New Tacoma Design

Moving off Blogspot

2010-12-11T22:01:00.000-08:00

For all of my thousands of fans, followers, stalkers, charming cretins, and those less or more useful than a used post-it note...you know who you are...I'm going to cancel my blogspot account now that my new portfolio site is up. You can do all the same kind of stuff there that you can do here. The only difference is that because it's Wordpress I actually have some control over how it looks. I like control. I'm a freak for it.

So—in a week or so you can find me at www.newtacomadesign.com.

Cheers!
Pete

Armadillo Package

2010-10-09T21:19:00.001-07:00

I wanted to go back and fix the A is for Armadillo drawing and ended up creating a nice condom label.

Sketchbook

2010-09-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

B24 Liberator

2010-09-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm currently reading Stephen Ambrose's Wild Blue, an account of B24 crews in Italy during World War II. Like all of his books, it's very accessible and brings clarity to the experience by describing the time from almost entirely an ordinary soldier's point of view. This B24 was drawn from my enthusiasm for his book.

Abiosis Logos

2010-09-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

Fun, loose logo sketches for a metal band.

Game Concepting, pt.1

2010-08-16T11:18:00.000-07:00

A friend and I are cobbling together a little Flash game between our other projects. This is a recap of our progress so far.

The central mechanic is a simple racing game. The player drives a motorcycle avatar from point A to point B. The resistance is yet undetermined by it will likely be a combination of a time constraint and difficult terrain.

The avatar is composed of several parts. As the motorcycle travels over the ground contour, the wheels bounce up and down to mimic shock. Using key controls the player can tilt the driver forward and back to maintain balance and prevent crashes. To allow for this visual effect the bike is composed of three parts. The rear wheel is hinged to the chassis while the front wheel operates on a slide track.

Front Wheel

Chassis

Rear Wheel

The rider is similarly constructed to allow for a humanistic posture and movement. The limbs are each hinged at the appropriate places. The hands are hinged to the handlebars and the feet are hinged to the foot pegs. The graphics are likely to remain in a silhouette style so the lower leg may not be required.

Torso

Upper Arm

Lower Arm

Upper Leg

Lower Leg

A sketch was created to demonstrate the leaning and suspension ranges. You can see the subtle changes that occur when the player leans forward or backward. When the bike is airborne the suspension becomes fully extended.

An option was considered that introduced some kind of environmental sub-goals. This is common in this genre of game and they are often presented as abstracts...floating coins are typical. While this conceit will be fully evaluated later, the sketch helps frame the discussion.

Also present in the sketch below is the introduction of a mini-map. This provides information to the player so that they can plan for terrain that is not currently viewable in the playing area.

A shop and upgrade feature was considered. Below is a sketch of what that might look like. Collecting coins in the races would allow the player to buy performance improvements. Again, this is a traditional and common feature of these types of games.

No racing game is complete without a variety of tracks. Below is a sketch of what the track-selection screen might look like. The icons reflect how many uncollected coins are remaining on that track so that players can revisit previous tracks to increase their profits and buy additional performance upgrades. Some coins may not be available until a certain level of performance is achieved. This overlays a constraint that lengthens gameplay.

One interesting aspect of this sketch is the idea that some maps may not be available until an adjacent race was beaten. I like this idea because it affords some choices to the player. Choices are good.

Each race may also provide bonus coins for specific achievements. This provides a risk-benefit decision for the player; do they go for the flip bonus at the risk of crashing? Again, choices are good and create more compelling games.

In the sketch below we see that bonuses are offered for fast finish times, wheelies, flips, air time, and collecting all the coins. The big yellow button launches the race.

The next sketch introduces moveable terrain elements. The little boxes would move and bounce when they collide with the bike and the ground. For people familiar with this genre of game, this doesn't offer anything new.

This next sketch depicts a sandy pit. This would have some kind of physical effect on the bike control...probably slowing it. This concept could be adapted to a water model, slippery surface, and so on.

The sketch below shows how moveable objects might be used to build interesting and challenging terrain. It became clear that some kind of visual code would be needed to indicate which objects would collide with the bike. You can see the Swinging Platform has a beam that swings and moves when the bike contacts it. The Platform's struts, however, are not collideable objects so they are tinted back.

Some objects provide collision but cannot be moved. These are treated by the game engine as simple terrain contours. Collideable objects that move are treated a bit differently.

Also sketched below are some different color palettes to suggest thematic settings.

At this point we started thinking harder about whether a simple racer was a significant addition to the genre. Although it's very early for thematic discussion, we decided that the story should be more interesting and that a race-for-racing-sake wasn't compelling enough to justify the work.

The sketch below shows a campaign map concept that offers the player a choice of routes to the campaign conclusion. The different routes would certainly be visually different and offer different challenges, but they also might be differentiated by difficulty, game mode, and/or victory condition.

Below shows a sketch with the above concept fleshed out more fully. In this scenario you are trying to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco. You have a choice of routes to take. Each node represents a waypoint; each leg represents a track.

By mousing over a node the player is provided information about that leg. There are lots of design options available in this kind of campaign model; each leg might be differentiated by difficulty, style of terrain, some kind of game mode or level constraint, and so on.

The sketch below also includes two different player avatars. The truck might replace the motorcycle in all or some maps. It would be controlled just as the bike but have different physics properties. The truck has a payload that must be kept in the bed of the truck. (Rough terrain can jostle and bounce the boxes out of the truck.)

The motorcycle avatar has been styled differently. He is now depicted as a cross-country survivalist. The helmet is replaced with a baseball cap and the bike is now laden with gear.

After a few conversations about theme and story, we felt that a survivalist motif was compelling. The environment now would feature a post-apocalyptic style. This allows future art development to take shape and remain on track.

Below is a sketch describing how a sense of motion might be reflected. The background is composed of several layers. Each layer scrolls right-to-left at different speeds relative to the foreground.

The next sketch shows a way that we might introduce certain circus-like obstacles and challenges while not breaking outside of the theme of the game. A teeter-totter, for example, is a traditional trials challenge structure...but featuring a teeter-totter in a post-apocalyptic setting would seem incongruent. So here is a teeter-totter that could fit thematically.

The next sketch shows a feature option that combines a mouse-aiming shooter with a trials racing game. From a feature standpoint it doesn't introduce anything truly unique but it was worth sketching up. This concept is currently eliminated from consideration. In this sketch the player has encountered a couple of wild dogs that must be put down or avoided before he or she can proceed.

