UX/UI Design
Concept ideation, wireframes, design comps, and a fully functional interactive mobile game using After Effects, Photoshop, and Microsoft Expression Blend.
Creative Direction
Led the vision of a globetrotting gumshoe, hunting for vampires in a 1940s setting to avenge your Grandfather’s murder.
Sound Editing
Selected the music for the game and edited the sound FX for the gameplay as well as the cinematics.
Narrative Cinematics
2.5D graphic novel motion graphics using Microsoft Expression Blend / Silverlight to tell Alexa’s story.
Creative Writing
Worked with Todd Imus, assisting in fleshing out the story and helping write the script for the character exchanges during vampire encounters.
Marketing / Branding
Graphic design assets for the Apple Store and social media channels in one cohesive strategy.
ALEXA'S ALWAYS ONE STAKE AHEAD OF THE GUMSHOES
Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego Meets Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Leadership at 3G Studios was interested in taking the gameplay mechanic of players globe trotting as they test their geolocation and cultural knowledge and put a fresh new wrapper around it that captivates them.
ART ASSETS & MOTION
UI ELEMENTS
__________
As a big fan of Art Deco, I was very excited to leverage the iconic architecture and art style of the late 1930s / early 1940s, while also incorporating vampiric, gothic undertones to recognizable Art Deco shapes. The dialogue box has the shape of a coffin, the clock’s minute hand décor includes batwings, crescent moons, and the shape of a stake at the tip, the clock’s hour hand contains the shape of a hanging bat with the shape of a stake at the tip, the logo shape, which I built in 3DS Max, was inspired after the old classic cinema marquees of the time while also taking on the general shape of a cross, and the headshot frame (another 3D asset I built in 3DS Max) includes a geometric city skyline representing the various locations containing the folks you talk to, sharp pieces that resemble both electric antennae as well as the shape of stakes and the conduit connection pieces at the bottom that look like fangs, while also completing the letter “V” conspicuously hiding behind the headshot frame, but becoming apparent once the player discovers it.
__________
UI VISUAL DESIGN
MENU SCREENS
__________
Working with Jace Stark, we tackled the UI layout and art for the various menu screens.
__________
TAKING A BITE OUT OF THE 1940s
Art Deco Style
The iconic Art Deco style helped define the Metropolis age, ushering in symmetrical geometric shapes, gradient colors, sharp lines, and a glamorous decadence that ushered in an inspirational, civilizational optimism of manifesting a version of the future into the present.
ARCHITECTURE, POSTERS, & FASHION
REFERENCE
__________
As I gathered reference material, I found there is a certain mystique quality that sits just under the surface of its grand splendor that is ripe to use as a vehicle for storytelling. The architecture, graphic art, and fashion of that period complimented each other, culminating into a homogenous, bold decadence. Working with Ryan Cullins, who was the Art Director, we decided to leverage the geometric patterns, gradient colors, and the silhouette sensibilities that make Art Deco so iconic.
__________
ART OUTSOURCING
ART DECO STYLE CITIES
__________
GAME EXPERIENCE
THE GAME LOOP
__________
Chasing vampires all over the world presented fun opportunities to feature exotic locales as well as native citizens to gain valuable clues from, in addition to a cast of diverse blood suckers who each revealed aspects of their unique past. Our game loop consisted of receiving a vampire case from Watson at the HQ, successfully guessing the correct geolocations based on the provided trivia clues, catching a vampire within the allotted time, receive a narrative cinematic providing more information as a reward, and dispatching the vampire before returning back to HQ for your next assignment.
__________
MOTION GRAPHICS EXAMPLES
NARRATIVE CINEMATICS
__________
Having the requirement of the entire game be no larger than 10MB forced us to be very strategic with how to approach art assets. We wanted a narrative driven game experience, but we didn’t have the storage space to insert multiple pre-rendered videos. A solution was found with having the Art department illustrate a single composition for each story beat and then I arranged the separate layers inside Microsoft Expression Blend to give it a cinematic quality.
Our Story Begins 3:03
“Watson…who…who could have done this to my Grandfather?”
Encounter 2:46
“Oh, you’ve caught one. They’re easy to deal with, once you have the correct implements.”
MUSIC & SFX EXAMPLES
SOUND EDITING
__________
Recent Comments