okay one more actually

I just wanted to make one more post with a little more reflection on what was hard about this project.  First of all, it was pretty fast paced but me and Elizabeth worked everyday so we handled that pretty well.  The thing we struggled with most was getting the right things done because they had to be done before other stuff could get done (if that makes sense).  Also, just learning the new programs was hard.  I am pretty familiar with photoshop but indesign and illustrator were completely new to me so it's nice to know a little bit more about them.  Printing was a bit of a struggle too, but at least we could work on all our pieces while we were waiting on the printers to cooperate.  I was most overwhelmed at the beginning and the end, but everything turned out to be okay.  When Amber first told us that a whole type face was due the day after we learned how to make one, I was so freaked out, but I got it done like usual.  And the last couple days of working on touch ups and packaging, I thought we would never see the end.    

Something interesting to think about for me is how each group fit their game so well.  If we had had different partners, none of the games we have now would have been produced. 

And since Elizabeth and I worked so hard on character development, I thought I'd give them a little more attention by matching my classmates with which one they would most likely be.  It's like high school superlatives!

Pete - farmer, no doubt. 

Jen - kid

Susannah - mom

Caitlin - theif

Kelly - I'd say you were the friendly neighbors, even though they aren't an official character

Elizabeth - magician, she'd look fly with a beard

Will - yak impostor obviously 

Griff - I'm having a hard time with this one, but I think I'm going to go with farmer. 

Betsy - mom

Amber - (I hope this doesn't affect my grade)  I'd say you are a farmer. 

 

pink milk heaven right there

here is a video of my group playing our game.  Note the joy and the interaction among players.  

Check it out, Pink Milk the card game.  I really enjoyed this project.  At the end, when I realized that we had essentially created everything about this game, I was so excited.  It was a really rewarding feeling.  I'm really happy that me and my partner worked so well together and were able to pull it off.  I can't wait to take it home and make my family play it and show it off and build a shrine for it.   

slow and steady wins the race

Pictures of our game and people enjoying it/interacting with each other!!

Elizabeth and I brought some pink yoohoo for people to enjoy, AKA, chug if you lose. Lets just say that yoohoo's product isn't as successful as our product.

last day of class

Elizabeth and I were so efficient during this whole process that we were only in studio till 11 o'clock and that was after a nice relaxing break.  I am so proud of how our game turned out.  I think we created a fun game with a cohesive design and some humor.  I know I still can't do this blog so this paragraph is going to be below all my pictures which looks stupid.  But these are pictures of us playing the games on the last day.  

Ah, yes well once again the image uploading is failing.  So I'll take a moment to comment on the games.  

Chock - a - block:  I dominated in this one, winning 3 games in a row and becoming the champion of my group.  This was a really fun game for kids to learn spacial relations or as Caitlin suggested, a lovely gentlemen's game.  The packaging and blocks were wonderfully done and the directions were clear.  Also, I was very happy with the change in size they made since last critique.

Say What? - This game was fun, it improved a lot as far as clarity goes.  The colored cards and explanation on the back of the directions really helped the game along.  Also Betsy and Jen definitely added more articles like we had suggested. 

What's for Lunch? - The packaging was really cute and portable.  They made some nice improvements since last crit by adding LOTS more adjective cards and some new food items.

Sha-hair-a-zod  - I'm spelling it how you say it.  This game was absolutely beautiful.  The cards and backs and packaging were amazingly well done.  The concept of story-telling during the game is really cool, but the hardest part is getting through the directions.  I think we discussed having a hotline to call when things get confusing?? 

Pink Milk - need I say anything more??  

da da da nuh nuh

this is a pink milk container without the transparency paper!!

I'm trying to create some suspense here but I guess it won't work considering the blog shows the most recent post first. 

Okay, here is a story.  Do you see the image of the missing bottle of milk on the right panel?  Well there is a backstory to that image.  I was desperately trying to find some pink milk on campus, but I ended up not so I improvised.  I went through my recycling and found a moldy  (gross) glass bottle and bought some plain milk.  Then I bought some raspberry lipton powder that you are supposed to add to water and poured it in the milk!!!  nasty, yes, but effective.  

some notes!