This last sketch depicts a programming consideration. The issue here is that some depicted terrain elements do not require collision calculations. Perhaps they are negative space or are too narrow to come into contact with the bike avatar. The red line shows the actual terrain contour; everything else is dressing.

As this project is a labor of love, we are developing it as time permits. I'll post updates as progress is made.

Here are a few links to the games that have served as inspirations to this game:
Physics and control — TeaGames Motocross
Visual style and ambiance — Little Wheel

Spatial Design Analysis

2010-08-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

Graphic design and spatial design—any place that people inhabit and interact with—have lots of similar considerations. With graphic design the "visitor" interacts with their eyes. In spaces the visitor interacts with all of their senses. And in both cases things are revealed or hidden as time elapses.

Skateparks are a great example of this overlap. The factors that visitors use to identify, use and enjoy the design are aligned.

• Visual
The appearance of the space helps visitors understand its purpose. Most people will recognize a park by its defining characteristics; trees, lawns, paths, and benches. In packaging, the appearance of the product (if its purpose can be identified by its form or container), or its attributes, (flavor, quality, or goal), helps the "visitor" identify the object and consider further interaction.

• Time (Movement)
Design for motion graphics and space present other people interacting with the product or space to help express its purpose and values. When you approach a space filled with curving, concrete forms and see people riding skateboards around it you understand that the space is a skatepark. When you see someone using a car in a television spot you can infer certain qualities about the car and the type of person who might desire it by watching those interactions. Time and movement are important cues.

• Text
Signage for space is a clumsy way of expressing a space. If a rule appears on a sign, for example, it often feels like a technicality and lacks relevance or seems perfunctory. Restaurants no longer need to present "no smoking" signs near their entrances yet many still do...and they are routinely ignored by non-smoking patrons. The sign serves to clutter the space and obscure other qualities that should be dominant.

• Smell
The most under-capitalized of the senses, smell can be useful for marketing restaurants and bakeries but have few counterparts in graphic design. (Scratch-n-sniff gimmicks and perfume pages don't really count.)

• Sound
Sound requires time and can be difficult to employ in traditional graphic design situations. It shouldn't be ignored as a contextual factor. Products that are used in particularly noisy or quiet environments can be expressed through visual cues. A family boardgame is generally played in a quiet, intimate environment and the marketing of these products often depict people interacting, having fun together, and becoming closer friends. These images don't tend to be "loud." Energy drinks, on the other hand, are marketed for people who need to be prepared for an exciting situation...and are justifiably "loud" by comparison.

• Tactile
Our sense of touch is particularly critical in packaging. In magazine marketing it is said that the chances a store patron will purchase a publication increases dramatically if they pick it up to get a better look. (Naturally they cannot buy the magazine if they don't pick it up so it's a critical development in the conversion from shopper to buyer.) In spatial design, textures are used to delineate the space into smaller parcels.

I believe it's helpful for graphic designers to consider spatial environments in graphic terms, (and vice versa). There are design epiphanies just waiting to happen.

Sleestak Logo Riffs

2010-07-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Sleestak online community is composed of opinionated, combative, and very witty skateboarders. My contribution was the occasional Sleestak logo send-up. Below are some of my favorites.

The Well-drawn Sleestak:

The Sleestak that whitens as it cleans:

A piece for a Sleestak regular known as Darth for skating in a full-face helmet:

The psychedelic Sleestak:

The devolving Sleestak:

The Judith Sleestak:

The Stryper Sleestak:

The Ganesha Sleestak:

The europop trance Sleestak:

The Sleestak that never forgets:

The old-school nose-wheelie Sleestak. (Incidentally, that's "Darth" from earlier):

The slayed Sleestak:

Union Station Graphics

2010-07-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Below are a few skateboard deck graphics I did for Union Station Skateboards.

The rough-and-ready Brock McNally model. He skates like a coal train.

Rob Skala's graphic. C'est sinister. If you look closely you'll see the cute little animals on either side of the ribbon.

Their "generic" popsicle-stick model.

The Amadan model.

Their color logo.

Sketch: Critical Abe

2010-07-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Better. Not really capturing Abe's character but man, he's got some cool eyes.

Sketch: Honest Abe Redux

2010-07-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Felt like the earlier Abraham Lincoln wasn't really coming together as expected. Trying a similar approach here. It's getting closer...but still not there yet.

Concept: Get busy

2010-07-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Quick sketch for an online community art-jam project. (15-minute time limit.)

Concept: Old-school Slang Shirts

2010-07-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

This is an idea I've been kicking around for a few years. It's basically simple shirts with a single slang word or phrase that has expired, along with the dates when it was alive. In other words, a lingo graveyard.

Sketch: Honest Abe

2010-07-25T23:58:00.000-07:00

I like the phrase "revenge is best served cold." I think we should find the guy that shot Lincoln and put him on trial. Don't you? Of course you do.

Exercise: Roadhouse Rock Band Sticker

2010-07-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

Ryan Purcell and the Last Round play music. Check them out at www.ryanpurcell.net. They asked me to create a sticker that suggested "last round."

Exercise: Migratory Path

2010-07-24T18:18:00.000-07:00

My great grandfather trekked across North America in the late 1800s to mid-1900s. He seemed to move every 10 years or so. Each time he moved he either changed his name slightly or whatever records were being filled out simply took an approximate view of the spelling.

Exercise: Jim's wife

2010-07-24T08:11:00.000-07:00

A skateboarding colleague asked for a portrait of his wife. She's very pretty and so I was happy to oblige. (I would have been happy to oblige in any case.)

Exercise: Product Placement

2010-07-22T19:01:00.001-07:00

For Brian Horst. Thank you for all the inspiring years of Eelskin Comix!

Sketch: Hagia Sophia

2010-07-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

Morning warm-up. This church is gorgeous. It's in Istanbul. Construction started in 360 A.D., I think. You can walk through it. It's quite large. Jennie and I took the boys to it and even they seemed impressed. Just up the hill is the Blue Mosque...another epic building.

Facing an interesting project where I am to supply a humorous graphic. My sense of humor leans toward dry irony that creeps up on you. My client's sense of humor appears to be more overt and direct. It's been a fun challenge to find the common ground.

Everybody Loves Ernest!

2010-07-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Before there was Ray Romano there was Ernest Borgnine. You want to know Ernest a little better? You got it!

Born: Ermes Effron Borgnine on January 24, 1917.

