Graphic Design for Game Designers Exercises
(Task 1) The elements that are core to the game are the score, timer, tile stating the name of the cheese/font, and the display of the answer. The supportive elements are the fun quip answers that are displayed, the score percentage, and instructions, such as the statement to type “C” or “F”. The extraneous elements are basically everything else, including the ads, number of plays, and extra buttons.
(Task 2) Here is my sketch of the core elements:
(Tasks 3 and 4) Here is my sketch where I make one of the core elements huge and added one color:
(Task 5) Below are my 3 sketches where I experiment with type:
(Task 6) I experimented with proximity in a few different ways, including by making the main font/cheese tile different sizes and the button options different sizes in relation to the name tile. You can see an evolution above between my drawings through which I ultimately realized that the font/cheese name is the most important element, really, and should be visually prioritized. However, it is important to balance that with the options available to the user so that they know what to do.
A Beautifully-Designed Game
Machinarium is a beautiful game that I used to be obsessed with when I was younger, and looking back, there are many graphic design elements they did really well. The designers did a great job of showing only what was necessary for game play and minimizing the amount of reading players have to do. The below image is a great example of them showing that the character is asking for 5 of an object using minimal symbols. They also use shadows and lighting differences to bring out the most important elements in the scene and highlight what is in the foreground versus background. The font used also matches the vibe of the scene.
Similarly, the lighting and arrangement of items in this scene draws attention to different areas in the scene in a beautiful way.
