few interface designs regarding keyboard interfaces, which he would apply in his escape room. Unfortunately I don't have permission for those yet, but thank you for taking the time to look at this project. I know the final design is more appealing to look at in a portfolio, but in my opinion, process work does so much more - it shows the "human" in the designer. There is much more soul, and more hard work put in a design than just the final, "cool", shiny design. I think the process work, on some level proves your hourly wage and your worth as a designer. The final design and output only shows you as perfect, but doesn't show what you have been through to get to that design.
I appreciate it you appreciate the project, and if there is any comments, please feel free to leave them here. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy going through this journey with me and continue supporting my development as a designer!
I appreciate it you appreciate the project, and if there is any comments, please feel free to leave them here. Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy going through this journey with me and continue supporting my development as a designer!