Both his parents were Italian emigres. Young Ernest enjoyed sports as a child, especially boxing, and joined the U.S. Navy after graduating high school in Connecticut. After 10 years in the Navy at his mother's suggestion he enrolled in the Randall School of Drama in Hartford.

Once his acting education was finished he joined a theater troupe in Virginia. His breakout role was the role of a nurse in the play "Harvey." With his acting career taking shape he moved to Los Angeles to pursue roles for film.

The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951) was Bornine's film debut but it was his depiction of Sgt. "Fatso" Judson in From Here to Eternity (1953) that most people consider his breakout role.

Borgnine won an Oscar for his lead role in Marty. The other nominees were no slouches; Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, James Dean and James Cagney! (He was paid $5,000 for the part.)

After numerous films Borgnine starred in the television series, McHale's Navy (1962).

Despite his frequent roles as "heavy" characters, Borgnine supports numerous charities and has been awarded several honorary doctorates from colleges and several Lifetime Achievement Awards.

To date Ernest Bornine has appeared in over 100 feature films and starred in three television series.

Trivia (from IMDB):
• He was the first center square during the premier week of Hollywood Squares.
• He is a freemason. (Spooky!)
• He has appeared in FOUR of the 100 Most Enjoyably Awful Movies of All Time. (A Razzie Award compendium.)
• His license plate reads "BORG9".
• He was married to Ethel Merman for 32 days. (In Merman's autobiography she devoted a chapter to her brief marriage to Borgnine...it consisted of a single blank page.)
• He starred in all four "Dirty Dozen" films.
• Ernest Borgnine starred in The Poseidon Adventure...and that's good enough for me.

Concept: Weird'oevres

2010-07-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Waiting for feeback on a client's design and noodled out these cute little bits. Yummy!

Exercise: WW2 Pathfinder

2010-07-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

Libraries use documents of collected resources to expedite their suggestions to patrons asking for common topics. These are called Pathfinders. This client desired a Pathfinder for library patrons interested in WW2. We worked together to create a two-sided sheet that can be used by librarians or handed directly to the patron.

This particular Pathfinder shows some of the well-known cemeteries and memorials in Europe. The other side showcases some popular books and resources on the topic.

Concept: T is for Tortle

2010-07-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

I couldn't decide between a turtle and a tortoise. Oops, I should have done a turtle riding a tortoise!

Case Study: Prototype Game Development

2010-07-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

I've spent a decade doing graphic designs for the game industry. It's generally fun, playful work and with few exceptions the daily decisions are rewarding and creative. When you've worked on dozens of products you are eventually going to get one that just doesn't work out. This case study explores the early creative developmental steps of a game that was never produced.

The inaugural developmental team started small...the art director, (myself), and an R&D lead. The R&D lead is essentially the product owner and is responsible for all gameplay decisions. In other words it is their job to make the job fun to play. My role as art director is to make the game fun and exciting to look at and easy to understand.

The "mission" to create the game was to create a game that utilized some new kind of material, form, or introduced a new conflict-resolution mechanism. All three would be best. The game we were to work on basically was a build-and-battle type game where players collect and build small models that can be used to compete against each other in small strategic skirmishes. This "mission" and decision to create a particular type of game starts with the R&D person noodling around with an idea. They present the idea to the VP of R&D, usually in a semi-casual meeting, and together they decide if the game is worth taking further. This game passed that point and that's where I, the art director, was assigned to the project.

This was a brand new game using untested materials. We knew that we wanted to create a game that had players building small combat vehicle models out of parts they collected then doing battle with their friends. The R&D lead knew that there would be several components to the game: The vehicle, the weapons, and the weapon's unique "die."

We also knew that we wanted to create the game using minutely cut plastic sheets similar to credit-card material. The model sheets would be punched out of the sheet and assembled. This would allow the player to restore the model to the sheet for easy storage, (if desired), and easy to package because the unpunched models were flat. The working title of this game was Punchbots.

We started by creating a creative scope. We knew that we needed some vehicles, some weapons, and some dice to go with the weapons.

At first we thought we would use plain plastic cubes and supply stickers that were unique to each weapon so that one weapon might have certain effects on its die and another would be completely different. This was soon ruled out as we realized how easily it would be to hack the dice to improve the results. Imagine, for example, that you bought white unpainted dice that came with a sheet of black pip stickers. You could certainly put 1 pip on one side and 6 on the other...but you could also put 6 pips on all sides if you bought two packs of the dice.

We then decided to make each weapon's die as cool as the weapon itself. This sounded more fun for the players and more interesting creatively.

The vehicles are the weapons carriers. The vehicles also have characteristics that influence game balance. Some vehicles are light and fast but lack defense. Other vehicles are better armored but less nimble. It's a common balancing theme in vehicle games.

We needed ways of expressing all this stuff. I worked with the company to recruit the design help of a graphic designer on staff that I enjoy working with. Scott and I had worked on lots of projects and I knew he was the right person for this. We got started with some sketches of models that you could make out of flat die-cut plastic pieces.

For the first few weeks we burned through sketchbooks by filling pages with small model sketches like these. Several times a day we would meet and compare drawings and flag the ideas we felt were viable and worth exploring further.

As I drew I realized that the die model should reflect the forms found in the weapons because each die was associated with a particular weapon. While the models would eventually have graphics printed on them, it made sense to have the actual forms be reflective as well.

From that point we began drawing weapons and dice together.

We also quickly realized that the dice didn't need to be square. In fact it opened up lots of game balancing opportunities if some of the weapons had better and/or worse odds of obtaining a particular result.

To complicate matters we associated the number of pieces used to create the weapon model to the number of "hit points" of the weapon. In other words, if a weapon was constructed with three pieces, (like the beam weapon above), it meant that the weapon could receive three points of damaged before if was destroyed. This limitation made the task of designing the weapon forms slightly easier because it constrained our decisions somewhat. It also introduced an interesting strategic decision opportunity to the future player; do you choose a weak weapon with lots of hit points of a powerful weapon that is vulnerable to damage?

You can also see in the sketch above that the beam weapon has a simple tumbler die that can yield four results. (The results on each weapon's unique die would be incorporated in the graphics later.)

While working on concepts for the dice we figured that any kind of model that could produce a random number from a fixed set of possible results would work for our purposes. The weapon above was conceived as a gun that shoots sharpened metal discs. The gun is powerful and only has two hit points; the main weapon "chassis" that pegs into the vehicle and the slot that holds a second piece that resembles a metal disc.

