Design Exploration - Projects
24/08/20 - 23/11/20 (Week 1 - 14)Azmina Fathima Haris (0337113)
Design Exploration
Projects
INSTRUCTIONS
Week 1
24/08/20
After our first lecture this week, I started discussing ideas with my teammates Aaron and Nur. Looking at the brief provided by WHO, we were leaning more towards Kindness contagion and Do more, Donate as our key messages. But, we felt mental health was a growing concern this year considering isolation under social distancing protocols. Gen-Z and the younger Millennial population was the target audience we decided to focus on and we considered the idea of a game that might help with their mental health and help to relax and adjust more to the new normal.
Week 2
31/08/20
We continued working on our proposal this week, but we were finding ourselves in a bit of a limbo as we couldn't think of achievable ways to solve this problem. It was rather troubling that we were two weeks into the module and we hadn't thought of any ideas yet.
Week 3
7/09/20
After looking at online games that I've played before, a Google Doodle from a few years ago stood out to me and I suggested this to my teammates. We looked into how the game could be re-branded and made more relevant to our topic. We looked at the different visuals we could portray and thought this would definitely be something that Gen-Z and millennials would be interested in if it's humorous and relatable.
When we consulted with Ms Anis, she said the idea sounded promising but we could also look into how this can be turned into reality and if there any organisations that would support our cause. So we looked into NGOs and charities based in Malaysia that held fundraisers for Covid. We found the following organisations might be appropriate for our game – Simply Giving, Give Asia campaign, Kita Fund and NGOhub. We decided to go with Kita Fund and NGO hub as our associated organisations.
As for our art direction, we would have to finalise it quickly within the upcoming week and find references for our visuals and applications as well.
Week 4
14/09/20
This week we started conducting our interviews for our primary research. We conducted 7 interviews in total, and our candidates were all between the ages of 15 - 20 but we also interviewed some essential workers to get a better understanding of the protocols and how there life and work has been affected since then. With our data (interviews) we developed the following 3 personas of targeted users for our final outcome.
We also began sketching out ideas for the cards and noting down possible visuals we could illustrate. We also developed our project timeline and mapped out how we would divide tasks for the project.
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| Project Gantt chart |
As for the game, Aaron started looking into ways we could execute it in Unity. For the game's UI we wanted to keep it simple so that the cards would have more of an emphasis and would stand out better. We felt it was better to follow a similar layout to Loteria. I found the following references that could work.
https://digitory.me/
For our wireframe, I came up with a rough one and Aaron worked on the flowchart for our game.
Week 6
28/09/20
This week we continued working on our cards, and produced nine in total. We decided to consult the progress with each other on a fixed day and make sure to complete all the amendments by the following monday. My progress for the cards this week (sanitiser, dalgona coffee and sleeping in) –
Week 7
5/10/20
This week I continued working on the cards and picked the following themes – balcony musicians, cooking, video games. I also started working on the website this week, while Aaron continued developing the game in Unity.
Week 8
12/10/20
I illustrated the following 3 cards for this week – check in on your friends, Tiktok challenges and Stay Home. The first card required quite a bit of revising and cleaning up as my teammates commented it wasn't too clear what it was about.
Unfortunately, Aaron told us that he was facing some issues in Unity and the coding for the game might be more complicated than he anticipated initially. We immediately looked into other options we could for the game and decided to make it an actual one with complete packaging and game parts. We began researching about what would be included in a Loteria box and how we could make it different.
Week 9
19/10/20
I chose to do the following cards – plague doctor, reading and an EMT.
Considering what Ms Anis said to us this week regarding our plan to switch over to the offline game, we began sketching out ideas for the packaging and figuring out the layout and arrangements for the product.
We came up with the following wireframe with measurements for the packaging, which will comprise of a box, tray and lid, similar to a board game's packaging.
The tray would contain the game cards, instructions (card can be taken out) and markers (which we haven't decided on yet) and the lid would contain a holder for the 20 tablets or tablas. We felt it was best to keep the tablets separate so the tray doesn't look too cluttered. Since we had ample room left in the box, we felt it was important to include some more information about the game's supporting organisations as well.
Week 10
26/10/20
Ms Madina approved our packaging ideas this week and she said it looked good so far. Since we're not doing the virtual game anymore, we had to reassign the tasks left for the project. Since I'm more familiar working with packaging, I decided to focus on that and stopped working on the website, which was handed over to Aaron. Nur would work on the tablets and the instructions for the game.
Meanwhile, we continued our work on the cards and it was good to know we had only a few more left to go. These were my cards for the week – netflix binge, Covid vaccine, and a nurse with a temperature gun.
Week 11
2/11/20
This week, I worked on my final set of cards of the deck – online learning, cancelled plans and one special card for NGO hub, one of our organisations. As Ms Anis had told us earlier, this illustration would also be featured on the website.
