Major Project 1 [ Task 2 : Design Proposition ]
02.19.2025 - 03.05.2025 week 3 - week 5
Sheryne Axellia Putri / 0367267 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Major Project 1
Task 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Instructions
2. Feedback
3. Reflection
INSTRUCTIONS
Task 2_Design Proposition
Week 3 02.19.2025
Students are to carry on from proposal development and continue to develop the final proposal with a comprehensive design proposition. It shall contain the curation of the production process while demonstrating resourcefulness and creativity in effectively channeling and managing resources and potential risks to drive solutions in the complex and dynamic environments and/or contemporary real-world settings.
1. Progress
1.1 Survey - Target Audience
Returning to the card designs, we first need to identify our target audience for task 2 of the presentation. To do this, we will create a Google Form survey to ask respondents about our game concept and illustrations/design. Here are our questions and their answers:
We received a total of 62 responses to our survey, which is great! I even threatened my friends to participate. After reviewing the results, I've drawn the following conclusions:
- Respondents are interested in our game concept and find it to be fun, but some found the game description to be confusing.
- They believe the game can connect players to the stories of real folklores.
- The illustrations were well received, and several participants suggested incorporating gold lining in the final product to make it look more authentic.
- Overall, they find the game enjoyable enough to play with family and friends.
1.2 Game Concept
After that insight, we tried to contact Ms. Anis to get her opinion on our concept. We explained that our main concern was the replayability aspect. She responded by mentioning that our game reminded her of a game called "Storyteller." We then arranged an online meeting with her, during which we watched her play and explain the game.
Game's description from nitendo.com:
"A puzzle game about building stories."
Experience some of history's greatest stories like never before. Storyteller is an award-winning reactive puzzle game that lets you build the story.
Storyteller's charming animations and comic-panel design allows for a unique puzzle mechanic. Use your wits to retell iconic tales — or experiment and find something new.
Play with a library full of characters and themes, featuring heroes and villains, dragons and vampires, infidelity and remorse, love, lies, madness, and more! Use the blank canvas to manipulate secrets and desires, slay monsters or terrorize people with them, betray lovers or bring them together. You know how the stories go — but this time you are the author.
Ms. Anis suggested that our manual book have an introduction of each folklore. Further discussion with Ms. Anis about the game:
Our group met again to discuss our game concept, which took hours because we are still working on the matching card concept. We all believe that the concept would be ineffective if it is not used. Lizzie suggested combining the two concepts into one. She explained that if non-players take on the role of the storyteller, they may not find the game as engaging or funny because they are unfamiliar with the characters' backgrounds.
Week 4 02.27.2025
Lizzie proposed that the matching card game could serve as the first game, allowing players to become familiar with the story and characters. By playing the matching card game multiple times and learning the answers, players would be better prepared to enjoy the storyteller game since they would already know the background of the story.
We also got another idea from Yin ying's idea that she got from her family's feedback:
Gameplay: There's various ending cards for a set of folklore card game, but it will have a "correct/right" ending card. Each player choose 1 ending card from their opinions/thoughts, and they must give their reasons of choosing the card. The chosen card will be based on majority (e.g. like players A,B,C choose "Ending Card A"; player D choose "Ending Card B", so A will be the chosen card for that round. After finalising the chosen card, they can check the answer.
- Advantage: There's different endings can let player to decide. With various ending cards, it can be used for storyteller game as well.
- Disadvantage: Limited ending cards to choose for matching card game.
- *There's no winner for this game mechanic*
After further discussion, we realized that the gameplay concept is similar to storytelling, but the game's ending imposes limitations.
I suggested that some people might find our game too complex or overwhelming, and they may not be interested in reading our book to learn about the folk stories. To address this, I proposed making our book more engaging by telling the characters' stories in a fun way. One idea is to use character dialogues to briefly explain the narrative while including a moral message below the text. It's also important that the story and dialogues are concise and not overly text-heavy. Additionally, we could provide an answer sheet on top of the dialogues that outlines the relationships between the characters.
Me, and Aisya's visions:
Week 5 03.05.2025
1.3 Card Design attempt #2
We need to have another discussion this week at our usual place, X-space, to finalize our game concept. I'm feeling quite unwell, but I still need to work on the card designs we talked about last time. Please remember, the cards shouldn't have any background. Focus on creating designs for the storyteller concept and try to include characters from different regions.
I chose to focus on the character Malin Kundang, who is known as Si Tanggang in Malaysia. He is portrayed as an arrogant and prideful man who was cursed by his own mother to become a rock. In Indonesia, he is from the region of Sumatra.
As before, I am trying to find batik patterns from Sumatra to apply to the cards. Since Malin Kundang is specifically from West Sumatra, the region is known for its symbolism in the 'Rumah Gadang' (traditional houses). This symbolism is also reflected in their batik patterns, particularly one called 'Tanah Liek'.
Cards result for #2 attempt:
I incorporated the "Tanah Liek" pattern into the card design. For the character's back, I opted for flat colors instead of a detailed background. While I generally prefer designs that include backgrounds to enhance visual appeal, using flat colors can effectively highlight the character's personality traits. This technique allows for a clearer representation of the character's characteristics, as reflected in the feedback from respondents about our cards.
Although I am not particularly enthusiastic about the limitation of only portraying characters from the head to their hips or waist, I make it a point to enhance their facial expressions and body language for better expression. Additionally, I incorporate the personalities of the characters along with a brief overview of their origins or stories. This approach aims to give players a clearer understanding of the characters they are embodying, ultimately helping to create a richer narrative experience.
For Malin Kundang, he has a red background, in contrast with his counterpart, who has a light green background symbolizing her patient and kind-hearted nature. I placed the cards into a layout for our book which later on improvised by Lizzie:
2. Final Outcome
Since I was still sick during the feedback session, I didn't attend class. Later, I was informed about our next meeting and the next steps.
FEEDBACK
Week 4
The feedback from the respondents are to improve the designs and quality of the card and can make the gameplay of our game to be complex. They also interested if our cards are collectible.
Week 5
Next week Ms. Vitiyaa wants to see the prototype of our cards design and book layout, and we can go our game concept with the storyteller one.
REFLECTIONS
Experience
Creating a card game can be more challenging than initially anticipated. There seem to be two primary types of players when it comes to card games. The first group consists of those who have experience with strategic card games such as Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh. They tend to appreciate the educational aspects of our game, especially its focus on folklores. The second group includes casual players who enjoy games like Rummy or Uno; their emphasis is primarily on the gameplay experience.
These two perspectives provide valuable insights for improving our game. A common thread between both groups is the importance of having visually appealing card illustrations. Ensuring that our artwork resonates with players is crucial for attracting and maintaining their interest in the game.
Observation
For me, having backgrounds in the card illustrations makes them more engaging. It helps provide a visual context for where the story takes place. At this point, I'm starting to feel like I'm not a graphic design student because I have so many illustrations to complete. However, I've realized that this is what graphic design is all about: creating something that appeals to everyone.
Findings
I asked some of my friends what the first thing is that they notice when they look at the cards. They answered that it's the characters. This led me to think about creating two types of characters: one group will face towards the player, while the other group will look away as if they are doing something the player is supposed to understand—or perhaps not understand. This way, the players’ eyes will be engaged, prompting them to look at the cards longer.
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