The Gaming Alcove

Gaming Alcoves Project Overview

I was asked to help brand two spaces in the Activities and Recreation Center for students to game. The Gaming Alcoves and my design provides a user experience through narrative, world building and branding.

Position:

Media, Marketing, and Graphic Design

University of Washington

Deliverables:
Graphic Design
Branding

Design Duration:
September 2021 - Present

Logo and Branding

First Meeting
I chatted with Ryan and Jasmine who work in the ARC and they requested branding for the gaming area along with a logo. They requested it have a family friendly feel and try to include the ARC colors in the logo. After the meeting, I sent them these thumbnail designs to see which would work best for them. Ryan got back to me and he liked option 2 and 6.

Second Meeting
Ryan and I met a second time to finalize which ones we like. I advocated for option number one because it had the most family friendly feel while the blue background is consistent with the gaming alcove space because of the blue in this space. I offered to make it a darker blue because Ryan had wanted a "Pac-Man Dark Mode" mood for the logo. Option 6 to me gives off Cyber-Punk vibes and that isn't necessarily family friendly and doesn't seem to fit the tone Ryan wants to portray.

Mood boards and References
These I used to reference through the rest of this process. I haven't done much pixel art before and I wanted to see how other artists approach it and what works.

Third Meeting
After the second meeting, I wanted to take a couple tries with the logo design. I did this while referencing other pixel art and attempting to make a certain theme come across. I defended my design in an email:
I believe the bottom right version is cleanest and the most effective logo design. I used the green and orange to contrast the dark blue background for the dark mode feel, and the ARC blue corners make it feel clean and pixely.

Meeting Notes

User Personas and Scenarios

Katie Brown

New user of the Gaming Alcove - insecure, friend oriented, goal is to create closer connections with friends

Saw a poster at UWB for the gaming alcove in the ARC and decided to spend time with friends there after class

Goes to the ARC and sees the gaming alcove. Notices the poster with available games and chats with friends about the games and sees the poster on how to use the alcove. She now knows to go to the front desk to get the game she wants. She goes to get the game and plays with friends.

William Smith

Long Term User of Gaming alcove

Goes to ARC on the regular with friends to play games and socialize

WIlliam goes to the ARC with his close friends and notices new posters on the walls. He sees the poster with available games and realizes there’s a lot more than he thought they had. William and his friends discover a new game and begin playing. They then see the rules poster for the alcove and see they should limit their game time to two hours. They choose to get off the games at two hours to honor the next group who wants to play. They see the game board poster, which William had forgotten the ARC provided. He decided that next time he would challenge his friends to a board game.