The die for this gun is composed of five separate pieces. When assembled the middle disc can be spun like a wheel-of-fortune. The wheel comes to rest and the number indicated over the pointer, (incorporated into the model shape), is the result of that attempt to use the gun. In practice a player might say, "I'm going to shoot your guy with my Disc of Doominator!" The player then picks up the Disc's spinner and gives it a whirl. The disc comes to rest on a result...say, 2 points of damage...which is then resolved before play continues.

We knew that some dice could be tumblers...as ordinary dice are. Tumblers are thrown and the result is shown when the object has come to rest. We also saw an opportunity to use spinners, like the disc weapon. The other category was a top. It's like a spinner but the entire object is spun rather than just a single moving piece. For the combat shotgun-styled weapon, (above), we gave it a top-like die. The top is spun on the table and when it stops it falls to one side. The raised "pedal" is the result of that attempt. The spindle portion is created using two inter-slotted pieces. The piece with the five pedals slips over the top snugly.

Another spinner we developed was similar to a roulette table. The base is created with two inter-slotted pieces. The spindle is raised flat. One of the base arms is raised to create a sort of pointer. When platter is inserted onto the spindle and allowed to spin freely.

Some of the tumbler-style dice were fun to figure out. For the gun styled after a revolver we developed a tumbler die that could produce 8 results, two of which were highly unlikely (and thus had very favorable results). The tumbler was a "solid" hexagonal column using simple tab-and-notch snug fits.

We knew that the vehicles would also have hit points. Faster vehicles would have less hit points than slower vehicles. Our first line of development was to reflect this as "shields" that were shot off over the course of battle. While the concept had thematic merit, it seriously limited our ability to be creative with the vehicle design as they would all need to have some kind of removable armor piece(s).

Instead of armor plates we looked at smaller pieces that could be removed one at a time like a counter. The first viable results was a spike concept where each spike represented a particular number of hit points. As the vehicle is damaged the spikes are removed appropriately.

We realized that the nature of the material we were intending to work with wouldn't allow these spikes to be small enough. Even if they could be, they would be so small that they would certainly break or be lost almost immediately. The armor and life-token concepts were challenging. We decided that the best direction would be to create a pointer device similar to the spike that could be aligned to a particular printed result. As the vehicle takes damage, the pointer is rotated to the new amount of remaining armor.

We eventually had concepts for 16 different weapons, 16 unique "dice," and 8 different vehicles. We began working closely with our in-house 3D modeling expert. He took our sketches and translated them into flat drawings in a CAD program. This would allow us to make precise adjustments and ensure that the models would work.

Throughout the course of his input we made refinements to the models. This was typically done on print-outs of his models.

Eventually we ended up with models we liked. They were then optimized to fit onto the particular size of plastic card we intended to use. Below you can see the shotgun-inspired weapon on the right side of the card. The weapon "chassis" looks like a pump shotgun with a nub on its base. The nub fits into a hole on the roof of the vehicle. The pronged piece next to it slides into the back of the weapon chassis to create a model that resembles a shotgun with three barrels. Awesome.

The two smaller, pointed pieces are the spindle for the top. The large pentagonal piece fits over the two interlocking spindle pieces.

The left side of the card above has another weapon and its associated die. In this case the weapon is a small machine gun. It has three hit points; the chassis, a small laser site-like piece, and a clip of ammunition. When assembled the weapon looks like a tiny machine gun. Its die is a tumbling cube; the most traditional die in the game. When used in the game, the gun delivers one of six possible results.

The vehicle models were developed in the same way. The vehicles did not need dice but the models needed to reflect their relative characteristics, (e.g., fast and unarmored or slow and armored). Below we see a "Crawler" vehicle. Note that this schematic was created while we were still trying to resolve the spike issue...and that's why you see a number of spike "hit point counter" pieces on the sheet.

Having the pieces all in a 3D program allowed us to fully visualize the model form and proportions. These digital assemblies will become handy in the instructions later.

It was time to start working on the graphics. We called these skins because we realized that we could create different skins for different models to provide more flexibility and decisions in the game without breaking the bank on expensive new die cuts.

I started this process by collecting appropriate visual reference. The internet is awesome for this; you can find a picture of just about anything. The collected visual reference was collected into a series of books. Scott and I would refer to these frequently and they grew over the course of the project. Below is a page from one of the books covering distressed and weathered metals.

The flat models were imported into Illustrator. I felt that because the models were built using flat, white plastic pieces we would never create a deep immersion...so a vector approach to the skins seemed most suitable. This would also allow us to include lots of little visual details...easter eggs for the attentive. (The rejected consideration was a photographic approach.)

We tested the graphics by adhering large color copies of the skins to light board stock and cutting out the pieces. This particular model is about 5 inches long.

Note that the model above has four slots on the roof. These are the apertures for the weapons. This vehicle provides space for four weapons. (At first different vehicles had different numbers of slots but eventually all the vehicles simply had four slots.) Also note the dial at the rear of the vehicle for measuring vitality. The spikey piece is rotated so that the long rib points to the appropriate number on its life meter.

While this was going on I was also working on other game elements.

Logos were an important early component as it would be used in presentations to upper management, early distributor marketing, and other places. We didn't even have a name yet so I worked on some logo concepts using the working title. The thumbnail sheet above contains logos that try to convey the interlocking panels quality of the game. (We identified early on that we would be proud of this characteristic rather than trying to distance ourselves from it.) There were dozens of these thumbnail sheets created.

Other materials are also being developed at this time. The rulebook and packaging are being developed so that I am provided the maximum time to work out the various considerations. Rulebooks are critically important to a game's success; if people can't learn to play the game, they won't buy it. The rulebook generally starts as a series of thumbnails to establish an overall scale and pace. (Shown below.) When text is received from the editing team, the sketches are translated into actual design documents.

Packaging is being developed simultaneously. (Unfortunately I don't have any sketches or scans that are suitable to use in this case study.) The packaging concepts, like the logo, were intended to reflect the card-like form of the models.

The graphics and models played an important role in communicating the vehicle's gameplay characteristics. The vehicle on the left, (above), is faster but has less armor than the vehicle on the right.

We produced a full set of skins for all the vehicles, weapons and dice. These were sent to a special output agency that could print then cut the pieces out of the appropriate stock. At this point we were about 6 months into the project. When the final pieces returned we assembled some extras to ensure they fit correctly. Below we see one of these "actual size" models against the hand-made mockup.

