Felt gaming
Branding & Interaction design for a white labeled gaming company
Situation
We were initially briefed to provide interfaces for a gaming company that wanted to move from their white labelled solution into a product they could market themselves. The challenge came when it was clear we had no brand assets to use, so had to create some ourselves. This led to some really enjoyable work looking at how we created a brand that stood out in a competitive market-place.
What we did
Logo development
The following logos were developed based on a direction that looked at using retro-americana as a theme. We wanted to move the creative direction away from the gaudy and distractive aesthetics of competitors in the market and lean on the feeling of the ‘big easy’, or ‘swingers’ lifestyle aesthetic connected with gaming.
Typography
The typographic direction was chosen to look at a legible, updated aesthetic of retro-americana. The client was made aware of cost implications of licensing these fonts for the app, but we felt they would really add to the brand being distinctive in their space.
Gaming badges
These badges were developed to be used to differentiate between different types of games and have the chance to explore expanding the brand aesthetic and interjecting personality into future interfaces.
Card designs
A designers dream to tackle a design that has lasted from the 9th century; lasting the test of time with it’s immediate and effective design. For our take on playing cards we wanted to try something distinctive without taking away from the immediacy. We were also conscious that the cards would have to work at smaller scales so wanted to dial up the simplicity.
Chip design
Loading screens
Loading screens provided an opportunity to introduce the user to the brand and often would be there first experience of gaming with Felt. We wanted to lean heavily on the feeling of lifestyle. How it would feel to be a gamer if you are a felt user. Our direction was to lean on some of the swinging, rat-pack, Americana lifestyle with themes like New York at night, dark panelled hotel lobbies, cocktails in a jazz club etc. In our loading screens we suggested to depth of field imagery with cinema-graph animations to bring subtle elements of the picture to life with movement.
Interface development
Brand elements were then introduced into the interface design and really set the direction of the work. The interface design concentrated on optimising the experience for tablet and touch, by putting buttons in hotspots for click interactions and making sure all elements were optimised for touch sizing. We also zoned the focus of the play into the centre of the interface.
Project team
Agency/Client: Else
My role: Senior designer
Team members:
Andry Ratovondrahon (Senior designer)
Andy Moore (Creative Director)
Warren Hutchinson (Producer)