branding
visual layout
ux/ui
visual layout
ux/ui
roles
game designer, art director, visual designer, package designer, copywriter
tools
Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Figma, Google Suite
timeframe
18 weeks
collaborators
Everett Lawson (game co-creator)
origin
In 2016, after visiting a local boardgame shop, my friend Everett and I challenged ourselves to come up with an original game. We had a concept within the hour and began creating content that evening.
In 2023, I chose to revisit the game as a personal project, branding and developing it for public play-testing and a crowd-funding campaign.
instruction booklet
use case
Upon entering design school, I came across Creativity Workout by Edward de Bono, and felt the game had the same potential for exercising creative muscles.
I experienced and witnessed the pressure felt by many students during design sprints and brainstorming sessions. Through the game, players learn to shut off pesky filters and become more comfortable quickly getting ideas out of their system, preparing them to be more spontaneous and creative whenever they find themselves on the spot.
The game is designed to keep the experience quick and fun, while being challenging enough that everyone is likely to create something absurd.
game layout
the setup
Each round sees the inception of a special venture based on two elements—a “Distinct Detail” and a “Basic Business”—combining into a Client, such as a money laundering hobby shop.
the challenge
Each Firm is tasked with creating a name for this exquisite corp. and a slogan to match, but the challenge lies in accommodating a special request from the Client, their “Stubborn Stance”—terms each Firm needs to include in their slogan, such as “betcha,” “tingling,” or “quench.”
packaging exterior
Game Development
original prototype from 2016
origin
The game was originally conceived of and populated by myself and my friend, Everett, around 2016. It's original name was Slogan! and one copy of a basic prototype was printed out in order to play amongst ourselves.
example round of game from original prototype
accessibility
The rebranding project started with creating a visual system that could accommodate the broadest audience. Brand colors and basic shapes were chosen to help distinguish the different card types from one another.
renaming
The name was changed to give the game a greater sense of impromptu whimsy. Inspired by the parlor game, exquisite corpse, where people blindly contribute parts to create a monster, ExquisiteCORPS. creates the same absurd creature in business form for players to create fun names and slogans.
problem
How might we express the imperfections of brain-storming in a fun way, while creating clear visual cues to the gamer?
The early stages of rebranding used shapes that felt too neat and perfect for a game that forces you to embrace imperfections. The similarities in layout between the three different card types also did not assist in intuitively setting up a round of the game.
solution
In order to create a visual system that aided in game mechanics and gave a sense of low-stakes fun, I strategically placed shapes to guide players in game setup, while using textures and rough edges to keep the visual tone casual and imperfect.