Below are several of the vehicle models together.

Each model fits neatly in the palm of your hand. There were a total of 8 different vehicles. We created two skins for each vehicle...thematic variations. For example, one skin might be a "friendly" character and the other version of that vehicle might be a "tough" character. This allows the player to choose their vehicle partially, (or fully), on an emotional basis if they desire. This is an important impetus for younger players unprepared to make decisions on mechanical and game-balance calculations.

When we finally had our mockup product prepared and the rulebooks written and laid out, we collected groups of kids to try the game. The purpose of the focus group was to witness first-hand the intended market's reaction to the product.

(Some people get "focus group" confused with "play-test." A play-test is done with full disclosure with a desire to identify weaknesses in the game. During a play-test the developer will often sit with the players and coach them through portions of the game that don't require attention, (or that require special attention). By comparison, a focus group uses participants who have no idea what to expect. They are not coached in any way. The developmental and marketing teams will usually sit behind a mirrored wall and carefully observe everything that goes on or record precisely what is said. During a focus group, overall reactions to the product are more important than gaining insight into a particular aspect of it. (Sometimes wealthier companies will have focus groups for very specific and isolated changes in their product such as a new scent, packaging color, shape, or logo.)

For this game the focus group attendees unanimously hated the game. They didn't want to build the models. (Model-building is a lost activity.) They felt like the line between "build" and "assemble" was too blurry. Some of the models are complicated and although we took pains to create build instructions that didn't require any reading, a majority of the participants simply tossed the instructions aside immediately...then became confused...then frustrated.

After the focus groups we decided not to produce the final game and were assigned to new projects.

That's how goes.

Logo: Marginal Way

2010-07-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

A DIY logo for a DIY skatepark.

Sketch: S is for Snail

2010-07-08T20:08:00.000-07:00

S is also for slug.

Concept: Antimatters CD Cover

2010-07-07T22:32:00.000-07:00

Front of sleeve for a CD single, (3 songs).

Exercise: 21-Window VW Bus

2010-07-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

A portion of a sketch for a project in development.

Sketch: R is for Rhinoceros

2010-07-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

I had a friend ask me how I was drawing these. In the spirit of adding to the common good, below are the steps I take when I'm doing these little animal warm-ups.

1. Grab some reference. I start with a few images from the internet and my library for appropriate animals. I look for images that best reveal the animal's key characteristics. For this rhinoceros I looked for images that captured his girth and high-set ears.

2. I start drawing the key shapes. I usually start with a contour to constrain the overall proportions. Within this form I build the shapes I want to use. Periodically I'll use a thick stroke with rounded ends to create a perfect line but typically it's all hand-set anchors. (I'm using Illustrator CS4.) I'm careful not to reduce and incorporate shapes at this point to provide flexibility in changing the overall shape if I'm not happy with it.

3. After I am confident that I'm on the right path I reduce the shapes so they all fit together. I'm still adding bits here and there to help clarify the character of the beast.

4. I'm at a point where I can start throwing down some color. This is usually the longest part of the process. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'll usually start with a Kuler palette for expediency then tweak it until it works for the drawing.

5. Now I can really see what's working or not. For the rhino I can see that the eye isn't working hard enough. The lower ear is also a bit wrong because it looks too clean and even. I'll address those things and other minor concerns as I continue to improve the drawing. After I address those I can see that the other ear is floating away and the stroke is too heavy. I also add the container so I can see it all working together.

6. After addressing the colors, (finally), and adding clarity to the head it is starting to feel done. I pulled back on the stroke and lightened the whole thing so he didn't feel so heavy.

7. Add the letter. Finished!

Exercise: Seafair Skate Jam

2010-07-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

A friend is putting together a skateboarding BBQ in Forks. (Forks is where they shoot the Twilight series.) This is the shirt design I put together for him.

Sketch: Q is for Quail

2010-07-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

Got about halfway drawing this chap and realized it didn't need all that and deleted everything. I prefer it simple...like the bird...simple...and dopey-looking.

Sketch: P is for Pangolin

2010-07-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

When it's not sleeping it looks like a post-apocalyptic aardvark.

Concept: Containers

2010-07-03T13:45:00.000-07:00

Working on a fun project and as part of an exploration I created these cute little containers. They are cute and worth sharing, I think.

Sketch: Octopus

2010-07-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

I thought that an octopus would be more fun to draw than it was. That is to say it wasn't very fun to draw. I'll probably redo it later.

Exercise: Skatepark Poster

2010-06-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

This was a fun poster to work on. The skater I used for reference is a kid named Dale that lives at my local skatepark. I had to fix up his bangs and he has big gauged-up earrings. I wanted a more clean-cut appearance so I took those out.

Sketch: N is for Nuthatch

2010-06-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

Though it is a bird, ("B"), I felt like something simple today and baboon wasn't cutting it.

Case Study: Tacoma Skate

2010-06-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

It was clear to most people that Tacoma's indoor skatepark was going to be short-lived. Tacoma skaters have a large choice of free skateparks to choose from but the facility itself never seemed to quite gel with skaters. It was slippery, was perpetually under construction, had whole rooms filled with junk. In fact it wasn't working on so many levels and in so many ways it's difficult to really identify any one thing that they could have done better to make a difference.

When they started they contacted me about some design advice due to my experience with Skaters for Public Skateparks. Naturally I shared what I felt should be the priorities in the skate course design...and they employ many of the same principles that graphic designers use:

• Meet customer expectations
• Provide a small number of exotic or uncommon, "signature" elements
• Keep it clean and simple so it is easily understood
• Don't pander

In the interest of seeing the business succeed I worked with an artist friend of mine to come up with some inexpensive concepts that could help on some of these fronts.

One issue was their logo. It was basically an oval with the letters "TS" stamped in the middle. The oval is meant to suggest a skateboard and the TS glyph stands for Tacoma Skate. It is set sideways to further conceal the forms. The owner suggested that this would be slightly elusive to a general public and feed into the "secret" world of skaters.

I'd suggested something a bit more cheerful and upbeat to suggest the place was active and vibrant. In order to communicate this concept I drew up a sketch of a logo that used the same basic premise of his, (the name in the middle of the board), but brought it out in the open so that parents and people walking by might get some idea of what the place was about.