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| Process of illustrating the card in Ai |
We also decided on what to regarding the markers this week and decided against using whiteboard markers or chalk. Instead we decided to make coins or chips, similar to those used in poker and mahjong. We thought it would be nice to include some key elements/characters from our illustrations and chose to feature the following –
I also came up with a few design for the lid of the box. I wanted to feature the frontliners from our cards on the lid as I felt this whole game was dedicated to them and did it in the form a Zoom interface as it was recurring theme of this year as a whole.
Lid's design – I tried out a few different options and played around with the arrangement.
Variations for the back of the box –
My teammates commented that it looked good, very legit, but the yellow one was very vintage and gave this feeling of old Chinese board games – which made a lot of sense. I decided to go with a simpler logo instead because I felt the dual toned logo was what added that flavour to it. They felt the dark blue looked better and had more contrast as well. Aaron suggested trying out some arrangements for the zoom interface on the lid.
Week 12
9/11/20
This week we finalised the packaging with Ms Anis and everything was ready to print. Aaron continued working on the website's second page which was the buy now page and the gallery to include all the cards. We also added titles for the cards.
Week 13
16/11/20
Complete deck of cards –
Back of card –
Game tablets (x20) -
Instructions -
Card markers -
Game mode cards (front and back) -
Packaging -
Link to website - I Belanja You lah
Link to our Miro board
Week 14 - Final presentation
23/11/20
FEEDBACK
Week 3
Week 3
Idea sounds promising and very interesting so far. Look into how the game can be funded and if there are any organisations in Malaysia that would support the game in helping the frontliners. Also consider whether the game should be virtual or an actual one.
Week 4
Prior to our interviews, Ms Anis said we should gauge the interviewees' level of understanding/perspective on the pandemic (maybe we can ask if they agree and are following the protocols e.g wear masks, social distancing etc.) and their thoughts on the situation. For our card's design the visual communication should be straightforward and give the users an effective understanding of the cards. Week 4
Week 5
It's good that we have a solid idea of what needs to be done. But Ms. Anis was a little concerned about completing all 54 cards and whether we'd be able to finish it in time and suggested bringing down the number to 48. She was also rather concerned about the functionality of the game and whether it would be achievable in Unity. In conclusion, our proposal looks great so far, but we need to plan our project more carefully and put more thought into how we'll handle all these tasks parallely.
Week 6
Good progress on cards, looks nice so far. It's pretty self-explanatory what each one represents. Unity card shuffling also looks good.
Week 7
Week 7
On the right track, good progress for the game cards so far. Our cards look consistent so far, so that's good too. The UI for the game and website is good, well thought out – it allows the card design to stand out more.
Week 8
Week 8
On the right track, good progress for the game cards so far. Our cards look consistent so far, so that's good too. The UI for the game and website is good, well thought out – it allows the card design to stand out more. As for our supporting organisations, she said it would be nice to have illustrations for them rather than pictures on the website – these illustrations could be used for the cards as well.
Week 9
Good progress on cards, everything looks consistent so far. But regarding the switching to the physical game, Ms Anis said the project would be much more substantial and there would be lots more work to do within last few weeks. We were told to look into the packaging more and see how to make it more functional rather than a simple box. We should also consider other things that would be included in the packaging for the game. Ms Anis reminded us that we should include the characters and elements from our game cards as well.
As for the website, we could keep it as is and simply add a buy now option for people to buy the game in a different page.
Week 10
Since Ms Anis didn't join us in class this week, we consulted our progress with Ms Madina. She said the cards look great and the design is very consistent. As for our plans regarding the packaging, she said the arrangement and sketches look fine and we have a good plan so far.
Week 11
We didn't get much feedback this week. Everything is progressing as planned.Week 12
This week, we confirmed our packaging and checked everything with Ms Anis. The content looks good. She said the dark blue looks better than yellow. As for the logo, she said she prefers the topsy turvy one as it would work better across our applications. Regarding the card markers, she said it would be better if we went with the chips rather than the markers or chalk. In conclusion, good progress, we're pretty much there. Week 13
No feedback this week. Confirmed on presentation date for next week.
Week 14
After our final presentation this week, Miss Madina commented that design-wise everything looks good and aesthetically pleasing, and the website looks impressive too, good job! The only comment is that we should have informed her about the technical problems so we could have sorted that out, but good job on coming up with a plan B and finishing it on time!
After our final presentation this week, Miss Madina commented that design-wise everything looks good and aesthetically pleasing, and the website looks impressive too, good job! The only comment is that we should have informed her about the technical problems so we could have sorted that out, but good job on coming up with a plan B and finishing it on time!
Miss Anis said our illustrations look great and the aesthetic and style is very fitting. Website looks very good too and it's impressive that we were able to switch over to the physical game and finish everything quickly
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