Here are just some pictures of our thought process in Elizabeth's sketch book.  

some overview

   

Here is some progression of cards, imaging, and packaging.  The first image was our first shot at the cards.  As you can see they are very rough, they don't even have our fonts on them.  Since then we have added color, some more flavor text, and our fonts.  

The second image is our first shot at directions.  We have re-worded since then.  Also, we had those pictures of Scott in there, but after a suggestion from Amber, we changed the "people" in the directions to our own characters that we had used throughout the game. 

The next two images are two different views of our packaging process.  The first package is the white box labeled "pink milk" on the left.  It was the bare minimum having no slots in the center and no game board layout.  After we looked at that we decided the milk carton needed to be more of a square so used the green and blue piece on the right as a sort of guide.  The other two pieces are the milk carton laid out into the game board.  The one further back in the picture is our first shot.  As you can see we put a character outline in the center and changed up the areas for draw and discard.  

class outside

We had class outside on friday because it was so nice out.  Amber provided us with some extremely useful information about developing characters and making sure you provide a clear meaning in your images.  We looked at some different magazines to see examples of these. 

Then we broke up to discuss packaging design.  Elizabeth and I came up with a good idea...but I don't want to give it away yet.  Here are some pictures of us brain storming. 

awww! our class all together!

and we'll be together for the next three years!!!!

thats only 540 school days so lets' make them count!!

let's try these pictures again

the uploading stopped working so I'll just write for now. 

First we played Will and Griff's game.  It was confusing because none of the colors were printed, but it's a really interesting idea and actually involves a thought process.  Also there is tons of interaction throughout the game amongst the players.

Then we played Pete's game.  That one was super fun, I'm a fan of kid's games.  Naturally, Caitlyn(sorry if I spelled your name wrong) and I won.  This game was unique because it was really the only one that involved spacial layouts. 

Then we played Susannah and Caitlyn's game.  I love this one!!! I would so buy a copy.  The graphics and design of the cards is really nice, and the game is just really fun.  There is a lot of interaction between players because the game stimulates a lot of discussion. 

Then our group played the best game of all, mine and Elizabeth's Pink Milk game. They gave us some good feedback and (as seen below because my posts aren't really in order) we made some changes to the game. 

Then we played "Say What?"  That was really great too.  It was a really unique idea, and good for all ages.  The cards just needed to be jazzed up a bit.  

This was a fun and extremely helpful play.  I can't wait to see all the games with their revisions and final packaging!!

game day...yeaahh

Yes, game day was fun.  We got into groups and took turns playing every game.  Here my group is playing Griff and Will's game.  It was confusing, but only because the cards were not printed in color.  But it will be a really fun, stimulating game when it's done I think.  Okay I still have not figured out how to use this blog so I'm just going to post the pictures....hopefully below this paragraph.  (:

Okay it went above the paragraph... that's fabulous. 

 

here is the image referenced below

lots to do

Okay so yesterday I color coded the cards, and I think they look good.  And today I put my font into font lab after a lot of pain and blood and tears and all that.  But it was worth it, because it looks good.  Except I did not kern my Y correctly, don't tell anyone.  It's still usable though and it looks pretty fab on my cards.  Here is a picture of all of them....

scratch that, the upload  button is messed up so I'll upload that picture soon for all the fans.  Elizabeth has redone the directions and she uploaded a picture of that.  I think they are much clearer now.  We still have to take pictures and work on the cheat sheets. But we are making good progress, don't worry.  

Be on the lookout for that exciting picture coming soon. 

game review day!!

Today we played everyone's games and reviewed them.  I thought ours would get torn apart (physically by Will, but verbally by everyone else), but it wasn't bad actually.  Here are some of the suggestions we got.....

1. making a color coded cheat sheet to find the words more easily (we'll definitely implement something like this)

2. having a list of other cards on each card to know what category they go in (not sure what this means, who suggested this one?  could you explain?) 

3. clarify the scheme

4. instructions need to be more clear - 

what are the rules for discarding

clarify object of game

use language that relates to the game

5.  add flavor text for extra explanation of the characters

6. use colors and numbers on the cards for better organization 

a little ideation for our game

I almost forgot...

for my morning oatmeal

the roommates ipod projecting on the ceiling for utmost convenience 

one of my favorite channels using some sweet pixel/modular type

final alphabet

finishing up the magiscule

after refinement and into indesign