He didn't care for it or felt it was too sanitary for the vibe he was trying to create. While I understand this position, I felt that a no-budget start-up should aim for anyone they could get...and that meant, (to me), creating a mark that most people would understand. Because this was a pro-bono effort I stepped aside and figured I'd find other ways to help him get his business off the ground.

The next challenge was the facade of the building. The facility populated an entire building. There was no store front to speak of—not that it would have mattered since the building was in the middle of an industrial neighborhood. The side of the building faced the road so I figured it would be a great opportunity to get some bold messages out to the street.

This was also work that we were willing to donate (minus materials, which would have come to about $100). The owner opted to go with window paints and a sandwich board.

The final attempt to bring some professional creative to the business was in dressing up some of the interior walls with motifs other than "urban graffiti." I suggested a floral design because I felt that it would appeal to skaters' sense of irony, parents and non-skating visitors, and be just controversial enough to get talked about among the locals. His response was essentially, "we're not doing floral."

And that was that. I went back once or twice to check it out. The business lasted 6 months before they closed. As much as I wanted it to contribute to its success—with my 30+ years in skateboarding and 20+ years in design and marketing—in the end I simply couldn't find a way to help them out. Lessons were learned.

Fro Life

2010-06-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Done for a design collective as part of a collaborative group project.

Sketch: M is for Moray

2010-06-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

I thought maybe this chap should be an E for Eel but he ended up destined for M. The also-rans were a Macaw (which could be a P for Parrot or B for Bird), a Monkey, and a Monarch (butterfly). Oh, there was also the Musk Ox, Mongoose, Moose and Meercat...each with its own pretty good reason to sketch it out.

Sketch: L is for Leopard

2010-06-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

After I finished this handsome beast I was going to change all his spots but couldn't bring myself to do it.

Sketch: K is for Kudu

2010-06-23T16:04:00.000-07:00

Sketch: J is for Jellyfish

2010-06-22T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sketch: I is for Ibex

2010-06-20T16:53:00.000-07:00

Ibex, (aka Supergoat).

Sketch: H is for Hyenas

2010-06-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Seems like most of the times I ever see hyenas on TV it's through some kind of night-vision camera, so that's what I was looking to capture here.

Concept: Kill Young Jim

2010-06-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

I'm not really at liberty to say what this is for...but it's fun.

Exercise: Thanks, Pal!

2010-06-18T20:54:00.000-07:00

Quick little thank-you card for Skaters for Public Skateparks. If you went out to dinner with Ernest Borgnine, do you think you would like him more or less than before your meal?

Sketch: G is for Giraffe

2010-06-18T16:11:00.000-07:00

Whenever I see giraffes I think of Sergio Aragones sitting in his studio thinking up gags. For some reason these animals are just comical. It's like they belong to the "weird horse" family along with camels and llamas.

Sketch: A is for Aardvark...

2010-06-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

...or anteater, or earthpig...whatever this thing is called. You know.

Exercise: Undisputed Heavyweight Champions

2010-06-16T16:55:00.000-07:00

The Seattle-area band, Undisputed Heavyweight Champions, contacted me about doing their debut CD packaging. Rather than taking a traditional "punk rock" approach, I worked on a cleaner design that featured the full playlist right on the cover. The band was delighted and the CD did well.

Exercise: Texas T-Shirt

2010-06-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

A skatepark advocacy group in Texas asked me if I would donate a t-shirt design for their cause. I was happy to do so. Skateboarders love skulls and Texans love hats so it seemed like a no-brainer. I'm not typically a fan of mixing my vector and hand-drawn materials together but in this case it seemed appropriate.

Concept: MOTO

2010-06-16T14:15:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me to create a logo for his band. While we got to the logo, the fun part was in exploring all of the different possibilities. His band, Masses of the Opiate, are heavy but he has a wicked sense of humor so I figured presenting some ironic approaches would be appreciated.

An early decision was to explore vices. These sketches all explore that direction in some way.

The font used in the small group of three drawings above is similar to the one used in Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. (Masses of the Opiate is nothing like Talking Heads.)

The sketch below was just a whim. I rather like it.

The development of the "actual" logo was a bit parallel to all of this fun exploration. Here's what we finally came up with.

Exercise: D&D Character Charts

2010-06-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

As part of a large project I was tasked with plotting out the Dungeons & Dragons character creation process. As the first step I plotted out the key decisions and variables between the different classes. The whole exercise was very complex and produced dozens, (if not hundreds), of graphical files. At the end of the day I rather liked the simplicity and clarity of these very initial charts.

The first chart (above) compares the eight different core classes found in the game. The blue boxes represent points where player decisions occur. Starting at the top, for example, the first decision is "race." The next decision is how tall and heavy the character will be. If you opted to play a human character, you get to decide where you will put 2 bonus attribute points. This chart takes you all the way through the racial portion of character creation.

The second chart focuses on class. (In Dungeons & Dragons the characters are comprised of two fundamental characteristics; race and class. A class might be Fighter, Ranger, Cleric, and so on.) In this chart we see that most of the player decisions are found when they get into the Skills, Features, and Powers.

This exercise was ultimately used to inform the Character Creator software.

Sketch: B is for Bird

2010-06-15T09:58:00.001-07:00

Sketch: C is for Cheetah

2010-06-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Afternoon decompression. Nothing like drawing cheetah spots after a day of managing photos and sorting image files. In other news, wrapped up a big hand-off to MIT Press so it may be time for a beer.

Sketch: D is for Dragonfly

2010-06-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

What's to say? It's a Dragonfly. Another daily warm-up for the tasks at hand.

Exercise: Portrait

2010-06-12T17:14:00.000-07:00

A colleague of mine. He's actually a normal human color in real life. He is a photographer, therefore an emphasis on his eye. I encourage you to check out his work: www.brycekanights.com/.

Case Study: Green Air Supply

2010-06-12T13:28:00.000-07:00

The client approached New Tacoma Design with an interesting problem: To market an innovative beer sales device. The context took a few minutes to fully understand. Beer is propelled from the keg to the tap using compressed gas. The gas is a mixture of CO2 and nitrogen. This gas is stored in two separate tanks and mixed using a gas blender in the back room of the bar or pre-mixed in a single tank, (eliminating the need for a blender).

The bar owner or manager orders gas from industrial vendors. The gas arrives on a truck and the empty tanks are taken away to be reused.

The client's device extracts ambient, airborne nitrogen from the air and compresses it into a bleeder tank. The device also blends that nitrogen with CO2 to whatever mixture is desired. (Ales and lagers use one standard blend and Guinness uses a high-nitrogen blend.) The device can deliver different mixes to different lines so it's incredibly efficient.

The technology behind the device is geeky but it too important to remove from the communication. The solution was to lead with two essential messages:

1. This device saves you money with perfect, consistent servings that eliminates waste.
2. This device allows you to harness technology and frees your staff to focus on other priorities.

After the marketing language was hammered out, two key illustrations were created to express the essential messages. The first was intended to express the value of a "perfect pint."

The image shows three pints. The first cannot be served without pouring out the foam and replacing with liquid. All the foam that goes into the tray is wasted beer. The second shows a perfect pour with the right amount of head. The last shows a flat beer that contains too much beer.

The second image was to showcase the device. Unfortunately the device isn't visually interesting.

The subject was drawn from a low point-of-view to reveal the dials and hose attachments. A second drawing was made with a reveal to show off some of the cool stuff inside. While these details may not mean much to the average viewer, the detail attracts attention and draws people in.

The two illustrations feature the two sizes of the device. (The top size has an external chrome column while the bottom size has the chrome column inside the container.)

These illustrations were used in several pieces of communication, including the sell sheets below.

Sketch: F is for Fox

2010-06-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Seemed appropriate to give the elephant a friend.

Sketch: E is for Elephant

2010-06-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

Fooling around this morning waiting for a meeting to start...drew an elephant.

Concept: Rain Light

2010-06-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

The problem isn't just rain, it's that the world is sort of dark when it's gloomy out. It's about time our umbrella manufacturers came up with a bumbershoot that didn't make one feel like they were hiding under a giant cape. How about an umbrella that lights up the world underneath it using small LEDs? One could even design the umbrellas as period pieces such as this gas-lamp/mission style doodad above.

Here is the light in action. It provides safety for the pedestrian and illuminates the path. What's not to love?

Epilogue: I figured that this idea was so simple and good that it had to exist already. It does. I found this link that contains step-by-step instructions for building one of these umbrella lights.

Concept: Worst Tattoo Ever

2010-06-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

Not really a whole lot to say.

Concept: Hellnar

2010-06-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

My impressions of the small village of Hellnar, Iceland.

Concept: Camera

2010-06-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

For all of Europe's comfortable liberal acceptance of things extravagant and profane, I am constantly surprised at the number of security cameras installed and aimed into public places. While in Reykjavic I spotted this beauty and captured the capturer in this sketch.

Concept: Popsicle

2010-06-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Popsicles. Available thanks to advancements in refrigeration.

Exercise: All-Star Packaging

2010-06-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

For several years I was art director for the Major League Baseball Trading Card Game. The product featured players in their current jerseys. (Managing the hundreds of photos and the staff photographers was a full-time job in itself.) Each player's card featured stats that were reflective of that player's performance during the season. The customer can pit their dream team against their friends using a clever gameplay mechanic. Pretty cool stuff.

The game featured several expansions throughout the year to reflect trades, injuries, and other dynamic factors...as well as new athletes that were performing well.

The Starter box, (above), contained rules, a playmat that resembled a baseball diamond, and an assortment of cards that players could use to get a feel for the game. When they were satisfied with the experience they could improve their team with booster packs, (below).

To add to the excitement for the dedicated fans we also created an All-Star SKU. This was a complete playable game and had all of the all-star players. The box also contained tabbed cards and provided a collection container for storing and sorting card collections. Below is the carton (slash storage box) and the playmat.

In 2002 we ran into a big problem. Due to the game going very long, (11 innings), the teams ran out of available pitchers. The game ended in a tie and disappointed baseball fans across the nation. This was terrible news for our premium product and we feared poor sales.

Our novel approach was to play on the unresolved nature of the game by featuring a cigar band with the marketing text, "Settle The Score!". Sales ended up being better than expected.

Exercise: William Morris Pattern

2010-06-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

The client wanted a seamless floral pattern based on some of the nostalgic arts-and-craft-style wallpapers. After some research I found a pretty good William Morris pattern online to use as reference.

It wasn't quite seamless and some of the shapes were a bit stiff and weird. I figured it was good enough to start with.

I started by drawing the leaves in Adobe Illustrator. The outer contour is a stroked line and the veins are filled shapes. (The left shows the drawing and the right shows the vector lines.)

The leaves were all drawn and the adjacent fits were all carefully crafted so that the group could be tiled seamlessly.

The leaf vector is duplicated and reduced to build the fill shapes. The colors were loosely based on the original sample.

The two parts are assembled onto a dark background. Note that the stroke vector is duplicated behind the composite image to build depth.

That's it!

Exercise: Promotion

2010-06-07T11:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's important to draw a chicken or two.

Exercise: Punk Rock

2010-06-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Once, a long time ago, I spent a lot of time at various punk rock clubs around Seattle. It was a very liberating, expressive scene and I have fond memories of the energy that seemed to fill every day. I had the opportunity to revisit those days by contributing a flyer for some friends' show.

The Fang logo was existing but a lot of time was spent cleaning it up. (The only available logo was a small JPG.) The two-color design was silkscreened onto financial pages of the New York Times and pasted up around Seattle. In the interest of the budget we used house paint instead of silk-screening ink and it worked beautifully.

Exercise: Magazines

2010-06-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

In my role as an art director at the game company, Wizards of the Coast, I spent a few years on magazine direction and design. Magazines are a lot of fun and provide a plenty of opportunities for creative exploration. While not every layout can be a hit, with magazines the shelf-life of the mediocre is only 30 days...so the life expectancy provides a low-risk environment for creative ideas.

Here are a few sample spreads and some thoughts about my work in magazines.

Another fascinating aspect of art-directing a monthly is narrow production schedule. While one issue is being printed, the next one is in late design and editorial review. While that issue is in review, the following one has the illustrators and photographers furiously working away and sending in sketches for approval, (while the authors and editors finalize their side of the work). Finally, there are planning meetings for upcoming issues that need to be considered.

Sometimes there are tons of words to work with and sometimes there are few. The editorial design of magazines needs to supply the reader with an interesting presentation and lure them into the article. Lots of people, myself included, read a random passage or paragraph to figure out if the information is worthwhile before starting at the beginning. For these folks we include lots of subheads and pull-quotes to allow them to sample and get their bearings about the content.

Periodically there's an opportunity or need for an illustration. In cases where the need for an illustration reveals itself too late to commission a piece, I might create a graphic. The editor in chief loves this because it's one less hard cost to worry about.

Of course a great illustration will pull an article together in a way that nothing else can. Occasionally an illustration arrives with a surprising color palette. This can be built into some interesting spreads featuring colors one might never have considered.

Exercise: Green Drinks

2010-06-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Logo development generally falls into one of two categories. The formal approach is to explore all of the brand or product qualities, identify characteristics that express the value or desired emotional triggers, and embark on a thorough and often elaborate exploration for the Shangri-La of marks. It's fun and it takes a long time.

The second approach is a lot more common. It starts off with a conversation like this, "Hey, you're a graphic designer? I need a logo for my (event, website, band, cousin's business, etc.)!" These types of projects rarely have any realistic budget and the client has little understanding of how the process works. I sort of like these opportunities because it allows for a more casual, "shoot from the hip" approach.

Such was the case with Green Drinks Tacoma. They wanted a logo and didn't know how to even talk about their needs beyond that. After asking about their organization's mission and attitude I sketched up three options for them to consider. They chose the best one, (thankfully!), and I broke it out into different file formats for them to use.

Concept: Castle Book

2010-06-04T07:17:00.000-07:00

One of my pet projects is a collection of castle drawings, maps, and details. This is the cover mock-up. The project itself is slow-going.

Exercise: SPS Logo

2010-06-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

Skaters for Public Skateparks is a non-profit organization leading the national dialog on skatepark development and awareness. Appropriation has a long history in the counter-cultural skateboarding world, and given SPS' educational mission it seemed suitable to develop a logo like this. Next year we'll do something new.

Favorite Covers

2010-06-04T06:17:00.000-07:00

Here are two Dragon magazine covers that I art directed while at Wizards of the Coast. The illustrations were both done by the talented Mark Zug.

In the top image we looked for an image of a cleric-type character that was more human and humble than the traditional stereotype. (Ordinarily clerics are depicted as detached, back-of-the-party characters that dole out healing to their friends on demand.) We wanted someone who was clearly a man of action but not so overwhelmingly powerful that he wasn't at risk.

The second cover depicts a half-orc paladin. This issue was coordinated with a new set of rules that allowed for the first time half-orc characters to play as Paladins, (a "Holy Warrior"). We wanted something that was both monstrous and gruesome but also expressing humanity and religious conviction.
The readers absolutely loved both covers. What got the most letters however was my graphic treatment of the words, "Kick Ass." While "ass" had never been on the cover...which got a few complaints and a whole lot of "about time!"...it was the blood that triggered the most letters.

Exercise: Coffee shop illustration

2010-06-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

My local—and quite delicious—Stumptown coffee shop has a little walk-up. The had a small sign that didn't really fit the motif and so I sketched up a fresh one. It was just for fun and gave the owner something to think about. Mostly I just wanted to draw it.

Excercise: Travel Sketchbook

2010-06-04T05:19:00.000-07:00

I've always loved to draw. Today I keep a number of sketchbooks. One is a larger, grid-ruled Milquerius that I use for notes, phone numbers, ideas, and quick doodles. The other, a hardback Moleskine, I use for drawing from life. Whenever students ask me about skills they should develop for a career in graphic arts, I often encourage them to keep drawing.

Excercise: Fruits!

2010-06-03T12:15:00.000-07:00

Some sketches for an upcoming project. These were created to express a design direction and possible color palette(s). I think they're kind of fun and playful...a touch of modernity without sacrificing the wholesome, historical context.

Exercise: Portraits

2010-06-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

For fun I created portraits of some of the people I work with in the skateboarding industry. While they may not be overly flattering, (necessarily), I had a lot of fun doing them.

Featured, in order, are Per Welinder, (owner of Blitz Distribution and legendary professional skateboarder), Miki Vuckovich, (executive director of Tony Hawk Foundation and one of the most generous people I've ever met), Jim Gray, (owner of American Board Company and legendary professional skateboarder), and Bryce Kanights, (accomplished photographer and major contributor to the world's archive of skate photography).

Exercise: Photo Treatments

2010-06-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of graphical photos that emphasize simple form and depth over detail and complexity. Here are a few photos I've taken this month that appeal to me on some level.

The final image was created as an awareness-promotional piece for the charitable non-profit organization, Skaters for Public Skateparks, (www.skatepark.org).

Visualization: Site Map

2010-06-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

Site maps are essential for visualizing the "neighborhoods" of a website and can help inform the design cues that help readers understand where they're at, how to get where they want to go, and how to return to where they were. In this example we see a blog-heavy site that emphasizes community involvement.

Case Study: Web Site Analysis

2010-06-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

While developing architecture for new websites it can prove useful to survey the competition and gleam whatever wisdom might be found. In this sample I compared four sites, (rows), providing similar content as my client. Each column demonstrates each site's layout and offerings.

In the first site I've highlighted elements that promote that site's community interactions such as profile management, comments, and other features that connect users to the site and each other.

In the second column I've highlighted the site's creative features such as galleries and passive visual treats.

The third column emphasizes the features that monetize the site. In this way the client and I can easily compare which sites work hard to monetize their product and which take a quieter approach.

In the last column I've highlighted free content and other high value propositions.

Competitive studies like this are handy for developing new site frameworks as well as identifying possible features and their relative position in the site hierarchy.

This is a similar study that looks holistically at a newspaper site layout. In this study I've coded each type of content with a color to easily communicate what the site offers. With this kind of compression of content, we can quickly understand how the site uses its content to attract and retain readers.

In the final image I've taken the site's grid and reduced it to its elemental form. By translating a successful site, the client and I can better understand how similar solutions might work for our project.

Experience: Landor Associates, Seattle

2010-06-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Years ago I worked at Landor Associates, Seattle on (primarily) Microsoft packaging in a production design, (e-pro), role. The image on the left features a few of the titles I worked on. On the right is a sample of the type of work I was doing at The Leonhardt Group shortly after. While working on Microsoft materials made my mother very proud, I found it rewarding only for the exacting detail it required. The opportunity for clever solutions and extravagant expression wasn't really there.

Experience: Professional History

2010-06-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a graphical depiction of my employment history in the arts.

Welcome to New Tacoma Design

2010-06-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

In the interest of speed and efficiency I will be posting design and illustration updates to the New Tacoma Design blog. Welcome, browse around, and contact me with any questions or comments at petermwhitley@gmail.com.